It was an incredible week backpacking through Bali with Mallory. We were a great duo- always on our feet, learning everything we could about the little island in Indonesia.
Being in Australia, I haven't really gotten the real "culture shock" that everyone says you're supposed to experience when you go abroad. Mainly, due to the lack of language barrier. However, it hit me hard in Bali. I had never been to a third world country before and all I can say is- wow. It really put me into perspective. It was a very spiritual experience for me. I have an entire new idea of the world.
Bali is a relatively small island but it takes over an hour to get anywhere because there is only one road in between cities. Some roads didn't even have traffic lanes! The roads were flooded with wild chickens, wild dogs, etc. I felt like I was in the jungle. The trees were so vibrant with green and there were lots of animals that I had never seen before.
At first, I was very much out of comfort zone. When we arrived at the airport in Denpasar, several different men approached us for a taxi ride. When we said no and kept walking, they followed us. It got to the point where there were 6 men surrounding us, all trying to rip us off for an overpriced taxi ride. It was very natural for me to smile and say "no thank you" but I realized that just led to more heckling because I was polite. I had such a mix of emotions in this incident. Frustrated because they wouldn't leave us alone, but also sad that we were bargaining over a $10 taxi ride. I wanted to give them all the money I had :(
Despite that first encounter, the week was beyond my expectations. We chose to go to Bali because you can get a hotel room for $30USD, which was amazing. We stayed in Jimbaran and went to a beach near our hotel the first day. It was so nice to just relax and lay in the sun after a week of stressfully turning in group projects, reports, etc.
When we were laying by the pool, two women approached me with a camera and I was ready to get up and take a picture for them. One said "excuse me, can I take a picture with you?" Confused, I figured she mistakenly translated the Chinese to English. I smiled and said "you mean you want me to take a picture of you two?" She laughed and sat down beside me and her friend took a picture of us. I was so confused?! And then, they switched and the other took a picture with me too. (??????!?!???????!) You can just imagine how awkward I was. But they were so ecstatic about these pictures and showed them to me afterwards. I HAD to get my hands on these pictures so I asked if she could take the same picture on my phone- so that I could document the bizarre thing that was going on. All of a sudden, the rest of their group of friends was coming in to take pictures with Mallory and me. They took a group picture with us and then each got an individual picture. (?????!?!??????!!!!!!) Anyway, it was hilarious. Photos above to shown how awkward I am and how bizarre the whole thing was. Definitely a highlight of the trip.
That afternoon, we explored the Uluwatu Temple. You have to wear sarongs around your legs to cover them, in respect of their religion. The temple was absolutely gorgeous and we got there right before sunset. There were wild monkeys all over the place. They told us to be careful with our bags, hats, sunglasses, etc. because the monkeys will take them. I saw one chewing on a credit card! It was crazy. The temple was so beautiful and the sunset on the water made for a perfect ending to our first day.
The next day, we headed to Ubud. We walked through the city center and I felt a lot better this day. I was comfortable bargaining and used to people approaching us constantly. Ubud was my favorite because it was busier and it also had a lot of culture. We spent the day walking through a rice terrace and at the Sacred Monkey Forest. I was so scared since we had seen wild monkeys the day before. But we had heard that the monkeys in the forest were tame and friendly. However, worst case scenario had one bitten me- I would've had to go to an Indonesian hospital to get a rabies shot. Definitely something we were trying to avoid. We still went and fed them bananas and they crawled on our shoulders. It was so scary!!! The first one that got on my shoulder smashed a banana in my hair and starting pulling on it. I stayed calm so no bites or rabies shots, woo!
The best part of this day: our AC was leaking in our hotel room so they upgraded us to a VILLA for the 3 nights we were there. It was really nice and even had another floor! Mallory and I felt like we were honeymooning.
The next day we went to the Yoga Barn for a vinyasa flow class. I don't even know how to describe the Yoga Barn but it was a spiritual morning for me. It was like a getaway camp for yogis. People could stay in the huts and some people we talked to were going to be there for a whole month! I felt so blessed to go there because it seems like the place that would like a life goal for someone who practices yoga every day. We were among some amazing yogis (I can barely touch my toes while a 45 year old man was doing back bends and handstands beside me). The class was taught by a small Balinese woman and it was very difficult. I was "the good kind of sore" afterwards.
We did lots of touristy things in Ubud but one of my favorites was visiting a temple called the Pura Tirta Empul, which is a Hindu Balinese water temple. This temple is where people come to bathe in the holy water and be purified. It was such an incredible experience. The water itself was very refreshing (I mean it was holy). One of the coolest things I've ever done. I really appreciate the Hindu religion and loved to learn about the history. I prayed in the water, alongside some Balinese people. I thought it was interesting to compare religions and the act of washing away sins and praying to different Gods.
We went to sleep early that night because we were waking up at 1:45am to hike up a volcano to see the sunrise. We got to the bottom of the volcano and started hiking at 3:30am. I had a flash light in one hand and a water bottle in the other. We were hiking in pitch black darkness on slippery rocks for two hours. We sat on the top for about an hour and chatted with some people in our group from the U.K. I learned the phrase "lovely jubbly" haha. Our Balinese tour guide loved that. He was so friendly and kind, we loved him. On the way up, I had asked him what happens if the volcano erupts. He said "I don't know?!" The last eruption was in 1993 so they didn't seem too worried about it(????!?). When the sun rose, we took pictures and explored the volcano crater. I felt the steam coming out and it was so hot! Really cool experience.
It wasn't until we started hiking down that I realized we had been hiking on DRIED BLACK LAVA- which was so crazy to me. You could see a pool of dry black lava in the distance with a small area of grass in the middle from the 1993 explosion. They call the untouched area of grass "The Lucky Temple" and they now pray there. Hindu is a beautiful religion to me. It was amazing to see it throughout the week. Our tour guide stopped on our hike up the mountain to pray at the temple we passed. I asked him questions about Hinduism and he said that 95% of Bali is Hindu and that most families have a temple.
We were exhausted after the hike but we packed our stuff and took a taxi to our final destination: Seminyak. This city was definitely the nicest part of Bali. We just relaxed for the last two days at the beach.
I don't think I have ever seen a sunset on a beach before and the sunset we saw Wednesday night was incredible. I had a moment. We sat in silence and watched the sun make its way down, going to sleep for the night. I thought about how the sun was just coming up for America. I was so at peace looking up into the sky and really felt God's presence. Away from the hustle and bustle of a big city, I was able to appreciate the beauty around me more. I thought about Hinduism and the people I had met all week that practice it. I thought about the simple life I had experienced in Bali. The people we met were so kind and happy. It really put me into perspective. They don't have much but they truly are beautiful people inside and out. I thought about all the beautiful people I miss from home. I felt so content watching the sun go down, knowing that it was coming up for my friends and family.
That being said, I long to watch the sunset every night. They make me stop and appreciate the day I've had and how beautiful God has made our Earth. I love this world. I love exploring it. I feel so blessed to have had the opportunity to have seen this province of Indonesia, a country I never would've expected to travel to before. Here's to many more sunsets and appreciating the amazing planet we live on.
xxx, Em