Time Flies

• April 10, 2018
• Antoinette Bodeau
• Activities
• Tags: adventure, Bali, Beaches, travel

Time flies and I’m ready….again! Time is an interesting concept when traveling. For me what I notice is how time seems to go slowly at the beginning and speeds up as time progresses. I can say that I can’t believe I’ve been gone for a month! Bali has been an adventure and wonderful in many ways.

Eight years ago when I was in Bali, I fell in love with the country, the Balinese people and just the way of “BEing”. As I expected, time has a way of changing things. Not for better or worse but just different. In 2010 the movie “Eat, Pray, Love” by Elizabeth Gilbert came out and I think people came in droves to see what Bali was all about. I think what made it magically was the timing in my life. I was ready for a place like Bali and totally embraced it. While I still see the charm, I also see the differences; the tourism, expense and influx of western yoga and spirituality…and the traffic!

My first two weeks were spent with my good friend Christine. She met me here from Germany and we had a wonderful time. We spend time in Ubud where I had spent much of my time during my first visit. We did a cultural bike tour, we walked the rice fields, explored nearby villages and experienced Nyepi (visit my last blog if you haven’t already). We also went to the Gili Islands which are a set of three small islands off of Lombok. We choose Gili Air which is about 3-mile in circumference. It is also on the mellower side with plenty of options. What I love about the Gili’s is that there are no motor vehicles (just bikes, horses and carts). The beaches are lovely, snorkeling is good and it is extremely relaxing.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

After Christine left I decided I wanted to explore some different areas in Bali.
I went to Amed which is on the east side of Bali. It is a quiet beach community that attracts divers and water lovers. It was the low season so life in Amed was a bit quiet which is what I loved about my time there.

After Amed, I headed to Sanur which is another town close to the ocean and Denpasar. I met some wonderful new friends, Ruth and Jeff, and spend a few days with them. I had one of the craziest motorbike rides of my life there! Here you can get a motorbike “Grab” (like Uber) and get places much faster then a car. We made the mistake of heading to Kuta for the sunset during rush hour. After multiple detours on the sidewalk and chickens flying overhead, I was never so happy to have my feet back on the ground! Given the traffic and the fact that there are no real rules here, it makes for an exhilarating ride.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

I must have recovered because a couple of days afterwards, I hired a driver to take me on their motorbike to Uluwatu which is located on the southern most point in Bali. I went to the temple for their nightly Kecak and fire dance at sunset, the GWA (Garuda Wisnu kencana Cultural Park) and a beautiful surf spot on Suluban beach. It was a fun-filled day.

My last adventure was a couple of days spent in another beach community called Canggu which is close to Kuta and very popular with the surfers and tourists. It’s quaint and filled with great restaurants, beachfront clubs and warungs (local small restaurants) where you can get food, fresh coconuts, beer and cocktails. I enjoyed the sunsets and barefoot morning runs on the beach.

A statue of Garuda at the GWK.

The statue of Wisnu at the GWK cultural park on the way to Uluwatu.

A beautiful beach and popular surf spot in Ulwatu on the southern point of Bali.

The sunset view over the temple during the Kecak and fire dance ceremony.

Smoothie bowls are very popular and delicious!

While on Gili Air, we found this warung with some difficulty but it was worth it!

Tonight I’m headed for New Zealand. I will be stepping out of the tropics and into fall so the weather will be quite crisp. It will be time to put my summer gear away and get the fleece out!