Saturday 31 January 2015

Island impressions - Bali

Going to Bali has never been on top of my travel list. Bali is a more touristy place than our usual destinations. But as it happened, in 2005 we went there for a family visit.  Now, who am I to complain about a destination.... right?

Dark clouds over green paddies

We slept in a local's house south of Kuta.  This gave us the chance to share the day to day life of  the extended family there. And a few house rituals were explained to us, like the mandatory daily offerings .


Temple offerings

Being Dutch, we borrowed bikes to get around town, and to go to nearby (upscale) Sanur. The bike ride to Sanur took us about an hour, and we spent a lovely afternoon with a yummy cocktail at the picture perfect beach there.

Sanur's picture perfect beach

To have some private time, away from the family, we stayed a few days in artinasal village Ubud, in the middle of the ubiquitous rice paddies.  At night we could hardly sleep for the crickets and quacking ducks. That was something different!

Rice paddy in Ubud

Every visit to Bali needs a trip to a Sacred Monkey Forest, and so we did.  We went to  Padangtegal near Ubud. The monkeys have no fear for humans whatsoever, and are used to being fed: so beware! But having food in abundance also means lots of infants, and lots of photo opportunities.

Monkey life
To see a bit more of the island we went on a roadtrip for a day, and one of the places we visited was Gunung Batur.  Gunung Batur is an active volcano, and the black land surrounding the crater is an impressive sight.

The slopes of Gunung Batur