UPDATE: i decided to add some pictures i took on matt’s camera at the dances we went to in ubud.
bali is probably not the type of place one would assume could be lumped into one post. but without pictures, and with your patience of course, i feel justified in doing just that. my camera batterey died and it turns out the charger i got in vietnam wasn’t actually legit, but there weren’t too many photo-ops for the first two towns anyways. we disembarked from singapore and chose a guesthouse in legian around dinnertime. when we went out to explore the next day we were confronted with hundreds of horrible souvenir shops, locals who thought the USA was part of australia, and the dirtiest beach i’ve ever seen in my life. our first night it rained like it was the end of the world and i waded back to our guesthouse through water up to my knees. we bounced from the kuta/legian area pretty quick in favor of the quieter sanur on the other side of the island.
sanur was a lot more low key than legian, but stil not quite our scene. we stayed for nyepi, the hindu new year, and partook in a rain soaked parade of home-made demon floats followed by joyous merrymaking. i wish i had my camera for that, but we took some shots on film that could be really cool. the next day, after the noise of nyepi, is ‘silent day’ in which everyone must stay inside with no lights or cooking. we slept a lot on silent day; then we bounced in search of something more lively where we wouldn’t be pestered by the two travelers that constantly locked us in horrible conversations.
next on the list was ubud, recommended by all (including elizabeth gilbert). now ubud is cool. it’s very ‘california’— you’re always a stone’s throw away from an organic cafe, a yoga studio, or an eco boutique. the vibe is chilled out, the locals are relaxed, and the food is supreme. we hung out in ubud for a week, long enough to see the sites, read a few books on our courtyard patio, make a friend, feel an earthquake, go to yoga, take in some traditional dances , and learn to appreciate everyday balinese life.
we left ubud seriously jiving with bali so we decided to give the beach one more try. this time we ferriend to nusa lembogan just off the southeastern tip of bali. with no atm and no cars allowed on lembogan we had a hunch we’d enjoy it—and that we did! i took some pics of gourgeous sunsets on matt’s camera because they were just too divine. we snorkeled! we tanned. we went on long walks around the island. we swam. we watched locals harvest seaweed and women unloade boatfuls of everyday essentials. we finally found the bali we were looking for, and we savored every minute of it.
with just over two weeks of our indonesian visa accounted for in bali, we knew we had to get to java asap. so we ferried from lembogan to the bali mainland, then taxied to the airport, and left it up to fate…
