BALI.
Every time I go back to Bali, there is a peace that bestows on me
almost instantly. I don’t know what it is. Ok, let me back track. Apart from
the sheer anger and embarrassment that I am hit with when I step out onto the
arrivals lounge at Denpasar Airport due to the imbasiles and rude bogans that
feel like upon seeing an Asian girl, she MUST be Indonesian and put on a
terrible ‘asian accent’, yelling out ‘yu wan taksi?’ (only to shy away when I
glare at them and whip out my fierce Asian side) … apart from THAT, Bali is one
of the most peaceful and serene places in the world to me.
I have to admit, I gave Kuta a miss this year. I was in no state of
mind to expose myself to rudeness of bogans, offers by drug dealers at every
corner nor physically apt to induce my body with the evil of all evils, that A
word … Alcohol. Instead, settled myself into my humble abode of the Seabourn
Quest, to my joy, found the band and Elise from the Volendam and after a quick
dinner and reunion, slept for 11 hours straight.
Don’t you just love the feeling of waking up, your body feeling
rested and ready to conquer the world? Looking in the mirror, my skin had a
rejuvenated feel. That stretched, fresh, spritzy, tingly feeling that made me
smile. I was rearing to go and with 5 others, a guide and driver, we pottered
inland. Stepping out of air-conditioning, we were hit with hot, humid,
stickiness that is South-East Asia. First stop, the silversmiths. The fine
filigree work, all done by hand wowed me. Stops along the way included temples
that were adorned with flower offerings, statues, covered in light moss,
colorful umbrellas and sarongs, palm leaves with sticky rice offerings and the
sounds of gamelans and gongs, softly ringing.
We started to ascend slowly; slight inclinations making our ears
pop. Heavy rain had hit us but it created an even more peaceful feeling as we
drove up the mountains. We stopped at a coffee plantation. This was not only
coffee, we trekked along the paths, coming across cocoa trees, tamarillo trees,
lemongrass, ginger, peppers, guavas, even durian trees. Our guide would stop by
a plant, pull out a leaf, crush it and stick it up to my nose. Mmmm Lemongrass.
Makes me think of Vietnam .. and Shu’s car smell. He picked a tamarillo off the
tree, pushed his fingers into it and broke it in half and gave it to me. YUM!
Freshly picked off the tree. The rain had stopped for us and the heavens opened
to a forest, high up, in the canopy woven with mist but again, that peaceful
feeling. We tasted all sorts of coffees: ginger coffee, coconut coffee,
hibiscus coffee, lemongrass coffee to name a few. The braver ones tried the
luwak coffee – yes, that one where the luwak eats the coffee bean, poops it out
and then it gets grinded into coffee. No thanks. There’s plenty of other
coffees to taste before that one J
We continued to the top of the mountain where the views were
absolutely breathtaking. ‘Top of the world’ would be a cliché but looking
across the horizon, the silence planted another smile across my face. I thought
to myself, I could sit here and write a song. Bring me a piano (I wish!).
We still had not arrived at the temple in Ubud and the girls and I
were determined to go get our palms read, quasi Eat Pray Love. K’tut Lyr is a
real person, he exists beyond Hollywood so I was determined. I also feel that
I’m at a point where I am ready to hear a prediction of the future. Some may
think it terrifying, I just feel like it’s the right time. We arrived at the
infamous rice terraces and apart from the words ‘wow’ and ‘amazing’, I was
pinching myself again. We all snapped away and I can say, I have a real picture
of what would normally be on a postcard!
Finally, we arrived at Ubud and only wished we had more time to take
it all in but we were losing light. This temple was adorned with gamelans on
the stage, surrounded by ponds with lotus flowers and leaves and decorations
made out of dried palm leaves, hanging over the entrances of the temple.
I had this urge to just stay in Bali for 3 more weeks. It’s one of
those places where I’d happily come back and get a car, trot around and explore
more. Get away from Legian, Seminyak, Kuta and discover the real Bali.
This was only a glimpse for us (and I have to admit I did come back
into Kuta for an hour for a quick hit of nasi goreng and a reunion with
Phoenix) but Bali will always be a special, serene place. Spiritual.
With love, light and grace,
Van-Anh
AND RIGHT NOW:
Fav food: hash browns.
Reading: Blink, by Malcolm Gladwell
(still…)
Wishlist: Isabel Marant sneakers
Current city: Bali, Indonesia
Listening to: Yuna
Fav clothing item: bathrobe
Next destination: Pade Pade, Indonesia
Missing: my friends and family in Sydney. And gluten free bread from
Melbourne.
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