Lynne's Travels : Bali

A relaxing break in Bali

For all of you that follow my stories, this one is slightly different. My trip to Bali wasn’t an adventure - it was a rest!

I stayed at the marvellous all-inclusive Sanur Beach hotel, which I can highly recommend. The rooms were spacious and had everything I needed.

There were several restaurants, where the food was always of an exceptional quality - especially the Italian restaurant that was my favourite!

There was a group of singers who serenaded me whilst I had my dinner there - it was excellent in every way.

There were 2 outdoor swimming pools; one of them even had its own pool bar with stools in the water - a delightful way to spend the hot, humid afternoons.

The hotel was situated on a long, safe clean beach; the only thing that spoilt the view (or some may say gave you something to watch) was the huge, wrecked cargo ship that was abandoned just out to sea, that was being taken apart by the locals every day.

If you got up early to see the sun come up, the beach and mirror like ocean portrayed a beautiful calming picture as local fishermen went out in their small boats whilst the rest of the world was sleeping - that was my favourite time of the day.

Slightly un-nerving were the "Tsunami Evacuation Signs", that told you were to go in the event of a tsunami alarm. Tragedy strikes these beautiful islands far too often, so it is always imperative that you know where to go in times of danger.

I spent a few days relaxing on the beach and around the pool, going for a walk before breakfast or as the sun was going down; and several evenings there was a show put on at the hotel. This was in a specially built Bali temple/arena, with story telling, music and dancing.

The costumes were the most vibrant and exotic that I have ever come across, as were the painted faces of the dancers. There was so much gold on the costumes and head dresses - it was always mesmerizing to watch them perform these shows.

After a few days acclimatizing, relaxing and getting bored...................I needed to get out and do some sight seeing. I had decided which sites I wanted to visit, and to do this as part of a tour, I would have had to book on 3 separate excursions; I didn't fancy wasting that much time and that many days sitting on a coach.

So I booked a taxi for the day, gave him a map of where I wanted to see, and away we went - as much as being cheaper that the organised tours, I was able to do all of my sites in one day. And believe me, by the end of that day, I never wanted to travel around the island again (the roads weren't the best!!).

The first stop was Taman Ayun Temple, a royal temple built in the 16th century surrounded by a moat that had the most pristine gardens with lotus fishponds. The approach to the main courtyard was through a grey and orange stone staircase, and once inside there were many black temples enclosed within its walls.

The numerous multi tiered buildings, black brick with thatched roofs were prime examples of Bali architecture, dark, dramatic and so well preserved.

The next stop was Ulundana Temple next to Bratan Lake, but how the temple was positioned on a small peninsular, it appeared to be floating on the water. This gave the most beautiful photographs with the lake almost engulfing the 11-tiered structure; and brightly coloured lilies, cannas and other tropical flowers, surrounded it.

The position of this temple made it so very special - a real photographers dream - especially the yellow flowers in the exotic garden against the black structures.

We continued our journey passing the botanical gardens, only briefly stopping to admire the fountains and greenhouses before driving south along a dreadfully bumpy road towards the Tegalalang Rice fields.

The pleasant scenery we passed was nothing compared to the view of the terraced paddy fields - the vibrant green of the young rice plants growing was so incredibly picturesque - even though it had started to rain! Another few hours on unmade roads took its toll on me, and I was feeling terribly ill by the time we reached the final site.

This was Tanah Lot down at the southern end of Bali and is built on a rocky island just off shore. At low tide it is possible to walk over to the base of the rock, but today we just saw it from the mainland.

The ideal time to see Tanah Lot is at sunset, as the sun sets behind the temple giving a dramatic outline to the structure - but sunset was a few hours away and we had a long drive back. Before leaving that area, some retail therapy was called for, as there were many local vendors and small souvenir shops here.

It had been a good day out, well worth the money and I was very happy to have done all my sight seeing in one day; it was so hot and humid I was glad to get back to the hotel.

After a few days relaxing, I had another adventure planned, but I only had to walk half a mile along the beach for this one - I was going to do an Underwater Marine walk. I was assured that it was completely safe, even children could do it! I was taken about 100 yards out into the ocean, given a safety talk and then had to walk backwards down a ladder, off the platform at the back of a boat.

Half way down, someone placed a divers helmet over my head (that was so heavy), that was connected to an air pipe and I had to keep walking down the ladder. At the bottom, someone took hold of me and was very reassuring when I started to panic because water was coming in to the glass bubble.

If the helmet tilted back or forward at all, it filled with water – you had to really concentrate on keeping your head level and looking straight ahead.

Once I became accustomed to breathing correctly, what a whole new world it was - fish were swimming right up to my face (or so it seemed), I held my hands out and could feel them, they had no fear. I was given pieces of coral to touch, and different items from the sea floor, as well as a bit of food - that a fish began to nibble from my hand. One of the helpers started feeding the fish and hundreds more appeared out of nowhere, which was awful; there were too many and I couldn't see if front of me. I did nearly panic again, but then remembered that if I did that, water would come into the glass helmet – ‘breath slowly and calmly’ I kept saying to myself. I was the most incredible experience; it really did feel like you were in another world - a completely different 'alien' world. I would not have missed it for anything and would recommend it to anyone. Once back on shore we were given the opportunity to buy photographs or a DVD of our experience - definitely worth every penny.

Back at the 'relaxing hotel', we were given the opportunity to help release some baby turtles into the ocean, they had been hand reared by a local conservation group who were keen to preserve the turtle population in the area. Another experience that I was privileged to have been part of!

On the last day of my holiday, there was a magnificent wedding at the hotel; I watched the hotel staff with all the preparations for the ceremony, the flowers, the furniture, and the altar all overlooking the ocean.

The guests arrived; all immaculately dressed in ceremonial costumes looking like royalty or movie stars and the ceremony itself was very touching. It was so special to have been able to witness such a beautiful cultural wedding - so different to any other I have ever seen.

So there ends my relaxing trip to Bali, it wasn't a total rest, doing nothing (I don't know how to do that), but I did manage to notch up some more truly memorable experiences on this remarkable island.