I never thought I’d get excited at the sight of paddy fields but that’s what Bali does to you. You start to feel your light coming back to you. Not that, that light was lost somewhere, it was just hidden underneath heaps and heaps of emotional baggage. Let’s start with why I decided to visit Bali this summer. 2020 was a bad year, not just for me but for the entire globe. I was working in finance and as soon as the pandemic spread its tentacles on the economy sector, my firm decided it was Work from Home or Resignations. I took the former option for obvious reasons. After a month of this new normal, I realized that I never liked my job. Its not that I hated where I was working, the working atmosphere was amazing, it was my work that often led me to tears. With work from home, the colleague factor completely disappeared. Apart from few video calls thrice a week, I did not see their faces nor did they saw mine. Your surroundings are a big part of your work, but your work is your core. After a struggling six months, I called my boss and told him I am resigning and it has nothing do with the firm. He listened patiently, said its always best to listen to your heart and wished me luck on my new endeavor. Now I had nothing to do, so I watched my favorite movie, Eat, Pray, Love a zillion time. That unemployment phases started to bother me after a while. I knew I had to figure something out before I lose it. So I decided it was time for some traveling. My favorite part of the movie was the “love” part so I booked a flight to Bali. Now its not that I was completely oblivious to this island. My friends had been to Bali and have tagged me (unnecessarily) in their pictures, so I knew a little bit about the place but I was not aware of its culture.
Some of the places I knew about are mentioned below. Take this list as a guide to your trip to Bali as well.
• Abian Kusuma Sari Coffee Plantation
• Air Panas Banjar Hot Spring
• Bali Bird and Reptile Park
• Garuda Wisnu Kencana Cultural Park
• Gitgit waterfall
• Goa Gajah Cave
• Kintamani and Mount Batur viewpoint
• Lovina Beach
• Monkey Forest
• Pura Luhur Uluwatu Temple
• Sekumpul waterfall
• South Bali Beaches
• Tanah Lot
• Tegalalang and Jatiluwih Rice Terrace
• Tegenungan Waterfall
• Ulun Danu Bratan Temple
By interacting with the locals, I learned a lot about the culture and customs of the island. The locals are deeply rooted to their culture. They have immense respect for their tradition and do everything in their power to keep it safe and remembered.
I was one of the fortunate ones who have experience their dance. The form that I watched is called Kecak dance. It was highly recommended to the see the performance at Uluwatu Temple Amphitheatre Jimbaran. The gestures were so simple yet spoke volumes. Looking at the dancers I could understand why the dance is performed in honour of the gods.
The natives spoke two languages, the local Balinese and Indonesian Bhasas.I even saw a lot of shopkeepers making a conversation in English. I picked up few words to show locals my respect for their language. For instance, when I wanted to say “hello”. I would say “Swastyatsu”. I believe one should always try to learn some basic phrases when in foreign land.
In Kuta, some shopkeepers were very rude to me simply because I was not interested in buying what they were selling. Apart from that, I did not face any issue with anyone. I made my bookings with British Airways Reservations and found it convenient and simple.