Still in Love

Its been more than a year. And dont know whether its my love for travel or my love for the place, which makes me feel like visiting again

November 2012

We took flight from the Changi airport in Singapore after having a sumptous Chinese meal and that too with chopsticks :-)

It was a 2 hour flight which we spent partly half sleepy due to the heavy meal that we had and flipping magazines.

So now it was almost time to land and just out of curiosity happened to look out of the window. That moment it sunk in 

Yes we were going to BALI. One of the best places on earth.

The view from my window was beautiful.

Beautiful would be an understatement.It was indeed mindblowing. The cratered mountains were standing handsome and the land was flaunting them proudly next to her as if a young maiden would flaunt her love.

The pure chemistry between the beautiful maiden earth and the dashing mountains was almost like watching lovers dance. And then there were the clouds almost adding magic to this pure magical romance. I asked myself does heaven look like this?

Denpasar airport welcomed us with open arms and a friendly cabby quickly took us  to our hotel in Nusa Dua. Nusa Dua is a beautiful beach in this magnificient island almost entirely occupied by 5 star resorts packed by swarm of tourists all through the year. We got a beautiful room which was filled with the aroma of the balinese 'Plumeria' flower.

The beaches of Bali have often inspired the westerners to migrate there and spend their retired lives. There is something about this place that draws you over and over again.

The breakfast was sumptous after which we went for a beach stroll followed by a few water sports. The evening was well spent at Uluwatu temple. Uluwatu is the best beach in Bali in my opinion although very much underrated. The sea waves run to and fro almost kissing the golden brown sand. The best part of the beach is the water is sapphire blue and the waves on shore almost look like freshly made buttermilk which our Moms' kitchen contain

Then there was a beautiful dinner on the Jimbaran beach watching the sunset and eating one of the most expensiver lobsters I have ever had in my whole life while watching the folk dancers performing a traditional dance.

Another strikingly beautiful place was the Bedungul looking at the besutiful Betatan lake. The air out there was pure, clean and beautiful. A little cooler for a tropical region but almost perfect. By now we both had tried almost all pf the indonesian food from Gado gado, Nasi Bali to Satay bali. Strangely we didnt Kopi Lewak but it was due to the fact after hearing the methodology of preparation. It is a coffee made by making an animal eat the beans and then excrete it out. The faeces are collected and the beans are cleaned snd processed. 

We also visited the Mt Kintamani , baisakhi temple and the active volcano Mt Batur. Among other places was the beautiful Goa Gajah meaning elephant cave. Bali has a hinduism as its major religion. However they dont believe in idol worship like Indian hindus. The bali temples have empty thrones which stress on the concept of the Acintya or supreme God . This is very similar to Buddhism and very different from Indian hinduism.

However they still share the concept of covering your legs with s sarong before entering a temple.

Last but not the least, the most beautiful area in Bali is undisputedly Ubud. It is like the cultural hub of Bali dominated by streets having shops and galleries of paintings, wooden carvings, stone carvings and other art. Its the best experience to explore Ubud by foot, checking out the rice fields,just dropping in some cafe to chill,walking to explore the streets, finding spots to use your camera( i bet there would be too many), to shop some paintings, some souveneirs and spend time exploring the heart of the place.

And ofcourse the tradional Balinese massage relaxed both of us and added cherry on the cake of our trip.

It was time to bid a goodbye to the place. After tonnes of shopping, loads of pictures and lots of memories we left the place with a heavy heart and eearing a small token of Plumeria flower in my hair.

Its not just Elizabeth Gilbert who is smitten by this place, it is almost everyone who has been there done that

We look forward for a chance to visit this place again