At the Beach in Bali

Our first reading about Bali spoke of the people living here as seeing the spiritual places being on the “high ground” away from the beach. We had thought that we would avoid the beach scene and only explore that “high ground”. After spending a busy time in and around Ubud, we changed our mind and decided to relax and experience the renowned ocean and beaches around this island. Our first destination was the “funky” little village, Padangbai. It is the port for the main ferry connecting Bali to the neighboring Indonesian island Lombok. We didn’t go to Lombok as most travelers who come to this village do.

A swimming pool type tide pool on the edge of a beautiful white sand beach drew our interest instead. What fun we had playing in the tide pool as the waves splashed over the rocks picking us up and engulfing us.

After enough sun, we would rest in the shade. There were several small “mama” restaurants on the beach that sold cold drinks. The coconut water from a large coconut the “mama” opened with a couple machete whacks and served with 2 straws quenched our thirst more than anything else. She also had a menu of lunch dishes and was visibly pleased to cook whatever we ordered. She would fire up the propane burner and after some time serve us a tasty meal. The ferries were an ever present part of the village, coming and going every hour, seen from the beach we went to and the deep sounding horns heard from our room.

We found Sanur, our final beach town, an actual destination for travelers similar to Hawaii. A couple from Australia were here for their seventh year and were staying for five weeks in a room across from ours at The Little Pond Homestay. They always made it their home in Sanur as many others did we found out the longer we stayed. Having a beautiful tropical garden with a verandah outside our door, a lap pool in which to cool off and the closer camaraderie of others than we‘d had before made this our most comfortable home in the months we had been traveling. From our verandah, we enjoyed watching the typical tropical rains, times when the clouds seemed to literally break open and pour out their contents for a short time. Immediately afterward the sun would come out.

One walk to the beach took us through an outdoor collection of hundreds of bonsai plants ranging from 5” high to 6’ tall many with ancient trunks. They were the most beautiful bonsai we had ever seen. It was overwhelming to see them all arranged on one level as if it were a forest rather than displayed individually. Just beyond the plants was the appropriately named Bonsai Café.

The brick beach walk meandered along 4 km. of the even longer beach providing us with a perfect shady daily walk between the beach on one side and the restaurants, shops and expensive resorts on the other. Many colorful comical “water spider” boats lined the beach, their owners hawking a ride around the bay. This was the best place to observe the changes in the sky when the gray overcast burned off and the blue sky and clouds could be seen.

A compelling large tree drew Rajiv into a temple which appeared nondescript from the beach walkway. Inside however, we were aware that all the walls had been originally made from coral . When we admired it, the priest made it clear that coral can no longer be used. The colorful statues here were unique in our experience. They had many coats of paint a contrast to the aged gray and black coral walls. The statues were a mixture of Hinduism and Animism giving rise to fish with elephant trunks to guard the gate rather than the traditional demons.

Coral Wall

Returning from the beach, we would often find a new-to-us narrow path. Our favorites were those that were shaded and the walls on either side covered with green foliage. We got to know a small area of Sanur quite well. It became a real vacation spot for us.

Have a good day at the beach.

Love,

Rajiv and Marianne