Not the Start We Planned!

Today we were scheduled to change hotels and check out a different area of the island (from Jimbaran to Canggu). Our driver we met our first day here (Nobita) was set to pick us up this morning and tour us around the southern part of Bali. That is, until 5 a.m. “Bali Belly” struck Rob. I’ll spare you the details, but google it if you must, and most folks from the states know this same issue as “Montezuma’s Revenge”. While we’ve tried to be careful about what we ate and drank here, we were evidently not quite careful enough. And while we have eaten mostly the same things, we did have a few different meals/drinks. Fortunately I feel fine, but it made for an interesting morning of scrambling around trying to a) message our driver with updates b) see if we could extend our checkout at this hotel until tomorrow, and c) access supplies Rob needs. Everyone has been very nice and understanding- it’s sadly common for tourists here, so once Rob and I decided that I would go ahead and take the tour while he rests here in the hotel, our driver was able to take me up to a store to stock up on electrolytes and bottled waters, I got some toast from the hotel, and left him here sleeping peacefully but feeling weird about leaving him. So, here is a summary of my Solo Day in Southern Bali- the SDSB.

#Trustfall

About five minutes into my solo tour, it hit me (a little late, some might argue) that I was heading out on a solo tour of a country where I don’t speak the language, have limited cultural knowledge, and don’t have my own transportation with a woman I met once who “seemed nice” and showed up at an airport on time. I know people solo tour all over the world all the time in MUCH “scarier” circumstances, but y’all… I’ve got to be real here. I’ve been with Rob since I was 19 and for the past 24 years I’m a mom… there were entire DECADES where I didn’t even make a Target run by myself, much less solo tour in a country halfway around the world (yes- a wee exaggeration 😂). So I took a deep breath and decided to make a trustfall into Bali, and live the way I always cheer on my single friends for doing- be bold!

GWK

My first stop with the lovely Nobita (who I had decided was NOT going to rob, kidnap, stab, or abandon me) was Garuda Wisnu Kencana Cultural Park, or GWK. It is devoted to the Hindu god Vishnu, and his mount, Garuda, the mythical bird who became his companion. It has some huge statues, with the statue of Vishnu being the fourth largest statue in the world. It was pretty magnificent! It was VERY hot again today, but I enjoyed a walk through this park.

Melasti Beach

Melasti Beach (Pantai Melasti) sits on the tip of the Bukit Peninsula, marking the southernmost point of Bali. The beautiful white sand beach is over 1km long and backed by enormous limestone cliffs. On the way in to the park, they had monkeys in the trees!! They also had these cool statues and little Instagrammable photo spots that I liked. Nobita was really into making me do poses for pictures. 😂

After the crazy heat of GWK, I wanted to take a quick dip and cool off, and Melasti was perfect. Beautiful beach, beautiful views, and the water was a perfect temperature. Apparently they were also affected by the plastic tsunami, but they made a huge community effort to get their beaches cleaned up right away. It certainly looked great to me!

Uluwatu Temple

We made a lunch stop at a cafe Nobita knew about, then headed to Uluwatu.

Uluwatu Temple (Pura Luhur Uluwatu) is a Hindu sea temple on Bali’s Bukit Peninsula. It is famous for its ocean views, spectacular sunsets, and resident monkeys. Uluwatu sits atop a cliff about 70 meters above the Indian Ocean. When we arrived we were instructed to get a sarong and a sash (from a bin of them outside) in order to be properly attired before we could even buy a ticket to enter. Upon entry, there were monkeys everywhere! We had been warned that they were known to steal items within easy reach, so I kept my bag close. The temple was very interesting and very crowded, and the sea views were stunning as advertised.

My favorite part, in truth, was seeing the baby monkeys playing in the trees, and seeing their resident albino monkey. The workers said the white monkey is caged because the other monkeys kept attacking him 😢. I took a few videos (below), but didn’t film any reactions to the monkeys, which ranged from delight (like me) to absolute screaming horror if they came too close for some people. I didn’t have anything stolen by the monkeys, but I did see them attempt to open a backpack that had food in it (which we were told not to bring in 🙄).

Karang Boma Cliff & Kecak Fire Dance

We spent sunset tonight at the Karang Boma Cliff with incredible views of the Indian Ocean from the southernmost part of Bali. It is close to the Uluwatu temple, but even higher in the mountains. Both areas offer a Kecak dance show, which is a uniquely Bali a cappella show with dancing fire elements, chanting, and storytelling. I opted to go to the Kecak show at Karang Boma because it is relatively new and less crowded, while Uluwatu draws in huge crowds and requires a few hours of waiting in line for tickets. I was really glad for the choice I made. The show was incredible, no wait for tickets, and plenty of seating. I loved it! The show told a portion of the story of The Ramayana, narrating the life of Prince Rama, the seventh incarnation of Vishnu, as he battles the demon king Ravana to rescue his abducted wife. They gave us a paper synopsis of the sections of the story presented, and I tried to follow along, but I’m not sure I got the whole storyline being unfamiliar with many of the Hindu gods. In the end, the storyline was secondary to the singing chanting, and dancing. I loved that!! It was definitely unlike anything I have ever watched. Hope you enjoy the video clips below.

Volume up to hear the cool rhythmic chanting:

The traffic getting out of the show was wild, and our 30 minute (9 miles) return to the hotel took over two hours! Rob thankfully was feeling a bit better, and was up and showered, so we picked him and our suitcases up and headed to our new hotel in Canggu (hitting more traffic). More on that tomorrow, as both of us were too wiped out to do much of anything when we finally arrived around 11:30 p.m. Fingers crossed for the end of Bali Belly tomorrow!

Thanks for adventuring with us!