Bali Dreaming
By: Jill Taylor Neal
Tags: Adventure, Indonesia, Southeast Asia, Bali Tour, Solo Travel

Recent promises of a vaccine breathe hope for countries like Bali.

Photo by DEZALB on Pixabay

According to numerous news reports, the Island of the Gods is more like a ghost town these days.

Footage shows the streets of Kuta, once teeming with scooters and thousands of international tourists, now mournfully empty — like the pockets of the people who live there.

With recent promises of a vaccine and an end to the pandemic in sight, I’m already planning my next trip to the land of nasi goreng and Bintang.

I could lie and say it’s because my tourist dollars are so desperately needed, but the truth is — I miss the place, as do so many other Aussies.

A friend once told me that all anyone needs for a Bali-trip is a passport, debit card, and boardshorts.

If you can’t buy it there, you probably don’t need it.

While there’s a lot of truth to that, I prefer to take a lightly packed overnight bag, knowing it’ll be bursting with sarongs, handwoven blankets, and various other goodies on the way home.

As I browse potential flights, my mind wanders ahead — I’m already stepping off the plane, the pungent aroma of incense hitting my nostrils, the humidity weighing down the fabric of my clothes, frizzing up the strands of my hair.

Outside the airport, a sea of batik shirts creates a vivid backdrop for the jostling signs that bear the names of those who’ve wisely pre-arranged their transfers.

This isn’t my first solo trip to Bali, so I’ve already taken advantage of the airport’s Wi-Fi, and a Gojek driver is on their way.

For those who don’t know, Gojek is similar to Uber. They also deliver food and groceries straight to your door, and their free app is available from most app-stores.

I’ll be street-side at the Dulang Kafe, Kuta Square, sipping a Radler and chowing down on a plate of gado-gado in no time!

During previous visits, I’ve stayed in Candi Dasa, on Nusa Lembongan, and once rented a villa in Sanur. Those places are all breathtakingly beautiful (and much less busy), but I love the hustle and bustle of central Kuta.

Still, if you’ve never ventured beyond Kuta, you haven’t really seen Bali.

There’s so much more than pubs, pools, and cheap shopping!

Photo by ippikiOokami on Pixabay

Candi Dasa is a little over an hour’s drive east of Kuta. From there, its a short sojourn to Tirta Gangga (the royal water garden), and the village of the Bali Mula. The original inhabitants of the island, the Bali Mula prefer to keep to themselves to maintain their lifestyle and traditions.

There are actually two such villages, but the one in Candi Dasa welcomes tourists. I was lucky enough to visit with them on an earlier trip and was incredibly moved by their philosophy.

It’s all about balance for these deeply spiritual people, and for many of the citizens of Bali. The village council maintains an equal balance of male and female representatives, a member from each family, and is carefully regulated to avoid nepotism.

If only the rest of the world could enjoy such a fair system of governance…

A half-hour drive north-east of Kuta is the artisan city of Ubud, and the waterfalls and shaded paths of the Sacred Monkey Forest.

Photo by romanticfatman on Pixabay

Sanur is even closer (a short 20 minute’s-drive), and from where I can board a jet-boat to Nusa Lembongan. Perfect for day-trips as well as long-term stays, the Gili Islands can be easily accessed from here, too.

The villa I’ve rented is ideally located. Poppies Lane on my doorstep, the beach a mere 8 minute’s-stroll away, and my favorite shops and restaurants in Kuta Square, a short 15 minute’s-walk.

Photo by innokurnia on Pixabay

The tiled open-air living area steps down to my private plunge pool. In the walled garden is a thatched hut with a day-bed. The morning’s religious offerings of rice, fruit, and candies have been set out in a shallow woven basket lined with a banana leaf, and placed on the ornate altar beside it.

A stick of incense sends up light curls of sweetly-scented smoke.

It feels more like I’m going ‘home’ than ‘away’. Pangs of longing bring me back to my present chore of finding the right flight.

The trick is to arrive around mid-morning and secure a return flight with a late departure time.

This way, I’ll get an extra 24 hours of soaking up the tropical sunshine instead of wasting most of my first and last days standing around in airport queues.

Bali always leaves me a little changed, a little wiser, a bit more comfortable in my own skin, with vivid memories of bustling streets and a vibrantly green-blue sea.

Even as I write this, the Island of the Gods becomes manifest around me — sights, smells, and sounds filling my senses as though I’m already street-side at the Dulang, a river of scooters zig-zagging past, Bintang mingling with chili spice on my tongue.

For now, I can only cling to the hope that a vaccine will soon be available, and the collective breath of the people of Bali may finally be exhaled… as a sigh of relief.