Bali: Beach in Seminyak, Rice fields in Ubud, and Diving in Padagbai and Kubu

We have arrived in Bali and you can immediately feel it: this is a completely different world than the rest of Indonesia! On our way from the east coast, where we crossed over from Java by ferry, to Seminyak, one of the main beach destinations, it takes us five hours, although it is only about 130 kilometers. At the port of Gilimanuk, a quite large bus with a driver is waiting for us, so that each of us has our own triple seat row for ourselves. On our way, we notice that Bali is really different from the rest of Indonesia, as we already see many temples, some of which are part of the houses, and some streets are decorated with palm fronds.

Just before Seminyak, the traffic becomes catastrophic, as the roads are still narrow and two-lane, but there are so many more cars and scooters. After a short exploration tour, we see some of the offerings on the roadside, little baskets made of palm leaves, filled with colorful flowers and other things, sometimes a candy, sometimes a cookie, sometimes a cigarette - whatever the gods like. 

In addition, we would probably recognize Bali with our eyes closed: because it smells everywhere, on every street and at every corner, pleasantly mystical with incense sticks. In Seminyak itself, we have arrived in a different world: everything here is geared towards tourists, there are countless restaurants offering all kinds of world cuisines and fancy Buddha bowls, and also shops of all well-known surf labels selling beautiful t-shirts, flip-flops, and bikinis. If you are looking for the authentic Bali, you may not find the area around Kuta/Legian/Seminyak particularly impressive, but we like it and we really enjoy the good food here (even though it is a bit more expensive, we have not eaten such high-quality and varied food on the entire trip so far). Moreover, despite the rainy season, the sun paints a dramatically beautiful sunset in the sky for us! The sea here is strong and wild, it flows with full force into the huge bay and pulls you along if you surrender to the current. On our second day, we admire a dance performance at the Uluwatu Temple, the so-called "Kecak Dance," in which a chorus of fifty men, dressed in sarongs and with a hibiscus flower behind their ears, sings themselves into a kind of trance. However, "singing" does not accurately describe the sounds, as the men make clicking-like sounds, and it sounds like "Tschak-Tscha-tschaka-daka-tschaka-taka-tak". What sounds funny, is a great experience live! We especially like the dancers, who wear incredibly decorated costumes and move gracefully to the music, with every movement of their hands, feet, and eyes perfectly timed to the music. 

We manage the dark ride back on our scooter quite well, although we almost (!!!) get hit almost ten times. The traffic, and especially its participants, are really the absolute horror in Bali. Claudio has experience and drives the scooter well and safely, but still, we experience countless, quite dangerous situations in traffic. Traveling in Bali is otherwise quite relaxed because the distances on this small island are usually not far! In our second stop in Bali, in Ubud inland, we treat ourselves well, as our hotel is beautiful, with a great pool in the palm garden, and our scooter takes us to interesting places in the area when it's not raining. Yes, the rain. How should we put it... you can have a lot of luck or bad luck in the rainy season, but we would never recommend anyone to visit Indonesia in the rainy season. It rains every day. And not just for half an hour and then it clears up, no, for 90% of the day it is gray and we experience days when the heavy rain just won't stop. That can be frustrating in the long run. But yes, it is simply part of these tropical regions, because otherwise, the nature would not look as lush green and beautiful as it does here. The surroundings of Ubud, in any case, are beautiful, as the rice fields and terraces shine brightly and juicy green. A word about the beautiful internet Instagram pictures that one knows from Ubud nowadays. There are rice terraces in Bali where you first pay an entrance fee and then you are allowed to enter. And then, scattered in the terraces, there are swings on which you can sit for an additional amount of money and swing. Many young women here put on fluttering white or red dresses and then take their photos on the swings. Beautiful pictures are created that look like complete freedom in nature - in reality, it is a mundane tourist attraction. And there are quite a few swings in Ubud. The atmosphere is never romantic. However, we also experience great things in Ubud: we cook great Indonesian food in a cooking class (highlights: delicious tempeh (fermented soybeans, fried) and fresh peanut sauce). We also took a wood carving class, in which Claudio carved a wooden mask and Elena carved a beautiful flower pattern!

We continue our journey to Padang Bai and Kubu, two places where we go diving, and we see huge, enchanting manta rays that look like flying carpets, large turtles gracefully gliding through the water, an octopus that can camouflage itself incredibly well, and of course, lots of colorful fish. And so we leave Bali after almost two weeks with a good feeling, we liked the island and felt very comfortable here!