Bali, Indonesia

An update on my recent trip to Bali. Bali is an island within the country of Indonesia. Indonesia seems to be so vast and rich in interesting cultures. One day, I'll explore all of Indonesia. But for now, it was just the stunning, idyllic island of Bali.

I'm finding it difficult to put Bali into the right words. Bali was like... a breath of fresh air. The sky was just so... blue, and constantly filled with kites. The trees and plants were green and everyone was smiling (including me!).

We stayed in an apartment in the Kuta beach area. I had heard some negative things about Kuta but found it incredibly beautiful and pleasant, if not a little crowded. I couldn't imagine Bali in high-tourist season; it was crowded everywhere and high-tourist season hadn't even begun yet! We spent most of our time in the Kuta beach area, beaching and shopping and relaxing and eating. They have a crazy nightlife in Kuta, too. We also rented a motorcycle and explored other parts of the island. It isn't really that big so we were able to go and get lost, finding a few less-crowded beaches and coves, as well as seeing many different cities and towns via the (confusing) roads. The traffic--if you'll believe it--was somehow worse there than in Phnom Penh! Phnom Penh traffic, although absolutely insane, has a sort of rhythm. Bali's did not seem to have a rhythm (or at least I wasn't there long enough to learn it's rhythm).

I was in Bali for at least two major holidays. The first was Indonesian Independence Day. There were flags adorning nearly every possible public place in celebration. The second holiday was for several days. I'm not sure the actual name of this holiday, but it was to celebrate the return/visitation of the gods to Earth. There were ornate decorations, again, everywhere for this holiday. It was fun to watch our neighbors working on decorations for the front of our apartment complex's shrine. During the holiday, a lot of performers took to the streets with drums and masks, even dragon costumes.

Bali is incredible slowed down and relaxed. Thus, my trip to Bali allowed me to decompress a lot of what has happened in the last 13 months. A year of living ridiculously far from home, of traveling to places I'd just barely heard of, of meeting people from all over the world, of adapting, of listening and sharing, but most of all, of having fun. I am trying to think of a better or more sophisticated word, but sometimes a word as simple as "fun" is the most accurate. Fun. And as for the word of right now? Tired.