Suksma

Culture shock is a strange thing. Going from one extreme to the other, Bali is hectic, humid, and incredibly beautiful. When we were traveling through Australia, backpacking was the experience you went for. The feeling of being on your own, meeting new people every night, exploring together – it’s an enchanting thrill. But Australia lacks a certain sense of challenge. Everything is geared towards backpackers, and amenities are plentiful. The language is the same, the culture either lacking or eerily similar. Without a car especially, it is impossible to explore to more “true” Australian areas such as the Outback or even suburbs of the larger cities. Bali, on the other hand, is like being on psychedelic drugs. There are colours, sounds, and smells everywhere. The food is different, the language complex, and the people easily misunderstood. All of this makes for an adventure of a different nature. A severe reduction in backpackers means that one is more isolated (and thankfully I have Marije with me for good company!), but the cultural changes mean one could last weeks here without ever having to be bored.

So after we arrived, Marije and I stayed at the EchoLand B&B. We’ve gone from having to cook every meal and finding food in supermarkets, to picking nice restaurants and enjoying banana pancakes on a nearly daily basis. On our first day, still slightly sleep deprived, we decided to rent a scooter. There are two ways around Bali: scooter or taxi. So to get a feel for the island, we rented scooters of the nice Venezuelan man that ran the B&B. Slightly skeptical he handed us over the keys, reminding us that we can simply grab a taxi if we want. A vote of confidence. Scary as it may be, we had a ton of fun as we drove among Bali’s winding roads, through rice fields and villages. When we ran low on petrol, we panicked as there was no petrol station to be seen. A lot of asking around taught us that petrol is sold in empty vodka bottles on the side of the road for a mere 8000Rp (€0,70). We drove around for a couple of hours (having a slight left-hand driving panic here and there) before grabbing nasi goreng for lunch. Only ever having had this in Chinese takeaways, this was an eye-opener. Afterwards, we returned our scooters (Mr. Venezuela seemed very relieved), and went for dinner with a Dutch couple we met at the B&B. We ate beautiful Indonesian food whilst watching the sun set over a beach crowded with surfers. It’s a hard life, here in Bali.

The next day we grabbed a taxi to Seminyak with all our gear and checked into our new hostel. This time we shared a room with four other girls, but it seems backpackers here are significantly less approachable than in Australia. Seminyak is known as the “expensive” area of Bali where the most luxurious bars, clubs, shops, and spas can be found. Restaurants serve mainly Western food, while tourists crowd the streets in cheap t-shirts saying “I love Bali”. Marije and I bought ourselves some new clothes (a nice dress is a must, right?) before having dinner at a nice little Mexican place with good live music. We finished the night meeting up with Sam, an American gal we met in Canggu and who told us to come to a place called Ku De Ta. As we walked across the beach, the bars got fancier by the meter and Ku De Ta turns out to be one of the most renowned bars in Indonesia. So we had a heavily overpriced drink there before heading to a smaller place with beanbags right on the beach, where the beer was cheap and the view good.

For our second and last day in Seminyak, I did something I’d thought of so often but never could afford: book myself into a very expensive spa for a full massage. Bodyworks came highly recommended in travel guides, blogs, and websites alike. So for a whopping 260.000Rp (€18) we enjoyed a 1hr massage in the most divine sense possible. The full body massage included a head-massage, essential oils, and a hot shower afterwards. As we walked around to find somewhere to have dinner, my entire body felt relaxed. Bali is a place to be pampered on a budget. And as we walked around aimlessly, we ran into the most amazing little restaurant. Live music was playing, the atmosphere was good, and the smell amazing. We had a nice Indonesian dinner and indulged ourselves with banoffee pie for dinner. Since we left Seminyak, I simply cannot stop thinking about that pie.

After a day of indulgence, we booked ourselves in with a private driver to take us to our next destination of Ubud. He introduced himself as “Goodday”, asked us to not bother with seat belts as they didn’t work, and then started driving towards our first stop along the way: Tanah Lot. The temple is well-known and well-visited. As we arrived, it was more like a parade of tourists than a spiritual experience of any kind. As you walk through the sea to reach the temple, you’re asked for money in order to be blessed. Then, as you walk back towards the parking lot, you pass more shops than in all of Seminyak. Undoubtedly, the temple is beautiful, but we decided to enjoy it from a terrace on a nearby cliff with a glass of coke instead.

Our next stop was unplanned, and on initiative of Goodday. We stopped at a coffee plantation, and the words Kopi Luwak were shouting out at me everywhere I looked. As we entered the facilities, I saw several of the civets used to make the coffee in small cages and tied to trees. Most of them looked overweight, unhealthy, and generally lethargic. Kopi Luwak is made by using coffee beans that have been digested by the civets – the beans are collected from the faeces and then ground up as with any other coffee. The idea is that the civets will only choose the best beans, thus creating the richest coffee flavour. In reality, civets are often kept in captive environments with too little space. So we politely declined the Luwak coffee as we drank a staple of other drinks (Ginseng tea, coconut coffee, and ginger tea to name a few).

Lastly, Goodday took us to a more enjoyable place: Monkey Forest. Home to over 600 long-tailed Balinese macaques, its a haven for primate behaviour. The macaques roam free in the forest and the temple it is home to, wreaking havoc everywhere they go. They’ll grab clothes, bags, food, and even open bottles of water if it is left unattended. As I sat down on a bench, a female grabbed my bag and tossed out my tickets and lens cap before deciding there was nothing of interest in it. We walked around for a while enjoying the beautiful scenery and playful behaviour of the many juveniles that run round (they love doing cannonballs into the water, it seems). Eventually we moved on and arrived in our hostel in Ubud.

Ubud is a place where life just slows right down. For the next few days we enjoyed its many shops, spas, and bars. We had a facial (lying still for so long truly is challenging!), and shopped for new clothes. We had Indonesian food in tiny little shops, and burgers in westernized restaurants. The first night, we attended a fire dance – a traditional Indonesian form of art, we were excited. And as much as I appreciate the skill of the mesmerizing chanting and the elegance of the female dancers, there was no way we could follow the story and we left the open-air theater more confused than enthralled. We met a Dutch guy that joined us for drinks the next night. A lot of tequila, beer, and water later our bill came to an embarrassingly high 1.300.000Rp (almost €90) for the three of us. In whichever currency you look at it, it was definitely too much. The next day was spent nursing cataclysmic hangovers with copious amounts of coffee and a reasonable dose of regret. But I did buy a Bahasa Indonesia phrasebook, and our attempts at the language entertained our waitresses that night as we had dinner and asked them everything from “How are you?” to “Where is the toilet?”.

But the most magical experience thus far awaited us this morning (14th of May). We arose at 2am and were picked up by a van with Sam and our driver inside, and headed towards Mt Batur. At 1717m high, it is the tallest volcano in Bali. The plan: climb it before sunrise, and enjoy the sunrise from the top.

On the drive up to the mountain we had a quick stop for a banana pancake breakfast, and the exhaustion meant that we mostly ate in silence and anticipation. Having only climbed Mt Snowdon before, I’m not particularly experienced and I was skeptical that we’d make it up in a mere 1.5hrs. But soon we set off under the most amazing night sky and started our ascent. To say it was anything less than challenging would be a lie – my body has lacked exercise during my travels and the humid weather made for a difficult climb. But as we looked up the mountain, we saw the torches of all those walking in front of us and it pushed us slowly up the mountain as the night drew to a close.

After 1.5hrs, we reached the summit. About 400 more climbers were stood spread out over the crater rim as we waited for the sun to make an appearance. The atmosphere was everything but quiet or spiritual – noisy Indonesian teens were taking selfies, some Swedish lads were playing music, and an American girl was beyond excited: not because she had just climbed a mountain, but because she had signal to send a snapchat. It was a sobering thought that this is the future. But we did our best to take in the view with a sense of quiescence and appreciation for the beautiful sight in front of us. If you ever travel to Bali, climb Mt Batur. It is worth the hardship.

But we still had a descent to go, so after a quick banana sandwich, we set course for the rest of the hike. My aching and trembling legs struggled with the near-vertical climb down, but it was all the more rewarding when we arrived at the base of the mountain a couple of hours later – exhausted, but happy. It was the most enjoyable experience I’ve had in Indonesia so far, though I do believe we have earned ourselves a (much cheaper – only 70.000Rp) massage.

So, wherever you are, get up early for a day. Don’t just watch the sun set, watch it rise and admire the fact that you’re one of the few people awake to see it. It’s exhilarating.