Early in the morning after a long night of chatting with Dinny, I headed to the airport for a short flight to Bali. I had planned to take a long nap and enjoy the hotel/beach and maybe a massage before my friends arrived in the evening. However, that got shifted a bit when I learned that it was a 3 hour drive from the airport to the area we had booked our stay. I settled in for a long ride asking if we could stop for coffee at the earliest convenience as we sadly hurried by the Starbucks at the airport. I had hoped there would be another on the way but instead, they stopped at an interesting place that was simply called Coffee Stop. Half awake I got out of the car and placed before me was a tray of cups with about 10 different labels. I learned that this was a place where you could sample all the different types of coffee or teas that are made locally and then of course if you like any, you can visit their shop and purchase some to take back with you. I sipped on all types of drinks from ginseng coffee to mangosteen tea and was offered their famous "carowak" coffee which is a type of coffee bean that first passes through a chicken or rooster and they collect the beans from the poop. Gross...yeah maybe a bit. But it's supposed to be the best coffee and it very costly! I didn't try it there because they had no milk or sugar but I purchased some at the gift shop to try at a later date. I'll keep you posted lol.
I arrived at the room and was very pleased with the view, however, I was starving and the food and service from their restaurant was lacking to say the least. I also found that the townhouses had their own massage therapist on hand and could be sent to your room so I asked for her to come at three. Massages in other countries are always a bit of risk...some can be amazing experiences and others will provide a laugh and not much else. This one was somewhere in between. A lady arrived at 3 with her child in tow and I wondered how that was going to go over. At first it appeared she had brought nothing with her and so I wondered if I was going to climb on the bed, on the floor or what? But she went around the corner and brought a mat into the room. No sheet of course so I got undressed as discreetly as possible with a small random child watching my every move and laid down on the mat. The massage was neither great nor bad. It felt a bit awkward with the daughter there but to her credit, she didn't make a peep during the massage. I used a t-shirt to cover up when she had me flip on my back and decided once was enough for this experience. I knew there had to be tons of other places around town that might be a bit more professional.
I spent some time in the pool and went to dinner to watch a "traditional Balinese dancer" who was basically a dressed up waitress who did a 2 minute number after serving the food. It was not anything real special but I did get invited to join a table with a traveling brother and sister from Canada. They ended up being great company for the remainder of my time there. My friends arrived very late that night and we spent some time catching up in the middle of the night and then slept in a bit the next morning. We decided to rent a small boat that would take us out to a great spot for snorkeling and spent a few hours on the water. It was lots of fun being in the ocean and seeing all the tropical fish. Plus I loved the boat ride where we could see the coast. Bali is truly beautiful and has glorious mountains and lots of green hills with flowers everywhere. After our boat ride, we rested for an hour or so and then closer to sunset, we drove up to the base of the volcano and took some photos in this little park as the sun was coming down. We had some good food for dinner and then went to our room to play some games and go to bed.
The next day we decided to do a white water rafting trip and it was a blast. Very much a bumper boat kind of tour and the scenery was exquisite with lots of tropical trees and animals around. There was even a 5 meter drop towards the end that was a thrill. That trip basically took most of our day and Steph went to rest since she wasn't feeling that great and Justin and I attempted to find a place for a massage. We rented scooters to travel around the small village area but unfortunately I had a small accident with mine since I have very little experience and I got some major road rash on my leg...which then put me in no mood for a massage. Which turned out fine since the place we tried to go was already booked up for the day. Defeated we came back to the room, I cleaned all the gravel out of my leg and then I went for a swim. Since my friends were flying standby, they needed to take a flight with the least amount of tickets booked and they both weren't feeling super great, so they decided to leave that night to catch a flight back to Dubai instead of leaving with me the next day. So they took off for the airport and I met up with my Canadian friends for dinner and then we went to an outdoor reggae style bar that had live music. The band was actually really good and it was fun to just be outdoors and listen to live music. Some Irish guys soon joined our table and they kept us laughing. It was such a fun night of normalcy and it did my soul good. I left feeling incredibly grateful and slept peacefully.
The next morning, I met the Canadians for one last snorkeling adventure before they had to move on to their next destination. They planned to travel all around Bali for a month (of which I was immensely jealous ;) and as I said goodbye to them, I went for my scheduled massage at this place I had found at dinner the night before. 10 minutes into it, I could tell I was in for a treat and I asked her to change from a one hour to 90 minutes! It was well worth the extra $4 I paid lol! She was excellent and it was private and clean while still being right on the beach. I felt so relaxed and happy, grabbed some lunch, showered and got packed up. The drive back to the airport was a little less time than going and I enjoyed the scenery much more since I was not half asleep. I had just enough money for a junior whopper from Burger King at the airport before boarding my flight. I happened to be traveling on a short puddle jumper flight with about 40 traveling students in which I can only guess that this was their first time ever being on an airplane as they broke out in spontaneous clapping after every flight attendant announcement. You'd have thought they'd won the lottery as we landed. I was cracking up at their enthusiasm! And then after landing, while we all waited in this tiny baggage claim area, each of them went up to each person in their group and gave them a hug. While sweet, I was laughing to myself since we had all been together for the entire flight. They kept me entertained that's for sure!
I spent one last night in Semarang at a hotel near the airport and then left the next morning for Jakarta, my heavenly 4 hour layover in Malaysia and then on to India. This time around at the airport in KL, I stumbled upon an international grocery store that literally had me in tears. It was like being reunited with long lost friends. I walked every inch of that store, not once, but twice, trying to determine what I could fit in my carry on, what wouldn't spoil before I got back to Calicut and what I could eat in the next four hours before I boarded my flight. It was very serious business! I arrived back in Cochin late in the evening and spent the night at a friend's home before getting the train the next day to Ooty. I spent two more days in the mountains with my friends from the UK before heading back to Calicut. It was the perfect combination of beaches and cool weather and the refreshing feeling has lasted long after returning back to normal life here. I'm incredibly thankful for the chance I had to realign my heart, body and soul in order to finish out the last few months here with renewed determination. My friends helped me tremendously and blessed me in many ways throughout the trip and I can only pray that they reap such benefits themselves by their generosity. Bali, I hope we meet again one day! <3
I spent some time in the pool and went to dinner to watch a "traditional Balinese dancer" who was basically a dressed up waitress who did a 2 minute number after serving the food. It was not anything real special but I did get invited to join a table with a traveling brother and sister from Canada. They ended up being great company for the remainder of my time there. My friends arrived very late that night and we spent some time catching up in the middle of the night and then slept in a bit the next morning. We decided to rent a small boat that would take us out to a great spot for snorkeling and spent a few hours on the water. It was lots of fun being in the ocean and seeing all the tropical fish. Plus I loved the boat ride where we could see the coast. Bali is truly beautiful and has glorious mountains and lots of green hills with flowers everywhere. After our boat ride, we rested for an hour or so and then closer to sunset, we drove up to the base of the volcano and took some photos in this little park as the sun was coming down. We had some good food for dinner and then went to our room to play some games and go to bed.
The next day we decided to do a white water rafting trip and it was a blast. Very much a bumper boat kind of tour and the scenery was exquisite with lots of tropical trees and animals around. There was even a 5 meter drop towards the end that was a thrill. That trip basically took most of our day and Steph went to rest since she wasn't feeling that great and Justin and I attempted to find a place for a massage. We rented scooters to travel around the small village area but unfortunately I had a small accident with mine since I have very little experience and I got some major road rash on my leg...which then put me in no mood for a massage. Which turned out fine since the place we tried to go was already booked up for the day. Defeated we came back to the room, I cleaned all the gravel out of my leg and then I went for a swim. Since my friends were flying standby, they needed to take a flight with the least amount of tickets booked and they both weren't feeling super great, so they decided to leave that night to catch a flight back to Dubai instead of leaving with me the next day. So they took off for the airport and I met up with my Canadian friends for dinner and then we went to an outdoor reggae style bar that had live music. The band was actually really good and it was fun to just be outdoors and listen to live music. Some Irish guys soon joined our table and they kept us laughing. It was such a fun night of normalcy and it did my soul good. I left feeling incredibly grateful and slept peacefully.
The next morning, I met the Canadians for one last snorkeling adventure before they had to move on to their next destination. They planned to travel all around Bali for a month (of which I was immensely jealous ;) and as I said goodbye to them, I went for my scheduled massage at this place I had found at dinner the night before. 10 minutes into it, I could tell I was in for a treat and I asked her to change from a one hour to 90 minutes! It was well worth the extra $4 I paid lol! She was excellent and it was private and clean while still being right on the beach. I felt so relaxed and happy, grabbed some lunch, showered and got packed up. The drive back to the airport was a little less time than going and I enjoyed the scenery much more since I was not half asleep. I had just enough money for a junior whopper from Burger King at the airport before boarding my flight. I happened to be traveling on a short puddle jumper flight with about 40 traveling students in which I can only guess that this was their first time ever being on an airplane as they broke out in spontaneous clapping after every flight attendant announcement. You'd have thought they'd won the lottery as we landed. I was cracking up at their enthusiasm! And then after landing, while we all waited in this tiny baggage claim area, each of them went up to each person in their group and gave them a hug. While sweet, I was laughing to myself since we had all been together for the entire flight. They kept me entertained that's for sure!
I spent one last night in Semarang at a hotel near the airport and then left the next morning for Jakarta, my heavenly 4 hour layover in Malaysia and then on to India. This time around at the airport in KL, I stumbled upon an international grocery store that literally had me in tears. It was like being reunited with long lost friends. I walked every inch of that store, not once, but twice, trying to determine what I could fit in my carry on, what wouldn't spoil before I got back to Calicut and what I could eat in the next four hours before I boarded my flight. It was very serious business! I arrived back in Cochin late in the evening and spent the night at a friend's home before getting the train the next day to Ooty. I spent two more days in the mountains with my friends from the UK before heading back to Calicut. It was the perfect combination of beaches and cool weather and the refreshing feeling has lasted long after returning back to normal life here. I'm incredibly thankful for the chance I had to realign my heart, body and soul in order to finish out the last few months here with renewed determination. My friends helped me tremendously and blessed me in many ways throughout the trip and I can only pray that they reap such benefits themselves by their generosity. Bali, I hope we meet again one day! <3
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