Bali & Nusa Penida, Indonesia
Anna's entry:
The REAL Bali, REALLY?
Whaaaaaat? I know - for us to choose Bali seemed completely out of character. I myself boycotted Bali for over a decade. Our previous Indonesian adventures had taken place in regions like Borneo, Sumatra, Sulawesi, Banda Islands (translation - remote, without tourists). We had just completed an incredible journey throughout South Australia, and a flight connection to Bali from Australia was super
convenient. So, I asked myself - is it possible we might be able to find a way to experience the REAL soul of Bali or whatever is left of it? It seemed like a different type of a challenge, so I took it upon myself to come up with a "master plan".
Tuban
Our arrival at Ngurah Rai International Airport confirmed our previous suspicions - hundreds and hundreds of meeters-and-greeters with name-boards of arriving passengers filled every inch of the arrival hall floor. Honestly, the humongous number of awaiting representatives looked more like a pilgrimage procession or a refugee camp. I am surprised a stampede was not a daily routine here under the circumstances. Normally, the places we arrive to either have never seen any tourists (in which case we get surprise stares and smiles), or just a few tourists (in which case, we get bombarded by plethora of offers of local transport, which we normally refuse).
Rob and I had no problem walking to our place from the airport, but the owner insisted we should be picked up to make sure we arrived safe and sound. So, after a dozen of passes trying to locate our names among hundreds of hands holding the name-boards, it became clear the effort was futile. I spotted a small airport desk with a friendly young gentleman dressed in a traditional Balinese attire, and he was more than eager to call and track down our hotel owner. In about 15 minutes, we were whisked away into a SUV (another confirmation Bali had wealth), and we were on our way to our place.
I purposely researched and booked in advance a family-run place that seemed to be located in a REAL Balinese neighborhood. The further from the airport we got, the more familiar Bali started to seem - traffic, honking, noise, food stalls and street fruit sellers. Is it possible that we actually might have a chance and experience a not-entirely-corrupted-by-tourists Bali? On the way to our place, we asked the owner about the REAL local eateries (for locals, not tourists). "Ahhh - you are THAT kind of people, I like it!", he smiled, and he pointed out a few open-air food markets along the congested streets. And, oh boy - he was right! During our stay, we ate nearly all our meals from one of them - and the local food, attitude, and prices were fantastic.
When we pulled into our place, the hotel did not seem like a hotel. It looked more like an oasis with Balinese monuments and our own temple. Our room was a bit dark, but very secluded, and we could open the door and in a few steps be in a serene pool surrounded by trees, flowers, and candles. In other parts of the world, an accommodation like this would be hundreds of US dollars per night, ours was about $20. In the morning, the lady of the family would perform a ritual around the place and near-by alleys by putting flowers and treats around and lighting the scents. Other neighbours did the same, and I would follow them to observe and savour the ceremony. It was peaceful to watch them, and the narrow lanes of cobblestone streets were adding to the general ambience.
When we wanted to remind ourselves about the contrast of where we were V.S. where the "typical farang" would be hanging around, we would walk out from our peaceful traditional Balinese neighbourhood onto the major street, and within about 10 minutes of walking distance our senses were assaulted by the blaring noise of bars, smoking Westerners, sun-burnt overweight women in tank tops, spoiled screaming kids, and mindless stupid conversations - the "lovely" courtesy of the Western tourists. I never understood WHY would anyone make an effort to go abroad only to block and isolate themselves from the REAL culture and local traditions around them; WHY wouldn't they skip the whole thing by staying at home??? Even during the New Year's spent in a foreign country, the Westerners wanted one thing and one thing only - to get drunk. Conversely, Rob and I celebrated the New Year's the local way - we had a blast dancing on the street with crowds of local men and women, enjoying local treats, cheering and sharing wishes with each other, watching a multitude of fireworks that went for hours all along the ocean shore, and eventually meeting our New 2020 in our hotel pool - surrounded by exotic trees, candles, Balinese sculptures and with fireworks and stars right above us. Just before we left Tuban, through a local recommendation I located a tiny massage place - a lovely Muslim young lady (who could not speak any English), had her magical skills and touches to rejuvenate my sore muscles for the upcoming move - in a few days we would be heading towards Ubud.
Ubud
Another place that made it to the tourists' radar. Even if you have not been here, you may have actually seen or heard about it. If you watched Julia Roberts' movie Eat.Pray,Love, that's the ONE. For many people, Ubud portrayed in the movie inspired some romantic exotic notions. For me - quite the opposite. I felt like in the movie, Ubud was depicted and catered for people that can not think independently, and take a simple approach of going "with the herd" - copying and imitating things to do, things to explore, things to repeat. I was looking for something completely different. After all, Ubud can not be all about cults and yoga! So, it was a fun challenge to take upon myself to actually find a REAL Ubud and, hopefully, not entirely tainted by tourists.
We spent nine days in Ubud and I had us stay in a place run by a local Balinese family. They had only two bungalows, so we were pretty much guaranteed more tranquility and not to have too many Westerners around. For the majority of the time, Rob and I were the ONLY guests. I have to admit right away - this was probably the BEST attitude we have encountered in all of our travels. The family who owned the place were the most humble, caring, kind, helpful people, and we felt genuinely welcomed and appreciated. We had a lovely bungalow with a huge outside veranda, and a modest family temple right next to us. In the morning, we would find a small offering of flowers on our steps - a symbol of Balinese religious tradition for bringing good luck and sharing the kindness of Gods. Rob and I were away from the crowds, and it felt so good to be here - among real people. Every morning, the daughter of the family would bring us a creative breakfast to enjoy on our veranda. We were located only a few minutes walking distance from a royal palace and a major busy city center, and yet it felt like we were staying in a peaceful tranquil cocoon.
Ubud is famous for its rice field walks. Yes - those were pretty and somewhat exotic, but a lot of tourists also knew about the well-walked routes - what is so exotic about that?. With further research, I was able to find other paths that were more isolated, and we loved them. We spent hours walking around peaceful rice fields, coming across tiny temples and people's shacks. We watched villagers planting their rice crops, or just moving on with their lives, we were getting waves and smiles, and it was so peaceful to be away from the crowds surrounded by lush green fields, breezy palm trees, and vast blue skies.
Ubud is well known for its food - Westerners would flock to the places recommended in various guidebooks - what a mistake! First of all, such places are catering to tourists - the food is not that authentic (quite frankly - it is fake), and it is over-priced. Plus, how exotic could you possibly feel when you sit down for your meal surrounded by ALL Westerners and not a single local patron in sight? Unacceptable, in our opinion! Rob and I ate ALL our meals at ALL truly local places - we would get it from local morning markets, from tiny stalls along busy streets, from simple eateries, from families cooking on a street in front of their own homes, and my favourite - from a lovely old lady that had an amazing variety of food at super cheap prices and outstanding flavours, The latter Rob and I got carried away with - every day we walked 4 kilometers each way to have our taste buds rewarded by this honest kind caring Indonesian babushka cooking up a storm of various Balinese traditional cuisine. We were the ONLY foreigners, but not the only customers - locals loved that place as well, which is always a good testimony of good food. Walking there was a challenge - traffic was horrible, sidewalks almost non-existent, but we did come across another fantastic street stall cooking up satay which we would take with us for dinner back in our place. For dessert, on the way back, we would stop by at a local family's place and pick up deep-fried dough filled with ripe sweet jack fruit slices - those were cooked super fresh right in front of our eyes, and were sooooooo goooooood. Every evening when we would return back to our place, our lovely local family always had a thermos with hot water and Indonesian coffee waiting for us on our verandah. It felt so peaceful to be back, it almost felt like home away from home...
Padangbai
They say that Padangbai is considered an off-the-beaten track destination. What are they talking about??? Sure, if you have not been anywhere outside Kuta Beach, maybe. But, for any serious traveller, Padangbai would be a disappointment. Of course, most tourists make their way to a more central part of Padangabi - with dive shops, ferry connections, bars and restaurants - that also comes with congested traffic, loud noise, overpriced food and obnoxious touts that would try to sell you anything. Does that sound like a an-off-the-beaten-track place? Obviously, not.
I made a decision to take us away from the Padangbai's central core and settle in a vicinity. We had to walk up a very steep hill along the dirt road to get there, but it was definitely worth the effort. The place we stayed at was surrounded by (so far remaining) palm trees and a green plantation. We had occasional barking dogs, but overall, a sense of tranquility was prevailing. We made some friends with local villagers while commuting on foot back and forth up and down the hill, and we also had a "secret" path to a beach. The latter was disappointing - it was pretty enough, but the coral was dead, and the marine life was pitiful and not up to the Indonesian standard. We did have a good hospitality at our place, and were able to find local meals - we would buy a typical Indonesian fare (like nasi luwak, plsang goreng, tempe goreng) from a local lady who would sell a plethora of food items on top of her pull cart (mostly catered for arriving and departing ferry passengers), and once we came across a friendly Muslim gentleman who made super fresh and tasti murtabak in the evenings. We visited a number of Balinese temples and watched a few processions - they were OK, but nothing special.
Padangbai was OK as a stop-over, but the main reason we came here was a public ferry connection to Nusa Penida - the former exile island that in the 19th century was used as a notorious place to host political prisoners, debt convicts, black magic convicts, and others alike with a similar reputation. Nowadays, Nusa Penida is visited for two main reasons - the natural beauty and giant mantas. Now - that started to sound more enticing. We by-passed the overpriced "tourist" speed boats, and I found us a normal public Indonesian ferry that is primarily used by commuting locals (and a few tourists that are still capable of thinking for themselves).
NUSA PENIDA
The island of Nusa Penida is beautiful and for the most part is uninhabited due to a very challenging terrain and limited roads; however, unfortunately it has been "discovered" by tourists... Local residents confirmed for us that five years ago it was an
off-the-beaten track place, which nowadays has turned into a circus - too many
tourists, dive shops, boats, resorts, traffic, etc. Rob and I miss the
isolated spots we so much prefer, but it is harder and harder to keep
those a "secret" -- just like in that "Beach" movie with Leonardo
DiCaprio...
West side of the island - Toyapakeh
To explore and learn about the island better, I had us settle in various parts of the island. Indonesian inhabitants were kind and mellow
(as always), and we enjoyed spending time with and around them, but the local
"transportation cartel" took over the entire island, so no public
transport to get around (with rip-off prices enforced by cartel for each
kilometer). Rob and I were handling this challenge in our usual creative ways - we boycotted the cartel, made friends with local residents, walked everywhere, and even on the moving days chose to walk (with our
large heavy backpacks) for quite a few kilometers. So, on those days
(as you can imagine) the mood was not as serene, but we got a great exercise, and it felt good to be independent.
Unfortunately, prior to our arrival to Toyapakeh, Rob got a flu and had to stay in our bungalow for a few days. So, I went on my own to explore this part of the island. Among other things, I discovered a small buffet-style eatery run by an honest, kind, caring Muslim family. The place was very basic, but not the food! There were dozens of trays of fresh home-cooked super delicious dishes, and luckily, the majority of them were vegetarian (which I miss so much when we travel). Even now, writing this months later, I still remember that wonderful
flavourful
creamy jackfruit curry! Their wide variety of tempe goreng with coconut was mouth watering, and their special family recipe of sambal (super hot sauce) was the best I've ever tried in all of our travels in Indonesia (they told me their secret after watching me savouring it in big amounts as if it was one of the entrees).
Our main reason for coming here, to Nusa Penida, was to spend some time with giant mantas. We have been in the water with them in other parts of Indonesia and Thailand (and saw a large number of them in the Galapagos), but this was another chance to interact with the beautiful giants, and Nusa Penida was known as one of the best places in the world to do it. It WAS known, not any longer... Majority of the mantas were gone, for good. Apparently, an unprecedented number of tourists flocking to Nusa Penida and over-fishing practices had scared those creatures away. We did have our share of excitement the day.we were searching for mantas. A strong (downward)
whirlpool-type current came through when we were in the water. We were
OK, but a few divers were really shaken up and scared senseless, when within seconds they
apparently went from 20 meters depth to 30-40 meters. I've always said
there is a good reason Nusa Penida was chosen as a guard-less "prison
island" in the last century - even if you manage to escape from the
cliffs, the currents will likely make your freedom very short-enjoyed.
So, a beautiful scenery does have a treacherous nature just
under it (literally and figuratively).
The sunsets from the Toyapakeh Beach were incredible! Rob and I would come here almost every night. A Muslim singing from a local mosque in the distance also provided an additional touch to an already
exotic setting. The person singing had a beautiful voice and a very emotional expression - his voice just went through your heart... If you did not know it was a religious signing, (and not understanding the language), you might think it was a song about a beautiful and sad love story - a man who loved deeply and passionately, and who lost his beloved to either slavery or death, and the only way connecting with his love was though his singing, in hopes that his lost beloved would catch at least a whisper of this soul... As you can imagine, Rob frequently tells me "Anna - you have a pretty vivid imagination..." Yes, I do.
East Side - Diamond Beach, Atuh Cliff, Thousand Islands Viewpoint, Rumah Pahon
The same Muslim-run eatery in Toyapake (where we ate all our delicious meals) rent us a motorbike to explore the East side of the island - not only the family gave us the cheapest price on the island, they made sure to provide the best motorbike to accommodate our route and our weight, and did not even take any collateral deposit to make sure we would return the bike back to them and not just disappear with it for good. We normally use public transport (or walk) to get around, but it was not an option to get to this part of the island, and we were glad we made it here. While most tourists head out to the over-crowded West Side (with better roads), we decided to go to the East Side (more challenging roads, but definitely worth it - plus we had an "insider" information that some roads were actually sealed.
The views were phenomenal, and almost surreal! To use "breath-taking" description would be a huge understatement. The sweeping scenery of picturesque islands, incredible colours of the ocean, magnificent cliffs, isolated harbours - it was a real feast for the eyes and the soul, it made you feel so grateful to be alive and be able to see and experience this incredible nature's creation.
I also remember how Rob and I were climbing the challenging stairs cut right into the cliffs descending to the ocean... The steps were steep, the passage was narrow, and at some point we had to hold on to a rope connected to a palm tree (I think). This is the location that reminded me what Nusa Penida must have been like before the tourists discovered it - exotic, beautiful, isolated, and free...
North Side - Ped
Ped and Sampalan seemed so more genuine and real, but it probably would not stay like this for long. More hotels and construction noise was creeping into this part of the island as well. But, for the time being, Rob and I were happy to be surrounded by a more relaxed pace of local residents and villagers.
I had us stay in several places along this side of the island. The first place we stayed at was quite cheap (about $17 a night including breakfast), but very comfortable. We had a spacious wooden bungalow and our own porch with carved wooden chairs, a peaceful swimming pool, AND, the best part - the local family who owned this place were genuinely kind, humble and helpful. Rob and I would take walks around a vast temple complex - it was off limits to outsiders (which was a shame), but there were areas that we could explore at ease. It was nice to have a place all to ourselves and away from tourist crowds.
The second (also budget) place we stayed at was atop of a very steep hill - and therefore, had stunning views over the ocean and volcano, I chose this place purposely - we had to walk several kilometers to get here (mind you - heavy backpacks, tropical heat, and steep hill), but we did not even have to leave the premises to enjoy the stunning views right from our own vast terrace. Once in a while, even Anna and Rob need a break from walking.
North Side - Sampalan
The
last place on the island was located in another village called
Sampalan. A very real place, with a typical Indonesian flare - busy
main road, street stalls, night markets (and great cheap food). Rob and
I explored several temple complexes, some of which seemed to have been
completely abandoned, and therefore had some mysterious feel to it.
Helpful local villagers helped us with directions while we were walking
around. On other temple grounds there were some traditional ceremonies
taking place - it seems like it is a Balinese tradition to always have
some ceremony going on, regardless if it is a large community temple
complex, or a small family-owned version of it.
The
location we stayed at was closer to the ferry terminal (and therefore a
bit more traffic), but our place was positioned in a narrow alley away
from the main road, and was very tranquil (and quite posh, but still
cheap). Here, while cooling off in a pool under stars and moonlight,
after an excruciating heat of the day, we met a group of vacationing
Indian guys who treated us to the freshly-cooked by them Indian food
(our favourite), which they brought for us to enjoy straight to the
pool. I am not sure if it was against the hotel rules, but Indonesians
are pretty mellow and are usually tolerant of strange Western habits. I
remember us getting into very deep philosophical and cultural
discussions with those Indian guys - one of the guys was confronted with
a very difficult life-choice decision and was very interested in Rob's
and my point of view. We probably spent a couple of hours in the pool,
and some very serious decisions were made that night - or, at least,
this was what we were made to believe.
Speaking
of decisions made... Was it worth coming here, to Nusa Penida - yes,
but years ago. At this point of time - no. It is very unfortunate, but
Nusa Penida's fate is that of over-developed Bali - booming
construction and mass tourism will eventually (and soon enough) will
destroy the idyllic image and tranquility of the island. It is still
possible to find a few pockets of the exotic enclaves and genuine
hospitality, but is likely very short-lived. Think about those giant
mantas that used to be present in the island waters - they are gone, and
for a good (and obvious) reason.
Bali Finale Thoughts
We
returned back to Tuban from Nusa Penida via Padangbai. Familiar
scenery and observations on the way back reminded us of the beginning of
our journey in Bali, and I asked myself the very question that brought
us here in the first place - were we able, after all, to find the REAL
Bali? The answer was more complicated than I had anticipated... On one
hand, Bali confirmed our suspicions of how tourism had ruined the
exotic pristine spirit of such a beautiful place. On the other hand -
how inspiring it was to be treated in the most kind and caring way by
the local Balinese people who, similar to us, are willing to go above
and beyond to preserve the essence of Bali - its genuine character. Our
journey around Bali has confirmed for us yet again that if you are
willing to leave your own habits and standards at home, and make a true
effort to search for and seek out the authentic, uncorrupted by tourism
corners and people - it is your best chance to come the closest to
experiencing the genuine soul of the destination. It does require
effort, and it is not easy, but it is still possible.
posted by Rob and Anna @ 6:13 PM
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