Bali - The Round Up

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The Pink View

We have spent the last 5 days on and off wondering whether Bali needs rounding up. In many ways it doesn't - we didn't actually see that much after all. For all of that, there is much to be said of Bali but I just don't quite know where to start.

Gregg and I agree, I think, that much of our time in Bali falls into the stag category - 'what happens on the stag, stays on the stag' but not because we spent a month in alcoholic oblivion. Quite the opposite.

Our memory of those thirty days puts us next door to paradise and round the corner from Eden. Sure, as with every other South-East Asian Country that we have visited, there were annoyances, cultural misunderstandings and copious amounts of bottled water but Bali gave us something else altoghter - serenity.

We first visited Bali nearly three years ago, before we were married and following a period in our lives that was altogether more straightforward than the months leading up to this trip and, on our return home, we both agreed that we had enjoyed our visit but that it wasn't somewhere we could see ourselves returning to. There were far too many other enticing destinations for that. Yet, our unscheduled return trip found us falling in love with this place.

The Balinese carry with them the aura of a people highly satisfied with their place in the world - and there is something about their home that makes it obvious why yet, to the untrained eye, it doesn't really look like paradise. In Canggu/Seminyak, the sand is black, there is building work in progress around nearly every corner, the potholes are really something else and the litter, well let's just say it is a problem. After a while, we stopped noticing these things (or at least, if we did notice them, must have taken the view that they added to the Bali's charm) and instead found ourselves focussing on the beauties of Bali that make it what it is.

It is about far more than the paddy fields and incense sticks but somehow those are the two things that pop into my mind whenever I think of our time in Bali - closely followed by the yoga, of course.


The Blue View

The dictionary definition of freedom is as follows;

Freedom :
- noun
1. the state of being free or at liberty rather than in confinement or under physical restraint: He won his freedom after a retrial.
2. exemption from external control, interference, regulation, etc.
3. the power to determine action without restraint.
4. political or national independence.
5. personal liberty, as opposed to bondage or slavery: a slave who bought his freedom.
6. exemption from the presence of anything specified (usually fol. by from ): freedom from fear.
7. the absence of or release from ties, obligations, etc.
8. ease or facility of movement or action: to enjoy the freedom of living in the country.
9. frankness of manner or speech.
10. general exemption or immunity: freedom from taxation.
11. the absence of ceremony or reserve.
12. a liberty taken.
13. a particular immunity or privilege enjoyed, as by a city or corporation: freedom to levy taxes.
14. civil liberty, as opposed to subjection to an arbitrary or despotic government.
15. the right to enjoy all the privileges or special rights of citizenship, membership, etc., in a community or the like.
16. the right to frequent, enjoy, or use at will: to have the freedom of a friend's library.
17. Philos.  the power to exercise choice and make decisions without constraint from within or without; autonomy; self-determination. Compare necessity (def. 7).

In my view this rather extensive list is missing something :
18. The state achieved whilst living in Bali.

Bali gives to the visitor/ex pat something that I haven't found in other places. I'm still not sure whether it is a state of mind (see def. no. 6) the lack of routine (see def. no. 11) or the last of the above definitions (17), but whatever it is it really is a special place.

The freedom to get around at our own pace on our own transport was liberating after relying on public/organised transport for so long, and that transport itself was so pleasant as you really do see so much more when driving around on a bike in comparison to a car.

We rediscovered cooking as we had the facilities, even though it was only one gas burner and a wok, again a liberating experience freeing us from the routine of "where to eat tonight" that does get tedious after such a long time.

Sure, there may be negatives to this place but I can't remember them really and, as such, I'm going to leave you there with a glassy eyed romantic view of a place that we will not only remember but I am sure now will re-visit again, quite possibly numerous times.

Simply put, it is very special indeed!

P.S. Sorry for the delay, which is entirely the fault of the blue author as the pink view was ready to be published some time ago!

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Comments

[Chris and Lisa]

Thanks Again
Thanks for a great blog. Lisa and I have been trying to decide whether to visit, so many conflicting stories but your blogs have really helped. Safe travels Chris