Some observations and notes about my experience on Bali:

Traffic

The elements of the road — vans, motorbikes, bicycles, pedestrians, dogs — move together as if in a water dance. There appears to be no rhyme or reason but there must be because no one collides.

The van backing into the road gives no fucks about the approaching scooter, and the scooter gives no fucks about the backing-out van. Each proceeds on their trajectory and somehow shares the same space without impacting the other.

One country’s chaos is another’s order.

Bali belly

I didn’t get sick! I left just in time, though. My 💩 became progressively less solid over the course of the 8 days. This could be from the 3 times I absentmindedly wet my toothbrush with tap instead of bottled water, or from ice, or from the fruit and veggies on my plate washed in tap water… who knows. I kept precaution in mind but was not super vigilant, a balance that more or less worked well for me.

Food

Nasi campur is the signature dish. It’s a mound of rice in the center, with surrounding sides of vegetables and meats (if you’re into that). My favorite to order was nasi goreng, a fried egg over fried rice. I don’t normally go for fried food, but this is not french fries. I had it a few different ways: on its own or mixed with tiny shrimp; sometimes the egg was cut into strips. In all cases, I loved it. I also had yellow curry a few times.

My favorite meal was probably at The Cup in Amed. It wasn’t just the fantastic views of Mt. Agung and the sea. Every bite of the fish soup made me say “wow”.

Food is also incredibly cheap. Full meals cost around $5 in Amed and $7 in Ubud.

Money

I thought it would be harder than it was to get used to the very high denominations. IDR 100,000 is roughly $7 USD. Main dishes are around 65,000 and drinks around 25,000. In Amed, there were no additional charges added to the bill. In Ubud, there was tax and/or service fee. I didn’t tip for food but I did tip for the massage and pedicure.

People

I didn’t have the same kinds of interactions here that I did in New Zealand. For the language barrier, there wasn’t as much of an opportunity to get to know the people I talked to. My general impression was one of friendliness, with lots of smiles. Nyoman, the bike tour guide, speaks very good English (which he said is because he practiced a lot.. go figure), and I really enjoyed the window into Balinese culture that came with spending several hours with him. I also enjoyed Wajan taking me up to the back of the Tirta Gangga gardens to explain the light/dark philosophy of the people here. I struggled with vendors wanting/needing to grab my tourist dollars. I was annoyed at the taxi drivers for shouting at me on Jl. Monkey Forest and taken aback by the people selling sand art and T-shirts at Mt. Batur. And I felt guilty for feeling annoyed at their aggressiveness, because with such an economic disparity between us, how else would this go?

Weather

Speaking of struggle… I can’t be in the sun anymore the way I used to, and oh my god the humidity. I grew weary of being sweaty and slathered in sunscreen and/or bug spray all the time. It bothered me more in Ubud, where I did more walking around than laying around by bodies of water, as in Amed. My days there of lounging in the shade of my lanai and in the pool and taking an ocean dip were the ideal way to be in this weather.

Things I didn’t do that I wish I had

Drink coffee

I detoxed from coffee between finishing work and leaving on my trip. I do this annually because I don’t like being dependent on caffeine. What I mean by that is not that I need it for energy; I don’t get a boost or a comedown from coffee, I just really enjoy drinking it. It’s the terrible withdrawal headache that tells me I’m physiologically dependent, and I like to be free of that for a few months each year.

For my trip, I had the additional purposes of 1) not needing to find coffee wherever I was in order to avoid that headache. I could have carried coffee packets, but I had some early mornings on which I wouldn’t have time to sit and enjoy a cup because I needed to get on a bus, which brings me to 2) Coffee goes right through me and makes me pee a lot and only 1 of the 7 or so buses I rode had a bathroom on board.

When I got to Indonesia, I was accustomed to drinking tea and continued to do so, despite the country being a top producer of the world’s best coffee. I had a latte at Seniman and I wish I had had a brewed cup, as well as having a few cups here and there throughout.

Attend a Balinese dance performance

They were easy to get to and occurred nightly at 19:30. I kept thinking I was going to go and then not going for whatever reason at the time. Jeff and Janet went on their first night and said the seats were rather uncomfortable, which likely put me off with all my back issues. I thought I could maybe stand in the back, but not having seen the venue, I don’t know. I did want to experience the expressive gestures of the dance, particularly the eyes.