When many people think of Bali, they think of cheap alcohol, a bustling night life, fake designer handbags and multimillion dollar resorts. Behind all the tourist mayhem lies a lush, beautiful island with so much culture and diversity. It is also my heritage with my mother being Balinese, meaning I get a completely different experience of Bali in comparison to the thousands of tourists that visit each year. This post is a collection of photos I took on our road trip around Bali and Lombok, capturing the different terrains and areas such a small island like bali has to offer.
Offerings to the Gods. Bali is one of the only places in Indonesia that still practice Hinduism. Incense is lit every morning, and you will see them along side the offerings everywhere you go (including inside shopping malls.) Bali always smells fragrant because of this, and it's something you notice the minute you arrive.
We took a scenic, quiet route on our way to Kintamani, which means we passed through very traditional villages. Couldn't help but to tell dad to stop the car once I saw these traditional women walking past. It helped that mum also came out of the car with me and talked to them as well haha. It was a perfect moment.
On the side of Kintamani, up in the clouds. Misty everywhere and 15 degrees. Started the journey to go up the mountain at 30 degree weather. After an hour of driving it was so cold we needed to turn off the air-conditioning.
The bottom of Mount Batur. It looks like a grave yard due to the molten rock that spewed out of Mount Batur. The whole area is just rocks and shrubs, kinda spooky but kinda cool too.
Hot springs at the bottom of Mount Batur, Next to Lake Batur.
Some shots at a coffee stop on the way home from Mount Batur through Kintamani. It just so happens that it was raining, and a rainbow appeared - good timing hey?
Pit stop at a random "Art Zoo" we found on the side of the road. This was an interesting moment in our trip. We walked into this studio packed with paintings, portraits and paint everywhere. There was no one to greet us, but we could hear conversation coming from stairs up to an old house above the studio. Turns out a resident artist and his assistant (I'm going to say assistant I wasn't too sure who he was) lived in this house, covered in his paintings. He treated his home as a gallery and let us walk through, seeing where he slept, ate and worked. He had this beautiful view of the sea from the roof of his house (which I bravely walked on) and told us stories about his life briefly before we had to go. We were all so confused after we left, "what was that?", "who was he?", "What did I just experience?". #travelling.
Tanah Lot! 2nd Time going, its so pretty (but so so humid)
Black sand on the shores of Lombok, took this before taking the boat over to the Gili's. Lombok is the neighbouring island to Bali, about 4 hours by slow ferry. Along the shores of Lombok lie a cluster of islands called the Gili's, famous for their clear water, white sand and coral reefs.
Snorkelling with my brother. A lot of fun but also a bit depressing. A lot of the coral was dead and not as much wildlife as I expected. I did see one turtle and many stone fish (eek!), but seeing all that dead coral, ahh. It hit me hard. You hear a lot about how pollution is effecting the environment etc etc. But seeing it in front of you is a lot different I guess.
My view from the boat.
Clear water. So clear you can see the shadows of the coral.
My window seat view of the sunset, homebound from Bali to Brisbane. Bali is like a second home now that I've been there 3 times. After this trip, I'm more determined to learn the language so I can learn more about the culture and actually speak to my relatives, maybe even do a 6 week language course, anything is possible I guess. Travelling inspires you y'know?
Bali you were bliss!
Until next time,
Nissa
