Bali
Retreat
I headed into this trip to seek refuge from the hectic life in Hong Kong and to find time to relax. Leading up to the exam period I, like most of the people around me, was becoming a mess of trailing past papers, a harassing odour of coffee and remaining bits of breakfast clinging to my clothes as I lugged my way through each day. So it was a relief when we finally settled into our home for the next week, the Amarta Cottages in Chandidasar.
Simplicity is the key to brilliance. Bali is simple. It is the simplicity of life that attracts millions of people each year. No sign of over-complications and trivial pursuits we put ourselves through when we’re caught up with work or school. Arriving at our hotel, we were greeted with a candle-lit path weaving around the palm trees straight to the door of our rooms.
The unveiling of daylight displayed the grandeur of the ocean stretching from right outside our door. The hotel sits on the edge of the beach with a sea wall, allowing the waves to crash and soar against it, a marvellous daily spectacle. With an infinity pool sitting on the edge of this wall and deck chairs neatly spotted along either side of it, lets say it didn’t take us very long to settle into the slow pace of the Balinese lifestyle.
Food
After a few days, and much nagging, we were forced off our arses and made to visit Klung Kung Market. Travelling into Klung Kung Market was not number 1 on my list of things to do (all the items on that list were relax and soak up the sun) but I must admit I’m happy we went. Being around the local people was such a breath of fresh air. Everyone was so friendly, happily chattering away and kind enough to listen intently to my broken Bahasa as I attempted to ask where we could get some local food.
The downside of our hotel was it very much was used to catering to the Western palette so all of the “Indonesian” food was toned down, spiced down and just didn’t hold any authenticity. Lucky for us, our local expert, Dad (always follow a hungry man), managed to hunt out and locate a small stall surrounded by ladies holding their pandan leaves filled to the brim with rice, fish, meat and vegetables. You know its local when its wrapped in a leaf.
People
After an extremely satisfying lunch we headed across the street to the Klung Kung Palace, a beautiful structure with a pavilion sitting in the centre of it surrounded by a lily pad covered moat. Nearing the entrance of the palace we noticed a flock of women prying on foreigners trying to sell sarongs and shirts to encourage tourists to cover up. In Asia this is not uncommon, often when visiting temples and pagodas it is a sign of respect to cover your legs and shoulders upon entrance. However in this case, these women were charging astronomical prices for an unnecessary task and using the language barrier to their advantage. Cue Mum to march right through the larcenists. When they tried to hound her to buy their materials she gave them a passionate, motherly talking to about unfair prices (I know, ironic coming from the bargain queen). But this haggler’s heart melted for a 100 year old woman also selling sarongs and shirts in the hidden shade of the palace. Neatly stacked on her head, we browsed through her collection pulling out as many sarongs as we thought would make the old soul happy. Its safe to say the centenarian was the real attraction of the day.
Home Again
The rest of the week whizzed by and I felt refreshed, relaxed and ready to go home to face the final challenges of IB. I hadn’t been aware of how close I was to a complete meltdown. I had given my body a rest, something which I had desperately needed. Spending a few days focused on living in the present, I realised how much I over-stress. You can’t micro-manage and control every detail of your day, nor should you! Everyone, once in a while, should just take a step back. I believe that to really turn a new leaf, you need to force yourself to break away from the stress. Perhaps a trip to Bali would do it?
