TRAVEL | BALI

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

I'm finally getting round to posting my travel experiences of 2014! Hopefully, it will give you all some inspiration of where to go in 2015. If there's one thing I learnt from the 9 weeks I spent travelling, is that the world is smaller than you think. You may feel the other side of the world is unreachable, but it isn't. I'm much more understanding of different cultures and how actually, we aren't that different at all. 

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Tip 1: Learn to let go

As I climbed up the stairs in Manchester Airport, my family waving goodbye behind me, it finally hit me. I was about to embark on the most immense adventure I’d ever experienced.

Generally, I like to keep order and routine, so it scared me to think I would be living unpredictably, moment by moment.

I hadn’t had time to process what was ahead of Mischa (my travel partner) and me, but it was happening. No turning back now.

We hadn't booked anything. No trips, no internal transport, and little accommodation. But I soon realized, the less you plan, the better. After all, isn’t that the reason we travel? To leave behind the daily strain of time keeping and responsibilities? 

Our first hostel, The Island, Kuta, was booked beforehand. I don’t think we appreciated the luxury of this hostel. They had duvets, air con, a pool and sunbeds, which we took for granted.

If you’ve never slummed it, you probably won’t be able to imagine sleeping with your damp towel as a sheet, using the humid outside air as “air con” and lying on concrete to sunbathe, and that’s sometimes the best you get. It’s not a glamorous activity. 

Kuta is infamous for its nightlife, mostly due to the YOLO nature of the Aussies. Go down to Alleycats and Sky Garden for some drunken ridiculousness.

Our two new Dutch friends kindly zoomed us around the sights of the city on their mopeds, which are everywhere! People drive them on pavements, no one stops at junctions and they cram their whole family plus a chicken onto one bike. 

But it’s all part of the charm of this crazy town.

Kuta beach is renowned for being a slightly dodgy area, but it looked alright to me!

The more sophisticated town of Seminyak is a mile up the beach from Kuta, which is where I rode the ‘beach break’ for the first time. Moguli, our questionably qualified teacher, was much cheaper than the official surf schools, but just as competent.

Ubud was my favourite city in Bali, around 4 hours bus ride inland from the coast. We trekked up Mt Batur at 2am the next morning in pitch black. I hadn’t slept a wink due to a roommate kindly informing me, a rat had leaped into her bed the previous night. Cheers lady.

After trekking up rubble and mud for two hours in darkness, the view at the top was breathtaking. The photos could never capture the beauty of the sunrise. But the memory will never escape my mind.

Halfway up...

The view from the top.

The Yoga Barn is the go-to for yoga lessons in Ubud. Full of hippies and those in search of their souls. It is so peaceful, which was especially welcomed after a stressful, uncomfortable journey there. 

Asia is a chaotic continent, very unlike the Western world, and plans, unfortunately, never go to plan. I needed to learn to let go, as what will be, will be.

Have you ever been to Bali?

@AmyBolser1