What is the most important thing about traveling? Many people think it’s better to get to the place as soon as possible, and choose the shortest route. But there are others, those for whom a trip is a good reason to see countries and cities that are not an end in themselves, but it is very interesting to visit them.
Such transit routes attract the opportunity to stay for a couple of days on the road and see something that you might never see. There is another goal in this option: to take a break, especially if the journey is long in time. You must agree that after a 10-hour flight, transferring to another plane, in the seat of which you will have to spend another 8-10 hours, is not at all a comfortable, but simply a difficult story.…
So this time, going on another trip to Australia with the children, my wife and I chose a very exotic route with a three-day stop on the island of Bali, which, as you know, is part of Indonesia. This island is relatively small, it has two active volcanoes – Agung (2,997 m) and Gunung Batur (1,717 m), which in itself is not so unusual: Bali is part of the Lesser Sunda Islands and is located in an active seismic zone.
The last major eruption occurred in 1963, claiming many human lives. But the proximity to volcanoes has its advantages.: The soils here are fertile, allowing rice to be grown, and coconuts to be plucked from palm trees, and they guarantee coffee harvests.…
And now, as an appendix to geography, a piece of history. It is believed that Europeans first reached Bali in 1512, when Portuguese ships anchored off the island’s northern coast. The local history is full of wars and changing ruling dynasties; in the 19th century, the island was captured by the Dutch, and it became part of the Dutch East Indies. Bali has been part of Indonesia since 1949, and it became a popular international resort in the 1970s.
Bali, therefore, is the most resort island, with beaches and warm waters of the Indian and Pacific Oceans. I would not come here for a long time, because I do not like passive recreation, which involves lying on the beach and is accompanied by a five-meter route from a rented sunbed to the water’s edge.
Therefore, three days in Bali were absolutely fine with me: to relax after a long flight, lie down, sleep off and experience the beauty and uniqueness of this exotic island. A kind of easy transit vacation.
…As it turned out, Bali is a great place for a three-day stay! Moreover, it’s not the season for these parts, as they say, and there aren’t many people here. Why is it not the season? It’s just that frequent rains (the dry season starts in April) and stuffiness make this time of year not the most comfortable – not like in June and July, during the local “winter”.
Day life for tourists in Bali, if you do not find a suitable alternative like a trip to temples or national parks, consists entirely of beach holidays and shopping. The narrow streets (and the wide ones too) are full of shops, stalls, cafes and restaurants of varying degrees of “stardom”. Half of the residents ride motorbikes. It looks a bit like Thailand, but it’s still not Thailand.
In order to understand what you are being offered, you need to know English, Russian is not in use at all. Although they say that you can find a Russian guide, and even a seller in the market. But with the active goodwill of the local population, it is quite possible to do with gestures and smiles.
In the shops and numerous shops, the usual tourist goods prevail: hats, handbags, amulets from the forces of evil and to attract the forces of good. There are many products from the “gifts of the sea” and wood carvings. All this is quite cheap and almost all the products are the product of local craftsmen, without the traditional “made in China” brand for our times.
I remember one episode. My wife and I are sitting in a small cafe with tables on a wooden platform under large fans, enjoying the fresh air (if the midday heat can be called “fresh air”, the average daytime air temperature does not drop below 26-30 ° C), eating something local, delicious. Two kids come into the yard – a girl of 8-9 years old and an older boy, 11-12 years old: they are selling some local jewelry with corals. The boy moves in a bent position, dragging his legs, as if he has some kind of cerebral palsy with consequences. They offer their wares, none of the cafe’s customers react, and they, unsurprised, go to the gate. On the way out, the boy suddenly straightens up and, spreading a wide smile, looks at us slyly and winks!
And here is an example of benevolence. After leaving the airport with a couple of heavy suitcases, due to our poor knowledge of English, we found ourselves at a loss as to where to go. The porter, who loaded our suitcases onto a trolley, seemed to understand this, and we moved on under his smiling guidance. He guided our actions, helped us attach our passports to the readers with the right side, pressed the keys of some computers for us… It seemed that not only the payment for services was important to him, but also the desire to help the elderly guests of the island. We exchanged a firm handshake and smiles at parting.
Balinese people are very religious, they live with an eye on karma and believe that any bad action is bound to pay off. Figurines of gods guard the gates of houses, tower at intersections; incense is smoked at each bench… Almost 84% of the country’s population profess Hinduism, its local variety is a fusion with Buddhism and ancient indigenous beliefs. Paganism is especially evident in the worship of ancestors and in the cult of natural phenomena. Here, each hypostasis of Nature (just like that, with a capital letter) has its own spirits, which must be honored and cajoled with offerings.
It is said that none of the Balinese will start the day without consulting with the priest about whether this day is favorable and how the powers of the gods and demons are correlated at the moment. All the rituals of their religion are aimed at preserving harmony between the world of spirits and the world of people. Knowledgeable people claim that Balinese people are happy in this unity. For example, mountains are not just mountains for them, but the havens of gods and ancestors.
Three days have passed quickly – it’s time to pack your bags, order a taxi and go to the airport. By the way, there are about two dozen taxi companies on the island, but an attempt to order a taxi from some non-local company usually ends in failure, local taxi drivers are actively fighting with a cheap international aggregator. Every company, every hotel has its own place under the sun of this resort island.
Goodbye Bali, but most likely goodbye. What will be the next transit in our lives? Who knows…
Denpasar
