READY FOR THE ISLAND
With a heavy heart but at the same time full of anticipation, we leave our truck camper in Mexico and fly towards Europe… Switzerland welcomes us with bright sunshine and we not only enjoy the weather, but have a great time with family and friends. There is a lot to tell, we have been traveling for over a year and have experienced so much that we can hardly put it into words. But much nicer than those stories are the hours of normality we spend with the people we missed so much while being away! We are royally spoiled and perhaps a little more often than usual there is cheese, wholegrain bread and a nice bottle of wine on the table ?
EASTBOUND…
But we cannot sit still all too long… As it’s now rainy season in Mexico and all of Central America, we don’t want to go back to our home on wheels yet. But we also don’t want to find shelter for another 4 months with our parents and friends as so to say homeless people in Switzerland… That’s why we decide to book a cheap flight to Indonesia and take a holiday from travelling ? We know the country pretty well, we were there several times already and have dear friends who own a small dive resort at the end of the world. This is exactly what we are looking for right now and we will spend most of our stay in Indonesia in their little paradise. But more about that in the next blog…
As chance would have it, some of our Swiss friends spend their holidays on Bali at the same time as we do. They have rented houses with a cook and all the trimmings at different places on the island of the gods and the best thing is that there is a room available for us globetrotters! Isn’t that great? A reunion with dear friends and enjoying a bit of the luxury that we have renounced on our trip during the last year in our camper ?
VILLA ASMARA
The first house is located in the north of Bali near Lovina. We meet Simone and Sämi with their two little girls and other friends on the parking lot of a shopping mall in Sanur in the very south of Bali. After a shopping spree we cross the partly mountainous island from south to north. When we get there shortly before sunset, we are welcomed by a lovely crew with self-woven Frangipani flower chains. The house, or rather the villa, is located directly on the beach and has a beautiful pool surrounded by a tropical garden. Our hearts beat faster with anticipation and we can hardly believe that we are going to spend the next days here. We immediately feel at home and have no urge to leave our newly gained paradise to explore any of the surroundings. With chatting, laughing, playing cards, splashing around the pool and partying until late at night, the days fly by too fast anyways and soon the departure from paradise is just around the corner ☹
But this was only the first prank and we have more days to come in a second house in the south of Bali! There we are going to meet more friends who by then hopefully will have arrived safely on the island of the gods despite the recent volcanic activities…
TOURISM AND ITS CONSEQUENCES
Until then, we spend a week on a small island called “Nusa Penida” just a half hour boat trip off the coast of Bali. The island attracts with its wonderful beaches and romantic wild cliffs. With a scooter we explore the island on our own and drive so many kilometers on bumpy roads that our butts hurt in the evening. In fact, some of the villages in the interior of the island are still original. We visit small temples and observe the typical Indonesian everyday life of the locals. The contrast to the beaches and the cliffs for which “Nusa Penida” is known for couldn’t be bigger though. Unfortunately, social media such as Instagram left its trace here, attracting hundreds, even thousands, of selfie-addicted tourists from all over the world. Many of these tourists seem to be mainly interested in photos of themselves with a beach in the background than in the real beauty of nature. People queue up and even accept long waiting times (!!) to be able to take THE picture… Fortunately we only have to walk a few minutes – as often and no matter where in the world – and we are almost alone and the views are just as beautiful.
GOOD TIMES WITH FRIENDS
Back on Bali we meet up again with our friends and we drive with an even bigger bunch of them to Tabanan where we spend some wonderful days in a second house. This villa is idyllically nestled between palm trees on a slope that ends in a small private bay. From the infinity pool we have a view of the wild sea with its big waves coming in from the Indian Ocean which are known to surfers all over the world. Strolls in the big garden surrounding the villa or along the private beach and splashing in the pool are as much a part of the daily routine as the sunset aperitif on the big terrace. As a counterbalance to the evening feast which a cook prepares daily for us, a small tennis tournament is put on! Semi-professionals and amateurs, children and adults, everything mixed and set up for short doubles and not only the winner but also the losers get a rewarding cold beer and the children a refreshing Coke ?
GOODBYES
Of course, time passes as always much too fast and we have to say goodbye once more… By the way, farewells are an unpleasant side effect of such a trip ☹ Again and again we meet lovely people we would like to have around for much longer! We then say to ourselves simply that the sadder the goodbyes the sweeter the reunions in the future.
In this sense to all our friends and loved ones, no matter where you are on this planet: we think of you a lot and look forward to our next reunion!