Whether it’s waking up to fresh flower petals fallen from the garden to greet you on your villa terrace, seeing the southern cross in the night sky for the first time, or walking into the sunset as the horizon becomes one with the sea, Bali has welcomed us with open arms and we feel at peace here.
Week 1
Day 1 – Tuesday, June 21st
We flew on an overnight flight from Amsterdam to Jakarta via Garuda Indonesia airlines, which was wonderful service and very good food. In the US we’re not used to luxuries like leg room, FREE checked bag, meals and snacks, headphones, movies, pillow, blanket, eye mask, etc. unless you’re in first class, so I felt extremely pampered. Our 14-hour journey was smooth sailing and we awoke to a beautiful morning landing in Jakarta. We were greeted with a wall of heat that our bodies would need to adjust to quickly. We were like lab mice dropped into a new maze – our eyes darted around to take in this new place scanning signs to identify which corridor to follow to find our flight transfer to Denpasar.
I noticed designated prayer rooms for Muslims and found it refreshing to see such devotion and respect for those wishing to openly practice their religion in a public place such as an airport, it made me think how difficult it must be as a Muslim praying 5 times a day in the corporate world in between client calls and meetings.
We passed through a very straightforward immigration line, you simply tell the officer how long you’re planning to stay and with a US passport anything less than 30 days doesn’t require a visa.
As we waited to board our flight, we were grateful for the small wall AC units sputtering to combat the heat. Through the glass, I saw men working tirelessly outside wearing white from head to toe. Even though I love the sun, I can imagine why they would hate it.
The flight to Denpasar was pretty quick and painless, about ~2.5 hours. I was happily sleeping, as usual, so I would be fresh for the day ahead once we finally arrived.
Anxiously watching the baggage claim rotate with bags of many colors and sizes, we scanned the snaking belt to find our massive luggage containing everything we could possibly need for this adventure into the unknown. I could finally breathe a sigh of relief as they popped into view one at a time and we hauled them with the rest of our things to the front entrance of the airport where our villa’s driver Nengah patiently awaiting our arrival while holding a name sign “Mashrur.”
We were relieved everything was unfolding as planned and we were on our way to the villa. As we began to drive through the busy streets of Denpasar all my senses were on overdrive processing this new world and a completely different set of driving rules even compared to crazy Manhattan cabbies. Unfortunately, we did come across an all too real depiction of a disheartening Slumdog Millionaire scene watching children weave in between traffic, some holding infants on their hip, as they approach vehicles begging for money. Our driver explained some of the social dynamics at play and encouraged us never to give money to them. This is a deep seeded issue the Indonesian government continues to battle – the business of exploiting children as street beggars.
We greeted our villa with a sigh of relief and the pictures we saw online transformed before our eyes as the large wooden door opened into a serene pool and garden.
Shortly after settling in, the villa managers and longtime expats Brenda and her husband Luigi stopped by just in time for happy hour cocktails by the pool. We tried soaking up all their insider tips like sponges that our already dripping from the sensory overload of all this new information. After our crash course on the must sees, dos, don’t dos, it was sink or swim and we set off to explore this place we had been dreaming about for the past year now materializing into reality.
Less than a minute from our villa is a street leading to the beach that’s jam packed with restaurants, spas, and shops, so it wasn’t hard to stumble upon our first taste of Indonesian cuisine.
You can’t miss the welcoming vibe set off by the purple walls and neon sign with the elephant deity, Ganesha. Reasonably priced and open 24 hours, a welcoming vibe and complete menu of breakfast, lunch and dinner options. If it’s late and you need some good nasi goreng (infamous Indonesian fried rice), this is the place.
Recommend: Chicken or Vegetable Nasi Goreng, Chicken Satay, Sweet and Sour Chicken
After stuffing ourselves, we went for a nighttime walk down to the beach to scope out the scene. We were enticed by the lively atmosphere as the personality of each restaurant resounded in the beats flowing onto the street. The beach was lit up and music carried across the salty beach air, we smiled knowing this place was going to be everything we dreamed of and more…
The In-Between 