Things to Do in Bali

If I had to choose a destination that has a special place in my travel heart, I'd have to say it's Bali. I grew up in Indonesia and we used to spend a lot of our holidays in Bali. As an adult I have gone back a few times and to be hotest I could go back and back and back. Here's a list of my favourite things to do in Bali and maybe you will see why I can't get Bali out of my head:

Its beaches

This was our main reason for flying to Bali during every school break. There are beaches all around the island, some being nicer than others. Avoid the Kuta/Seminyak area and head south to the peninsula south of Kuta where hidden bays and secluded cove beaches await you. I personally love the Lovina beach in the north; not so much for its beauty, cuz it's not. But for the schools of dolphins that can be spotted from there.

Its  Hindu culture and temples

Beaches are everywhere in Asia and also in Indonesia, but the thing that makes Bali different from the other islands in the country is its Hindu culture. There are temples in every shape and size, in every family home garden, public gardens, office buildings, hotels etc. There are many famous public temples dotted around the island and if you're lucky you'll get to witness a traditional ceremony while you're visiting.

Balinese Offerings

When I travelled to Bali for the first time, I noticed that every morning, while I was having my breakfast on the porch of my B&B, that one of the girls went around the house dressed in sarong and carrying a tray loaded with small weaved baskets filled with flowers.

She would put one small basket and incense on a small shrine hanging from the wall next to my room, sprinkle it with what I think was water and incense smoke. Then she'd placed one in front of the small garden pond where she repeated the ritual and then one one out front on the doorstep.

When walking around the streets of Bali, I noticed these small baskets were everywhere on the ground in front of shops, residences on statues and in temples. I later found out that these small weaved baskets are called canang sari and that they are daily offerings to thank the gods.

The baskets which are usually made of banana leaves and handmade, can contain rice, meat, flowers, sweets and even some money. They are laid in the mornings and in the late afternoons and left to wither in the sun, or washed away by the rain or even be eaten by street dogs or even rats. Till the next day, when the ritual is repeated all over again.

 It was such a lovely daily routine to watch in the early hours of the day and early evenings and one of the things that make Bali's culture so special and unique.

My Favourite Travel Meal

It's blog link up time again with Runaway Kiwi, Adventures of a London Kiwi and 80 Pairs of Shoes and this month's topic is favorite travel meal. All week I've been trying to think of where and when that was exactly, but there have been so many.

I've had some of the best and oddest fruit juices in Brazil. Every morning I went down to a local juice bar where they are pressed right in front of you and tried a different one, ranging from the more mundane pineapple and papaya juice to cashew and graviola juice. Mixing a couple of them together is also very yummie.

My favourite food is Indonesian Padang Padang food. So good they named it twice is also applicable to the Sumatran cuisine that is widely available outside of the island of Sumatra. You can recognise the Padang restaurants by the many stacked bowls filled with delicious spicy dishes ranging from chicken legs to cassava leaves and eggplant. It's very spicy so lots of ice cold beer is advisory.

Photo by P3rSeUs off Flickr

My second favourite food is Italian and travelling to Italy is like dying and going to food heaven. When I was in Sorrento I had plates full of pasta every night, eating everything on my plate till I could eat no more. The morning meals were a feat as well as I discovered that the Italians are masters in creating breakfast pastries as well. Not so great for the ole waistline though.

I love tapas and the best ones are to be found in the Basque country in the north of Spain. Here the tapas are skewered on a piece of bread and range from succulent pork or omelet on bread to the more daring urchin and liver paste on bread. Do watch the teeth as the bread can be a tad hard sometimes. I'm speaking from experience here.

But to be honest there is one thing that just beats all of these meals I had while travelling around the world. The best meal I ever had was one I had at home after I'd been away from Holland for three months on an internship in the US. The first thing I did was drop my bags at home. I looked for my shopping bag and headed to my local supermarket for some fresh sunflower seed bread and spreadable liverwurst, aka Dutch pate. Never ever have I enjoyed a meal as much as that simple sandwich in my Amsterdam kitchen. So as much as I like to dabble in foreign cuisine, there's just nothing like a simple homemade sandwich. 

A Temple by the Sea: Pura Tanah Lot

When visiting Bali, you'll notice that the whole island is dotted with temples. Private or public, big or small, new or old, whatever their shape, size or age, they're everywhere. I visited a few during my stay on the island, but my favourite one was
Pura Tanah Lot.

In Balinese Pura Tanah Lot means temple on land in the sea and that's exactly what it is; a temple perched on a rock formation that rises out of the Bali Sea. It's completely surrounded by water, especially at high tide. The waves are crashing against the temple's rocky pedestal and the views of the sea in the background are far-reaching. The coastline is rocky and there are a few more temples dotted on protruding rock formations.  It's this setting that makes Pura Tanah Lot so special.

                       This photo of Pura Tanah Lot is courtesy of TripAdvisor

It is said to be built by a 15th-century priest called Nirartha who spent the night on the rock and asked some fishermen who spotted him to build a shrine. I'm not sure how true this is, but a shrine indeed was built.You can't actually go inside the temple as it's only accessible for local worshipers. There's a lovely small and well kept park area that overlooks both PuraTanah Lot and neigbouring Pura Batu Balong, another temple perched on an adjacent cliff jutting out into the sea.

I do wish that Pura Tanah Lot wasn't so commercialised, but like everywhere else in Bali, it is. Before you even get to the ticket office, you have to meander through rows and rows of souvenirs, food and drink stalls, stocked with products at exorbitant prices. But just ignore them and once you're in, it's absolutely worth the visit.

                        This photo of Pura Tanah Lot is courtesy of TripAdvisor

The temple is best visited in the early mornings with the sunrise creating stunning photo-ops and with fewer tourists. Or if you're not much of an early bird, like me, sunsets are good here too.

Spiritual Healing Bali Style: Visiting Tirta Empul

Bali’s trademark is its Hindu culture and all the customs, temples and shrines that go with it. When I was staying in Seminyak, my parents and I hired a car and went on a little temple exploration tour and ended up at the spiritual complex of Pura Tirta Empul in Tampaksiring. It’s located in the middle of the island and is mostly known for its spring that holds holy and purifying water.

After having paid the entrance fee and putting on our obligatory sarongs we walked onto the grounds. The temple complex, which is still used today, houses a few different shrines, ponds and of course the holy spring. The ponds, which are the first things you come across when entering the complex, are full of curious koi fish and colourful water lilies. As we walked on, a ceremony was being held at one of the shrines and we stood and took it all in for a while. Regardless of the fact that we had no clue what was going on, we were fascinated. There was some chanting and humming and a lot of going back and forth to the main spring.

The Tirta Empul complex’ most important feature is this spring where locals (and tourists) purify themselves with the water coming from the numerous spouts at the far end. Based on a legend, the water is believed to have healing powers and cures people of sickness and ill health and purifies them of their sins. It was mesmerising to sit on the edge of the pool, with our feet dangling in the water, watching people wade in and pray in front of the spouts, with heaps of those typically Balinese offer baskets overhead. Before moving onto the next spout, they would splash their face and upper body with the holy water coming out of the spout and then the whole ritual was repeated again. Some other tourists went in and emulated what locals were doing, but we felt our presence alone was intrusive enough.

Our visit to Tirta Empul was a very spiritual and pure experience, even though we only stuck to watching everybody else getting rid of their sins and illnesses.

Monkey Forest in Ubud

With the high street named after it, The Sacred Monkey Forest Sanctuary is Ubud’s #1 point of interest. It’s home to around 600 long-tailed macaques, a temple, a sacred pool and 80 different species of trees. I went in for a visit just after I’d arrived in Ubud and checked into my hotel. It sits on the southern edge of Ubud, with the entrance tucked away in the corner of JL Monkey Forest. As I approached that the park I was greeted by some of the more curious monkeys that had left the forest for a little wander around town.

The park is well kept and there are rangers throughout the forest who are happy to answer any questions you have. The monkeys are quite friendly to visitors especially to the ones who have bananas, wear hats or sunglasses. After my encounter with a macaque in Malaysia hanging off my backpack, refusing to let go, I decided to keep my distance a little bit.

                          This photo of Monkey Forest is courtesy of TripAdvisor

I sat down on a bench and let the monkeys and visitors entertain me for a while, which was as funny as a barrel of er... monkeys. I watched a group of young macaques play in a fountain. They were jumping off the side of it into the water, climbing back out and onto the edge again, ready to make another splash. Not unlike what I used to do with my little brother when we were kids. I watched a mum macaque feeding her extremely cute baby and looking for flees in its fur at the same time. I watched a screaming Dutch woman frantically jumping up and down, trying to get a monkey off her shoulder, while her husband was taking photos. I carried on down towards the sacred pool, where a ranger was doing his best to retrieve an Australian woman’s sunglasses one little bugger was playing with high up in a tree.

                             This photo of Monkey Forest is courtesy of TripAdvisor

After about an hour I was ready to leave the park and headed towards the exit. However, there was a massive male, sitting in the middle of the footpath, grunting and blocking my way. As I wasn’t keen to enter into an argument with the massive macaques male, I took a little detour and found my way out. It’s probably best I did. A friend of mine visited the Sacred Monkey Forest in Ubud a few months later and while playing with one of the monkeys, she got bitten. She went home with a set of teeth marks in her hand and a hefty hospital bill for a couple of rabies
shots. Don't say I didn't warn you.

                            This photo of Monkey Forest is courtesy of TripAdvisor

Teka Teki: A Traditional Balinese B&B in Seminyak

One of the things I love about Bali is the Hindu architecture: The Hindu effigies, the colourful bricks and the private temples in the residential gardens. So when I found this traditional Balinese B&B called Teka Teki in the heart of Seminyak, I felt I’d truly arrived in Bali. Teka Teki means crossword, which to me seemed quite appropriate because my taxi driver and I found it a bit of a puzzle to actually find the place in the myriad of ‘gangs’ or alleys.

                            This photo of Teka-Teki House is courtesy of TripAdvisor


I arrived in the middle of the night after riding a van, a ferry and another van all the way from Cemoro Lewang. So I only realised how atmospheric Teka Teki was the next morning. I woke up in my Kecak room which was tastefully decorated with batik pillows, wicker furniture and local handcrafts. The smell reminded me of my childhood, when I was living in Jakarta. I had my own TV and aircon, but a shared bathroom which was one of those open air ones, a floor covered with pebbles and a lush rain shower right.

                                    This photo of Teka-Teki House is courtesy of TripAdvisor

Guided by my grumbling stomach I went out to the porch where breakfast was served. I devoured my sweet banana pancakes and Bali coffee and relaxed on the couch a little bit, taking in my new home for the next couple of days. There is a small garden which is the domain of the two house dogs and some very loud toads. The latter apparently only migrate to Teka Teki occasionally so not to worry.

                       This photo of Teka-Teki House is courtesy of TripAdvisor

                       This photo of Teka-Teki House is courtesy of TripAdvisor

I asked if I could have a nosey around, and that was okay. There are two rooms downstairs and one upstairs called the Legong room which has its own porch, complete with a traditional Balinese door. There are two more rooms across the street. Since my last stay here, Teka Teki have expanded and they now also offer accommodation in a private villa or, if that is too posh for you, you can opt for a bunk bed in their 6-bed dorm room. Furthermore there is a small kitchen where snacks and drinks are available at reasonable fees.

                        This photo of Teka-Teki House is courtesy of TripAdvisor

There is no swimming pool, but I was taken to the pool at a nearby villa complex just around the corner. But of course, the beach is never far away when you’re in Seminyak, so that's where I went most of the time. What struck me most about Teka Teki is that, due to its location in the far end of a gang, it’s utterly quiet and peaceful. The contrast with downtown Seminyak will hit you as soon as you turn the corner into Seminyak road where honking horns and crazy motorbike riders will snap you right back into reality.

I loved staying here so much that I actually returned the next year and I promise I will next time I go to Bali.

For more information on Teka Teki, click here: http://www.tekatekibali.com/

A Visit to the Bromo Volcano

When you’re travelling across Java, the Bromo volcano is one of those must-go-and-see places. So on my last trip to Indonesia, when I was making my way from Yogjakarta to Bali, I stopped off in Cemoro Lewang to see what all the fuss is about.

In Yogja I had booked a transfer all the way to Seminyak in Bali which included a detour to the still active volcano. The drive from Yogja to our hotel in Cemoro Lewang took over 14 hours. I was picked up from my hotel in Yogjakarta in the morning and we arrived at the hotel in Cemoro Lewang at around 11pm. I went straight to bed as a 3 am wake up call was next on the itinerary.

I was woken up to a freezing, cold room and put on everything I could find in my back-pack, before hopping into the jeep. We drove along dark, windy roads with a couple of other jeeps in tow. After about 45 minutes, the driver parked the jeep and we got out, where even more jeeps started turning up. I bought myself a cup of tea to keep warm and sat down to wait for the sun to appear.

It’s funny, when I’d imagined watching the sun rise on my visit to the Bromo Volcano, I certainly hadn’t thought that it would be in the company of hundreds of other tourists. I kept having to get up off my rock to take pictures of them, or posing in them (the joys of being Western in Asia). But I watched the sunrise and tried to ignore the crowds. I’ve seen many a sunrise, but this one was indeed an impressive sight to watch: daylight crept over the massive mount that sits in the middle of an open plain which is also known as the ‘sea of sand’.

After the sun had done its trick, we climbed back into the jeep and drove to the sea of sand where we walked towards the volcano and up the stairs to the rim of the crater. The Bromo is still active and last erupted in 2011, so the smells of sulphur are clearly noticeable. The viewpoint is fenced off but if you walk towards the end of safe area, away from the noise of the other visitors, you can hear the rumbling coming from the insides of the Bromo. We walked down the steps again and had a quick look around the Pura Luhur Poten temple, before jetting off to Bali.

In hindsight, I think I would’ve give the Bromo a miss given that it’s such a popular tourist destination, but it was not a bad break from being cooped up in a van on our 36 hour drive from Yogjakarta to Bali.

My Favourite Asian Food

One of the things I love about Indonesia is the food, in fact it is my my favourite Asian food and a bit of a guilty pleasure. Living in Holland it was always easy to satisfy my craving for it and often when I go home to Holland now, you'll find me sneaking in a little Indonesian take-away. Not so much here in London as Indonesian food is hard to find. So when I went to Indonesia I was really looking forward to pigging out.

Photo by Adi Setiwan off Flickr

Most touristy places In Indonesia will serve the standard fare such as nasi goreng, sate and gado gado. But if you want to savour Indonesian food that's a bit more adventurous, I'd suggest to try the food from Padang in Sumatra.

Padang food originates from the people of Minangkabau in Sumatra, but you don't have to go to Sumatra to eat it. It's available throughout Indonesia and I tried it in the Kuta and Seminyak area in Bali.

The principle is very simple. The different dishes are all displayed in the window of the restaurant in stacked up bowls. The warm dishes are kept warm on burners.

You start with a plate of rice and you simply point out to the person at the till what you want. The food is halal since the people of Minangkabau are muslim. So typically you can choose between meats like chicken, beef and goat. There are loads of veggie dishes as well such as eggplant, beans and cassava leaves. There are eggs and tempeh (soy burger is the best way to describe this) and of course krupuk, prawn crackers.

Photo by P3rSeUs off Flickr

I was eating mostly on  my own, but padang food is for sharing. Pretty much like the Spanish tapas. Bowls with the different dishes are put out on the table and everyone helps themselves. And the best thing is, you only pay what you eat. No wasted food, but alas, also no doggie bags!

Just one tip: Do have a jug of water at the ready. Padang food is spicy as hell. Don't say I didn't warn you! Now all I need is a Padang-Padang shop right here in London.

Ride Elephants in Bali

I have a thing for animal sanctuaries, so when I heard there was an elephant sanctuary where you can ride elephants in Bali, I got very excited.

So one sunny Friday morning, I was picked up from my hotel in Seminyak by my driver who drove me to the Bakas Elephant Camp. It was a long but scenic drive that went along the south coast of Bali past small villages, temples and rice paddies. The kind of scenery you'd expect to see in Bali.

When we arrived at the sanctuary it was pouring, but that didn't stop my excitement. I paid the 52 USD ( a bit steep, I know) and went in. My ticket, which was the cheapest option included a 15 minute ride so the park rangers ushered me onto one of the elephants, took my camera and started snapping away.

Photo by Pacificklaus off Flickr

The elephant went into a pool, kneeled down in the pool, then stood on its hind legs in the pool. I think it even stood on its front legs in the pool, but that might have been my imagination. All the while I was holding on for dear life, laughing and screaming away, much to the entertainment of the park rangers. My arms started hurting from holding on too tight, and from trying really hard not to slide off the seat.  (Won't post those pics as I don't look very glamorous.) My new mammoth friend did a few more tricks for the camera and then dropped me back off at the platform where I climbed off.

After the ride I walked around the grounds for a little bit and discovered that it's a lovely little park.  There is mini zoo as well where you can pet and hold orang utangs, snakes and reptiles. They also offer packages that include quad bike tours, rafting and cycling, but I thought riding an elephant's back was adventurous enough so after lunch at the restaurant, I called it a day and went back to my hotel in Seminyak.

Regardless of the price I had fun. And you don't get to spend a morning on the back of an elephant every day, now do you?

click here for more info

Dolphin Watching in Lovina

I love Bali, but the southern and highly touristy area of Kuta, Seminyak and Legian are not my cup of tea. So the last time I was there I decided to leave the busy Kuta area to go dolphin watching in Lovina in the north of Bali.

Photo by Hodgers off Flickr

The beaches of Lovina are not the most beautiful stretches of coastline I've ever seen. The sand is black and the beach is narrow, but the water is calm and very safe to swim in. But what Lovina is better known for are the schools of dolphins that live off the coast. 

To see them you can book yourself on one of the many tours that leave from pretty much every hotel in Lovina. Seeing them is pretty much a given, so you won't be disappointed. 

Photo by LisArt off Flickr

I was picked up at 5am and driven on the back of a motorbike to the starting point. Me and my 5 boat companions boarded the traditional fishing boat and off we went. We watched the sunset from the water and after we were a good way away from the coast we saw the first ones. It was incredible how close they came to our boat. They didn't seem fazed at all by the number of tourists boats that were chasing them. At one point I counted 20 boats.

Our guide tried to leave the cluster of boats and took us a bit further out where we were treated to some acrobatics of about 5 dolphins swimming alongside our boat. An unbelievable experience.

I was taken back to my Lovina hotel where I relaxed the rest of the day by the beach. At sunset I had a glass of wine on the porch gazing across the sea  from where you can sometimes spot the dolphins as well. Not that night though. Show was over for that day.

Visiting the Borobudur

Spending part of my childhood living in Indonesia, I always dreamed of visiting the Borobudur. The name alone made it sound like this mysterious place in some fairy tale.

But our holidays were mostly spent visiting relatives in the Netherlands. So when I went back last year on my nostalgic tour of Indonesia, visiting the Borobodur was of course at the top of my list.

Photo by F H Mira off Flickr

I booked a tour with a friendly guy sitting out front of my guesthouse playing the guitar. He kindly offered to take me there on the back of his motor bike early the next morning, before all the big tour buses get in. So off we went. It wasn't a comfy ride there, as sitting on the back of a motorbike for an hour and a half does seriously strain your bum muscles. But the pain was well worth it.

Photo by F H Mira off Flickr

I walked around for about two hours, taking in this mystical place and its stunning setting, listening to my private guide while she talked about its history, its symbolism and its significance. Time has not been kind to Borobudur. It was built in the 9th century during the Buddhist Sailendra Dynasty, left to the hands of mother nature when Java converted to Islam after which it was rediscovered by Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles in the 19th century. It has seen bomb attacks, volcanic eruptions and earth quakes. Soil erosion, and  vandalism the thousands of pilgrims and tourists that come here throughout the year are not doing much for conservation either.

Fortunately it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, which hopefully means that many more generations will be able to enjoy this piece of Indonesian history.

Things to do in Jakarta

Bikes on Taman Fatahilla

Jakarta isn’t exactly an attractive or pretty city. It doesn’t boast a lot of historical sights, in fact some tour companies bypass it altogether and head straight to Bogor after loading their passengers onto their touring cars. However, two years ago, I went to have look when I was travelling through Indonesia. Although I had an ulterior motive. I had lived in this metropolis for two years as a child and I wanted to go back to see what it looked like now.

Things had changed in the last 30 years. Big skyscrapers and high rise hotels had completely altered the city’s skyline. In the forest of all these gleaming buildings I ventured out to try and find some relics of my youth. I went to see my old house, which I manage to find after a lot of asking around. It’s funny how your memory plays tricks on you when you’re 30 years older. But the fact that there was now an enormous residential complex in our back yard didn’t help either. I tried to see my school, but found out that the building had been demolished to make place for an American style shopping mall. The old shopping centre my mum used to take me to called Sarinah Jaya was still there in all its 70s glory. Albeit kitted out with a Starbucks and a Burger King.

Next on the list was a visit to Kota Tua, or old town in Bahasa Indonesia. As a child I was never interested in this stuff, so it was my first visit. This part of the city still holds some historic buildings that date back to Dutch colonial times, complete with a canal and drawbridge  It’s a part of my country’s history not to be proud of, yet not one to be forgotten either.

On Taman Fatahillah I visited the old city hall or Stadhuis which is now the Jakarta History Museum, showcasing many artifacts dating back to the time of the VOC, (Dutch East Indies Company). I went into the Wayang puppet museum which stands on the spot where the old Dutch Church used to be. The exhibitions tell you everything you need to know about the different Wayang puppets, however the signs and descriptions are only in Indonesian.

Stadhuis on Taman Fatahilla

In both museums I couldn’t help but notice how badly maintained they were. Peeling paint on the walls, missing letters from descriptions and rotten window sills. The same goes for the streets surrounding Taman Fatahillah. The old Dutch warehouses were falling apart and weeds have made them their home. Looking across the square through the windows of colonial style Cafe Batavia, I was imagining what it could look like, if only some money was put aside to do the historic area up. It would certainly have a large pulling power on tourists.

I spent the rest of the day in Plaza Indonesia shopping mall, being amazed at the sharp contrast of its modernness with the derelict state of Taman Fatahillah. Nothing but gleaming Gucci and Galliano shops in this multi-storey shopping centre.

But I guess Indonesian authorities and investors prefer to build gleaming malls and ritzy high rise hotels. Out with the old and in with the new. That's just the way they roll in Indonesia, I suppose.

Nusa Lembongan

Fishing boat

When I hear people saying they're going to the Gillis, I always have this urge to tell them to go to Nusa Lembongan instead. I did go to the after reading about them in Liz Gilbert’s bestselling novel 'Eat, Pray, Love', I decided right then and there that I had to go there myself. So when I travelled to Bali last summer I hopped on a ferry and off I went, only to be greatly disappointed.

I have to admit that I did opt for the busiest island, Gilli Trawangan, but what I found was a stretch of western style  bars and restaurants along the main street, packed with inebriated backpackers singing karaoke and playing drinking games. It was like being in Soho, the only difference being palm trees and the weather. A walk around the island didn't improve my impressions of Gilli T. All I saw were construction sites, promising larger herds of tourists ruining the island. The underwater world was just as much of a let down. All I saw through my goggles were two lonely turtles swimming among slabs of dead coral. A result of the many boats full of tourists and supplies that moor here, damaging the coral with their anchors.

Village scape

It wasn’t quite the idyllic place that Liz had described in her novel. So when I heard about another supposedly delightful island called Nusa Lembongan near Bali from a fellow traveller I decided to check it out.

Nusa Lembongan is only about an hour’s boat ride from the harbour of Sanur. Depending on the weather of course, it's a fairly relaxing crossing in one of those spider-like fishing boats with stunning views of mount Agung.

After checking in at my guesthouse in Lembongan village, I decided to hire a motorbike and explore the island.

Nusa Lembongan is part of Bali so contrary to the Gilli's the predominant religion is Hinduism which is clearly noticeable. As on the mainland of Bali you see the typically Balinese structures and temples everywhere and twice a day small offerings are made to the Hindu Gods in the shape of small flowery baskets.

Lembongan Village is the biggest community on the island. There are some bigger resorts on the outskirts of the village, but in town there are mainly some smaller guesthouses. A path runs along the beach which is lined with several bars and restaurants but the atmosphere is very tranquil. No drunken scenes to be found.  The beach at Lembongan Village is not the most picturesque, but it's a fantastic place to watch the boats come and go. Seaweed is big business on Nusa Lembongan. It's harvested from the sea and then laid out to dry in the sun pretty much everywhere on the island.  I'm not sure what it's used for when it's dried, but I've been told it's used in beauty products. A bit hard to imagine as it doesn't exactly smell very pretty, but it makes for colourful displays.

Drying seaweed

The rest of the island consists of car free roads, secluded beaches and stunning scenery.
I headed to Mushroom Bay and the other village on the island called Jungut Batu. I checked out Dream Beach and had lunch on Sunset Beach before riding through a mangrove forest. The next day I joined a diving trip to Manta Point and swam among manta rays, other exotic fish and coral that was still alive. At dusk I opened a cool bottle of Bintang before getting comfy and watch the sunset from my private porch.

Now this was more like the paradise island I head in mind. Sorry, Liz!

Eat, Pray, Love

Flower offers

On my trip to Bali someone pointed out the herb shop of Wayan, the healer. This lady was one of the characters in Eat, Pray, Love, the bestseller by Liz Gilbert as well as in the movie adaptation. She’s now turned into a local celeb and my curiosity was tickled. So one afternoon, when I was walking around the streets of Ubud, I happened to find myself in front of her shop and decided to take a wee look around. For all I knew, I might even finish my holiday in Bali in the company of a beautiful Brazilian man as well...

So I entered. Besides signed photographs of Julia Roberts and Liz Gilbert, there were lots of dried leaves and sprigs on display and other things I couldn’t really place. I was offered a cup of ginger tea by one of the shop assistants and then Wayan came up to me and asked me what I was looking for in her shop. I didn’t want to say that I just wanted to do a bit of celeb spotting, so I told her that after a couple of weeks of travelling around Southeast Asia  I was feeling somewhat exhausted and deflated, even though I was sleeping a good 10 hours every night. Wayan took my hand, felt my pulse and then my forehead while making weird gestures with her other hand and rolling her eyeballs. It was all very weird and wonderful. Then she mentioned all the things that were wrong with me, kidney failure, bad blood circulation, etc., etc. She filled up a bag with powders and pills and blessed it with incense before saying: That’ll be 25 USD please. What? I said. That’s a lot of money in Indonesia, but you have to admire her business sense. (She has been spotted driving a brand new SUV apparently.)

After haggling the price down to 15 USD, I paid her and started to make a move towards the exit when Wayan stopped me and commanded: “No, not finish. Go upstairs and take off clothes. “  I went upstairs and changed into a sarong. I was taken to a small shower room where I was invited to sit down on an uncomfortable plastic stool. Three people, two women and a man, came in and started rubbing wet leaves on me which left me smelling like a  vegetable soup gone off. It was to enhance my blood circulation, Wayan said. I was glad when it was all over and couldn’t get out of there fast enough, leaving a trail of the foul soupy odour in my wake.

I continued my stroll around Ubud ignoring the people squeezing their noses to block my veggie odour, and turned into a quiet little street paved with slabs of concrete in which tourists had written their name. One slab in particular caught my attention. It said: Drink, Pray, Screw, A man’s quest for fulfillment. What an appropriate statement that was.