Burning the Inheritance

Bali, an enchanting island province of Indonesia, is steeped in vibrant history and cultural allure.  Its legacy is woven with influences from ancient Hindu kings, Dutch colonial rule, and a modern resurgence in tourism and artistic expression.  The island’s terraced rice fields, ornate temples, and traditional ceremonies reflect the enduring traditions of its people.  Bali’s captivating history and timeless charm continue to captivate visitors, offering a rich tapestry of heritage and natural beauty in Southeast Asia. [Full Disclosure: This paragraph was generated by an AI blog feature which I have been experimenting with.]

We were locked into Bali as a destination in our original trip itinerary as our kids had all agreed to meet us there for Christmas 2023.  Our original plan had been to just spend one week there (December 21 – 28), but due to other changes in our itinerary we found that we had a bit of time between Thailand and Bali and decided to head to Bali a bit earlier than originally planned.  We were thinking of spending a week on a beach somewhere on the south coast and then a few days in the inland town of Ubud before meeting the kids in Lovina on the north coast for the holidays.  I suggested that Colleen look into yoga retreats there (Ubud, Bali is considered to be one of the yoga capitals of the world) and she found what looked to be a great one which ran from December 17^th to the 20^th which pretty much sealed the deal, so off to Bali we went.

Getting There

Due to concerns over traffic, we left our hotel in Kuala Lumpur early (6 AM) for a 10:00 AM flight.  Things were a bit crazy at the Kuala Lumpur airport, but once on board the four-hour flight to Denpasar, Bali, everything was fine and got better as the island of Bali came into view. 

We had considered staying near Denpasar, which is the capital city of Bali, at one of the many beautiful surf beaches like Uluwatu on the peninsula south of Denpasar, but in the end had opted for a quieter more remote spot in west Bali which required a two-hour drive to reach.  Leaving the airport, what we saw of Denpasar looked pretty crazy, which seemed to validate our decision.

The drive was beautiful but we were surprised to find that the “highway” on which we were travelling (the only major road along the southwest coast) was, for the most part a small two-lane road.  We were also very surprised to see how much traffic there was on the road until we discovered that it is the connecting road to the island of Java and Indonesia’s capital Jakarta and that (very surprisingly) 80% of the visitors to Bali come by car.

Along the way, we saw a lot of temples and many small shrines – a reminder that unlike most of Indonesia, Bali is mostly (about 80%) Buddhist.  But we did also see some mosques, including a small but beautiful one in the village of Pulukan near where we were staying (I think I might have gone with a different color than green).

Sunsets on Sumbul

Our first stay in Bali was at a place called Sunsets on Sumbul. on Sumbul Beach, just a bit north of Medewi Beach a highly regarded but off-the-beaten-track surf spot famous for its very long left-hand break.  Sunsets on Sumbul was located at the end of a narrow beach road with the ocean on one side and rice paddies rising up the hill with the mountains beyond on the other side. There were a few small resorts and restaurants down the beach road in the other direction and the nearby village of Pulukan was a medium length walk up the hill back to the main road. 

Our place was a nice stand-alone little house with living/dining, kitchen, and bath on first floor and bedroom on the second floor.  Our house had a nice covered porch out front, a covered balcony off our bedroom, both of which provided beautiful ocean views as well as views of Java when it was clear, not to mention some beautiful sunsets.

The beach wasn’t great for sunbathing – a bit rocky and crowded as the local cows liked to come down to the beach during the day – but it was really nice for walking, especially in the morning or evening if the tide was out. Beach walks aside, we ended up spending a fair amount of time during the heat of the day hanging out at the oceanfront infinity pool which was shared with the small Wide Sands Resort next door.

Our host Rafi and her family, who were wonderful hosts, lived in the house behind ours and we enjoyed a great breakfast every morning taking in the views from the third floor of their homestay. One of our small but amusing daily pleasures was watching Rafi’s youngest daughter taking her daily morning walk out to the beach with her nanny and her Siamese cat tagging along.

Nothing Happening Here

Our days were metered by the sun and the tides and the weather was consistently beautiful (with a couple of thunderstorms at night just to make Colleen happy).  Temperatures were a bit on the high side (high 80’s to low 90’s during the day) but there was always a nice sea breeze blowing to keep things tolerable. Other than surfing, there really wasn’t much happening there (which suited us just fine) and so, for the most part, we just relaxed, walking the beach at sunrise and sunset, hanging at the pool and occasionally walking into town (not much happening there either).

One pleasant surprise for me was that Bali has some great craft beer. (Kura Kura, a Balinese brewery, offered the first legitimate IPAs I had had in a long time!)  Although our place had a full kitchen we didn’t eat at home much (mostly because breakfast was provided and there weren’t really any nearby grocery stores), but there were a few local seaside cafes and restaurants which had very good and rather inexpensive seafood which we quite enjoyed.

A Temple Visit

The only real excursion we took over that week was to the Rambat Siwi Temple, a seaside Hindu temple which we had heard about.  The temple was located 5 kilometers up the coast which was a bit too far to walk, but our host offered to drive us there one day.  Our host had brought her youngest daughter with her who, as luck would have it was sleeping when we arrived at the temple, so she sent us on our way and waited in the car with her daughter. 

As she directed us, we climbed a series of steps up to the temple which sits in a beautiful location on the edge of a cliff overlooking the ocean.  When we reached the temple, we were greeted by a guide who, after receiving a small donation to the temple, provided us with appropriate temple garb and proceeded to walk us through and tell us about the temple and its history. 

As we learned, the Rambut Siwi temple complex is the largest one in Bali known as “the temple grown from hair”.  According to legend, in the mid-sixteenth century a Javanese Hindu priest named Dang Hyang Nirartha stopped to pray in this temple during his pilgrimage.  As he was intent on praying, the walls began to tremble, then collapse.  The caretaker, fearful of being blamed for the tragedy, desperately implored Nirartha to rebuild the complex as it was before.  The priest gave the caretaker a tuft of hair to plant from which the temple grew back to its original splendor.

After touring the temple complex on the top of the hill, which is made up of numerous beautiful shrines, our guide sent us down a series of stairs which took us down to a small prayer grotto on the beach where there were more shrines and statues. 

After making our way through these, we ascended up another series of steps back to the upper temple we were encountered a group of young men visiting the temple who were very keen on having their photos taken. After a brief photoshoot, we were again met by our guide who left us with a final blessing and a flower for Colleen before sending us on our way.  A truly serene and beautiful place.

Next Stop Ubud

After a very relaxing week, we bid farewell to Sumbul Beach and headed to our next destination in Bali, the city of Ubud, which is considered to be the cultural and spiritual center of this beautiful island.