"Balance, my darling, is not letting anybody love you less than you love yourself." These words are resonating in my mind while I am sitting on the airplane and watching the Eat Pray Love movie. Well, it is true that I did not have my balance last few months. I was often under the pressure and I forgot to be cheerful. I felt that I need to travel somewhere, where I can clear my head ... to BALI.
So here I am, sitting next to my boyfriend Adrian, watching the movie and the whole world through the window at the same time. I love to do it everytime when I am on the airplane. Observing various landscapes; thinking about different cultures and different life. What about Bali? I have never been there before, but my mum absolutely loves that place and rhapsodize about it all the time. She told me that when I return, I will be a different person. Am I ready for a big change?
We decided to enjoy this trip with a nice guy named Ľuboš, who loves travelling as we do. He will be our tourist guide in the name of his travel agency called SuperTrip. Seven more people, also from Slovakia, are travelling with us, so I guess we could call us as "a SuperTrip group" :-)
Our first stop is Kuala Lumpur. To be honest, I do not really know, what to think about this city. I am walking across the street, seeing homeless people who are lying on the floor and it has a forbidding atmosphere (not to mention a big mess everywhere); on the other hand you can be impressed by modern buildings, luxurious boutiques and beautiful nature as you walk towards the downtown. Kuala Lumpur is really a city of contrast and diversity as they claim.
I will never forget those neverending stairs to the Batu Caves, an awesome view from our Pacific Central Hotel, delicious dinner which was literally served on the street in Chinatown, stunning Petronas Towers and a feeling of freedom I had looking from KL Tower. You know, the only way to conquer your fear (an acrophobia, in my case) is to face it. So I have decided push myself to enjoy the panoramatic view of Kuala Lumpur at KL Tower Sky Box. Mentioned attraction is a part of Sky Deck, which is 421 metres above ground level. Imagine this cosmopolitan city is right under your feet, feel like you are standing and floating in the air with nothing below you...No more words needed.
Our next stop is BALI. I am so excited to be here. Artha (our Balinese tourist guide who has cute accent while he was speaking in Czech language) is waiting for us at the airport. First thing I have noticed is his big sign with our national flag and title: "Dobry den Bali, Super Trip." (Hello Bali, SuperTrip) He will be our driver and actually also a local tourist guide for next few days. His white van has cute stickers: "Jak se mate?" "Dobry den." (How are you? Hello). This is a great example of Balinese character. In general, they are very friendly, helpful, funny, optimistic, hard-working and so thankful. They pray every day (each family has its own temple) and honor their religion with religious rites, but what I like the most, they are showing the reverence to each other. Every family shares the love. - cupidity and negative energy are not allowed in here. They protect each other and are thankful for every minute spending together. Stress and materialism do not exist here. Maybe they are poor, but they have something more than only money, expensive houses or cars, because their faith is stronger than that. I believe this is something we (as westerners) could and should learn from them, at least partially. Working all day on a rice field just to have something to eat is the other extreme, of course.
Speaking about Balinese people and families, I love the idea of eating at local warungs. Forget expensive restaurants and visit a warung. "Warung" is something like a small family bistro, where often almost every member of family works. This is a great opportunity to try their local cuisine (mie goreng, nasi goreng everywhere) and create new friendships. As I said, they are very friendly and kind, even though their English usually does not exceed the menu items and even then they often make some mistakes in your order. But hey, with their spirit falling on your soul, you just smile and take it easy. You also take it easy when the ship is 2 hours late or when you are supposed to disembark it with knees in the water and luggage above your head.
We are sitting in one of these warungs and a small boy (maybe 10 years old) is approaching our table with paper and pen and is our waiter for tonight. I am really shocked because he is a big professional! The atmosphere is so sweet. You feel like a guest at their house, sitting behind one big kitchen table and chatting with the whole family. Grilled tuna and grilled shrimps were the one of the best meals I tasted here. If you like healthy food (vegetables, fruit, fish, seafood, chicken, rice, noodles) you will definitely love Bali as we do. You can also find a great beer here, too - just try their (large!) Bintang.
Because I love trying local food and drinks, tasting a different types of balinese tea and coffee (for example "kopi luwak", coconut coffee, mocha) was a definite must do for me.
Thanks to Ľuboš and Artha, we are enjoying so many amazing places. We are walking across the Rice fields with typical Asian rice hats on our heads, swimming under the Sekumpul waterfalls, watching the wild dolphins on a sunrise from a fish boat; learning how to surf on Balangan beach, snorkeling at Manta point, diving to Buddha statues; watching the night sky with bright stars and milky way from the hotel's rooftop in Munduk village, having fun with macaques at Monkey forrest in Ubud, relaxing on the various beaches, islands (Gili Islands, Nusa Penida, Lembongan), driving scooters on their no-traffic-rules-at-all roads and much more... I just want to say THANK YOU. This trip has really changed my life. This is exactly the reason why I love travelling. I had goosebumps and was thankful so many times, that I can not describe it here.
I have realized so many things, such as:
1. You just should be more thankful for every person in your life, every moment and for every little thing you have
2. Do not be in a hurry, enjoy everything with a smile
3. Great people around you, sunny beaches and positive thinking are the best medicine
My mum was right. I have changed. I have found peace and now I am full of positive energy. I have realized that I do not want to live the materialistic life that much, because, you know "Some people are so poor, all they have is money."
P.S. Our friend Michal has decided to stay in Bali (the best decision, man!) and has got super funny and stunning travel diary on Dream destination FB page. I like reading his articles because I am feeling like I am still in Bali and my trip did not end at all :-) Check it out.
One more thanks to all of you, guys!
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