There's a lot of stuff going on. Always something exciting happening. From pool training, fitness classes and yoga, there's free entry to Finn's recreation club with its gym, water park and tennis courts, the Friday bbq, surf quiz and movie night. Never a quiet moment, unless of course you're seeking one laying on the loungers by the pool.
Saturday is day off. Except mostly they're just as busy as the rest of the week and start even earlier. 3:30am start my first week to head to Lovina in the north. Went out on a boat to find some dolphins at sunrise.
There was Lake Beratan water temple
Pondok Indah Bedugul abandoned hotel
I took a day trip to Nusa Penida, the nearest island to Bali. The plan was to go snorkelling with manta rays, but they were clearly having a duvet day and didn't want to show themselves. Disappointing, but the beautiful boat trips were still worth it. Went to a natural archway, much like Durdle Door back home, though the sea was a bit bluer over here!
Me and my Spanish homie Paula have been doing a lot of exploring. We've rented out a scooter and travelled around the island. First stop was Uluwatu to see sunset at the temple. There's loads of monkeys there who like to steal things. Caught this fella chewing on someone's sunnies, and saw a guy running after one who had stolen his phone. One tried to take my flipflop as we were leaving but I kept my foot on the floor even though his little hands were clutched around the thong!
We saw more monkeys at the top of Mount Batur volcano. What we didn't see was the sunrise. We left camp at 2am and hiked over 2 hours in the darkness. When we finally made it to the top after many stumbles and trips we discovered thick cloud that masked everything. Boom.
Heading back down, we found smoke rising from vents in the crater. And of course the monkeys. The view started to open up as the sun burnt the fog off.
One of my favourite experiences in Bali so far has been Tirta Empul Temple. Tirta Empul is on the site of a holy mountain spring, and Paula and I drove there to take part in a purification ceremony. First we meditated with an offering. This is very common in Bali, every building and home has a shrine and coconut leaf offerings consisting of flowers of different colours representing the different gods, food and incense are placed daily.
Once our minds were clear and devoted to our task we entered the water. 3 pools with spouts of fresh spring water, each one with a different purpose. The first pool had 13 fountains for cleansing the different parts of the body; eyes, ears, nose, mouth, hands etc. There are two spouts in this pool to avoid, one for special ceremonies and one for cremations. At each spout you repeat 'namaste' three times, wash your head, then your face, then dip your head under the torrent.
At the second pool, the Karma pool, there are just two fountains. One for confession and one for promise. You repeat the same process focusing on things you want to move on from and resolutions for the future.
The final pool is for your chakras. The first fountain, the largest is the Fountain Of A Thousand Wishes. Same again, only this time you have to make a wish - very carefully, we were told. The others are for the seven chakras.
It was a very beautiful experience that left us both feeling lighter and airy. The feeling of the cool clear water cleaning body and mind was uplifting.
It is currently event #3 in the World Surfing League, right here in Bali, the Corona Bali Pro. This morning we headed over to the event on our Saturday off. Only for the competition to be called off for the day as it has been for the last two. They're waiting on a big swell that is coming in. But we went along anyway and were treated to a wave that grew as we watched. The world's best surfers are all in Keramas for the event, so a lot of them were out in the water. We spotted seven time world champion Stephanie Gilmore heading out, and I'd kill to know who some of the other pros out there were, the level of surfing was beyond anything I've seen in the real world - not on a tv screen. We watched from a bar's pool practically on the shoreline.
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