Days 36 to 47: Bali’s big, bad south coast

Anyone familiar with Bali will know that the route from Denpassar airport to Seminyak on Bali’s south coast is basically one big traffic snarled, touristy and busy stretch of humanity. Jam packed – well that’s how it feels anyway. Back in 1963, Bali’s fourth hotel was opened to much fanfare by President Surkano in Sanur. Now tourism makes up 80% of Bali’s economy. Almost five million tourists arrived here in 2016 – which almost doubled the number of 4 years ago. There is no doubt that on the south coast, the infrastructure is straining.

We stayed at Serenity Eco Resort – God we are turning into a couple of hippies . . . We stayed here four years ago and its still a very cool and cheap place. There is backpacker accommodation here but we plumped for the “upmarket” double rooms around the pool at $45 a night. And you get an ensuite and air conditioning for that.

Serenity really tries to do things in an environmentally conscious way. An onsite water filter means no need for the usual two complementary plastic bottles of water per day. Permaculture is used in the adjoining field to grow much of the fruit and vegetables served in the restaurant. And sheets and towels are changed every three days. The restaurant is completely gluten free and predominantly vegan. And talking of which I am pretty proud to announce I am still meat free after leaving NZ. A piece of bacon found its way on to my breakfast plate this morning and I do have to admit I looked longingly as it made its way back again to the kitchen. All jokes aside, I am loving eating vege – especially in a place where non-meat meals actually taste great.

Jo and I decided to walk along the beach into Kuta for some shopping. We left early in the morning with a cut up pineapple from Serenity’s kitchen. 7km later two sweaty, smelly and bedraggled characters trooped into Kuta’s Beachwalk shopping centre. After having pumped myself up to buy some T shirts, I couldn’t wait to get out of the place. Had an awesome breakfast at the Azul Beach Club, a beautiful two story bamboo restaurant on the beach front. And then, as is often the most fun part, a good natured haggle for a taxi to avoid walking 7km back again. I was picked out as the weak link and ended up agreeing to $2 more than Jolanda’s bottom line – which I think I have just about been forgiven for . . .

A quick comment about plastic, or more to the point the amount of it lying on Bali’s beaches. We noticed this last time we were here and I remember being quite shocked at the time. Well the news is that things may have slightly improved. The mass of plastic seemed to be less, and at one stage we passed about a dozen council workers hard at work cleaning up a section of the beach. The Bali people claim much of the pollution washes over from Java, and I am sure the Javanese say the same about Sumatra.

Its still not right . . .

I went to a great yin nidra yoga class one evening. Yin basically involves holding a stretch for a few minutes which is good for tight old crocks like me. The nidra part is the best through – you basically lie flat on your back and totally relax each part of your body. Apparently 30 minutes of yoga nidra is the same as 3-4 hours normal sleep. I read that on Facebook so it must be true.

One final word about one the characters we met – a German girl called Nadine. Basically Nadine’s first 2 weeks in Bali (out of a total four month trip) has been one chapter of accidents. She was mugged by a passing motorcyclist who stole her bag with all her money, she burned her leg (this time on another motorcycle), injured her foot (I think the other one from the burnt one) and spent two days in bed with food poisoning. Jo and I ended up being her surrogate parents (she is the same age as Danielle). Nadine was quite an earthy laid back character, which is probably a nice way of saying a bit dopey. It was nice to help her out . . .

6 more nights here, then off to Sri Lanka – so excited . . .