Day 3 March 23
Breakfast time!
After a solid night of sleep, we had a full Bali tour of the northern and middle region of the island. We started the day by watching a traditional Balinese dance portraying the fight between good and evil. It was really beautiful to watch! Steph and I decided to take a few of these dance moves and tuck them away to recreate the dance later that evening. I mean their precision was ON POINT! (To all of my Zumba students, get ready, I’m adding a new flare!)
We moved along to see a couple of temples, all ornate and colorful in their unique way. We had to put on long saris to enter, which was not a problem until the wind stopped blowing. Let’s just say after an hour of wearing that in the shining sun, things got real.
As in real sweaty.
Afterwards, we explored a few neighborhood communities known for their trades: silver & gold, painting, & woodcarving. Please don’t ask me why the only souvenir I bought from those places was a wood carving of a…cat. (I miss Eleanor?)
One of the most fascinating tidbits I learned was that artists in Bali are considered one of the most reverend job positions in the community. The reason they are held in such high regard is because of their ability to help others see the Divine through their creations! I can’t stop thinking to myself, “What an honor it is to help others see God through something the hands could make.” I think there’s a sense of coming full circle…the Creator gifting the artist to participate in creation…the artist creating to reflect the Creator…
Our day continued up to the highest point in Bali (1,000 feet above sea level) to see one of the island’s volcanoes. The view was absolutely stunning as we ate our lunch of noodles, rice, pork, fried banana, spring rolls, mystery meat, fresh fruit, black rice pudding, tempura, annnnnd watermelon drinks a lot. Sure we had to combat a few(thousand) flies, that.view.was.legit.
The real highlight of the day had to be the plantation of fresh fruit, herbs, chocolate, teas and coffee. We had a complimentary tasting of the teas and coffee, most of them delicious. However, I had my first cup of shitty coffee in Bali…literally. Do yourself a favor and do a little wikipedia search on Luwak coffee. If you want the bullet points: Luwak (animal) eats coffee bean, shits bean, bean is “filtered”, toasted, grinded, slurped. Overall review of the Luwak coffee…not for me but Steph said, “Oh this is good! Pass me that sugar!”
The final stop on our tour was to a rice field. I could have sat there a good hour—it was so mesmerizing!
After returning to our resort, we showered and caught a cab into the center of town to continue our mission of getting as many spa treatments as possible. Tonight’s (4 dollar) splurge was a 30-minute foot reflexology treatment. Y’all…amazing.
We ate dinner at this organic restaurant that had a ton of vegan and raw food selections called Clear Café. If you were wondering if we took off our shoes before entering the restaurant, you were correct. It was that hippie and I loved it! We took a solid 30 minutes narrowing down our choices! The menu alone was a marvel to wonder! The noteworthy dessert: vegan chocolate cake with coconut ice cream.
Our night ended with a rollercoaster taxi ride blaring “Eye of the Tiger” to the resort. We marveled for a few minutes to stargaze at the million stars twinkling above. Steph and I decided this is one of the most romantic places in the world. I told her that for the remainder of the trip, I shall no longer call her “Steph” but “Luvah.”
bird's nest 