It's day two in Bali and it's raining. Now, some people are going to go "damn, that's too bad", but I am quite enjoying it. I wanted to experience everything Bali has to offer...well...almost everything...and rain is part and parcel of the deal. Rain in the tropics is a shower with the best water pressure you have ever seen, made for a giant.
The first two days have been amazing. I stepped off the plane, completely exhausted from 24 hours worth of travel with maybe 3 hours worth of sleep, into the Bali air. Balinese air has substance and texture - it is tangible, fragrant and full of flavour. You can roll it around on your tongue. The most prominent smell here is moist incense mixed with a very subtle undertone of pollution (caused by cars/motorbikes and burning garbage). The incense comes from daily offerings that litter small shrines over the whole island.
Bob and Colleen were there to pick me up at the airport, and we proceeded to drive the 45 minutes to their stunning residence in Ubud. This drive did not give me the sense of Balinese driving that I would come to experience the next day. Bob described it to me as "the biggest vehicle wins and the lines don't really mean anything". They drive on the left side, and everyone is equally crazy, so no one gets road rage.
I expected culture shock, but I find that although the culture and lifestyle are completely different than anything back home - you should have seen the looks I got on my jog this morning in a culture where no one really runs anywhere unless they are late - I am not particularly shocked. Fascinated, yes. It's the landscape that is more foreign than anything. The plants, birds, animals, weather - all of these things were beyond my imagination. The colours of the flowers, the bright blue kingfishers, the terraced rice fields are all amazing. I have pictures, which I will post as soon as I can. I am a bit jet lagged, but that just translates into going to bed early (10-10:30) and waking up with the sun.
Perhaps the best experience so far was a full-body massage I had at a spa in Ubud, followed by a seaweed scrub, a yogurt rinse, and a bath in a tub full of flower petals. I stood up, and the petals stuck to my skin. It was magical.
Oh, and the Indian Ocean is pretty unbelievable as well.
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People should read this.
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