Dream Year 3.0: A Trip to Bali

They say the first impression is the lasting impression. Fortunately, this is not always true. I recently travelled to Bali, Indonesia, with my little sister, landing at Denpasar with images of white sandy beaches and turquoise seas in our minds. After checking in to our cram-packed hostel dorm, we excitedly found our way to the famous Kuta Beach. Slightly overwhelmed by the masses of tourists and roadside souvenir vendors due in part to lack of sleep, we eventually reached the beach and were met by the sight of... garbage.

http://www.dreamyear.no/2014/02/they-say-first-impression-is-lasting.html

Piles and piles of garbage covered the whole sandy stretch, as well as the sea (no joke, check out these photos). Although we soon discovered that the beach isn't actually always so unappealing, the so-called "trash season" has sadly become an annual event in Kuta. For the first couple of months of the year, strong winds and currents send trash washed out to sea back onto the beach. Unsurprisingly, we were more than a little worried that we would be spending our two weeks on the island surrounded by plastic bags, empty bottles and coconut shells.

Our first impression of Bali was, as you can probably tell, not a very good one - but thankfully this did not last long! Swiftly moving on to different areas of the island, we first spent a couple of days in Ubud - often considered the cultural centre of Bali - where we stayed at a traditional Balinese home compound, enjoyed delicious local food and walked along beautiful rice fields. Next, we spontaneously headed to Sanur (yet another flip-of-the-coin decision) where we found the beaches we had been dreaming of and met some great people. We joined a temple tour, which included a sunset visit to the stunning Tanah Lot temple situated among rock formations by the sea. We took a speedboat to the smaller of island of Nusa Lembongan, where we snorkelled, rode (or sat on the back of) motorbikes and cycled across the yellow suspension bridge to Nusa Ceningan for amazing cliff views of quite possibly the bluest water I have ever seen. And everywhere we went, we observed lovely elements of Balinese culture and religion, including wonderfully-crafted palm-leaf baskets filled with flowers and incense, which are placed as offerings to the gods in shrines and on the ground every day. In the end - and despite the rather disappointing start - Bali ended up exceeding our already high expectations!