Final Stop in Bali: Sanur Beach

Note: I’m posting this from Vienna. I’m at my school’s directors’ house until I can move into my new residence room this afternoon.  OMG! What a difference high speed Internet makes. I’ve just uploaded in 10 minutes what took me over 24 hours and several retries in Bali!

More Drive-Bys:

After a month inland in Ubud, spending a couple of days near the ocean in Sanur was a great idea. Of course I spent half the drive there with my lens out the window having fun capturing images with a super high ISO that allowed high speed shooting without blur.

Lots of throw-aways, but plenty good ones to provide another glimpse at drive-by Bali.

It’s really amazing how many art galleries and statuary shops there are here– often dozens in a row for miles on end. It almost makes me wonder why I need to paint when there’s such great stuff out here for so cheap. Then I remember that I paint first and foremost for myself. My excellent driver Ketut ([email protected] ,mobile : +6285205506104 ) says that the artists in Ubud are suffering because of a chain of humongous 24-hour art supermarkets called Hare Krishna, that have opened up around the island. He says they’re really busy at all hours. Unfortunately, Ubud, the traditional cultural center of the country, is no longer attracting as many art buyers because of it.

Kolonial House:

Here’s a good example of how expectations and assumptions can lead to disappointment – at first, anyway. In the end, it all turned out great. When I got to Sanur, I was surprised that Kolonial House wasn’t closer to the beach, on the same property as the Power of Now Yoga Oasis. They’re owned by the same people and they advertised them as being 5 minutes apart. I imagined a walk through gardens or on a sandy property between the guest house and yoga space. The first time I walked it, however, it took more like 20+ minutes along a few streets, through a parking lot, and a short alley of vendors with their “Please madame, come look at my shop” pleas. My idea of walking in peace and beauty from my room to the beach in my bathing suit quickly disappeared. I soon figured out, however, that there was a shortcut through the luxury Mercure Resort – not quite 5 minutes, but close.

When I emailed the yoga centre looking for peaceful yet affordable accommodation recommendations, they also gave me the names of several nearby places to check out. I took them up on that after I saw Kolonial House’s Standard Room at $50/night (quite expensive for Bali). It was right against the street and because it was built to buffer sound, it lacked natural light. My heart sank when I walked in and my throat ceased up as it had just been fogged against mosquitoes. The smell was really strong, so I decided to go exploring other places. It was hot at high noon and nothing felt quite right (price, location, my mood, etc.) What can I say, I’m a budget traveler with a need of peace, quiet, and comfort. Not sure why I was feeling so fussy, but I was. It happens. Transitions aren’t always the easiest for me, even if I’ve lived on several continents and across Canada.

After spending time looking around and gathering information at the Power of Now Yoga Oasis on the beach, I was overheating. When I returned to Kolonial House, Putu, the manager, took one look at me and brought me to the very back of the resort to a small pointed thatched roof private bungalow in a secluded area and offered it to me at the same price as their Standard Room. What a relief and such a blessing. It was actually smaller than the room by the street, but the feng shui of it felt great – even the outdoor washroom in the back appealed to me for some strange reason. As you can see in the photos, the pool was right in front of it and also a large private living room and a small kitchen (not in photo). Thanks Putu! Funny thing is that I’m actually writing this blog from the first room (as they let me stay hours past check-out as I flew out at 10pm, but my second room had already been booked) and today it feels great – spacious, clean, etc. It just goes to show how we can (OK, I can) stress myself for no good reason at times.

Anyhow, I did enjoy my private room at the back. I also enjoyed the pool shared by the few occupants within that secluded area. I even enjoyed the outdoor washroom. I was glad, however, that after my first swim, I initially kept my bathing suit on. I ended up making eye contact with the young men who clean the place – they were taking their break on the 2^nd floor of the building opposite. It’s a strange feeling making eye contact with strangers during your shower… I have no idea what went through their minds though as I’ve talked about the difference in privacy bubbles here in Bali. They may not have been peeping Toms. All I know is that I only finished my shower once they had moved on. I’m also not sure how I felt after I found them rummaging through my garbage after I had moved out of my room. I could understand them checking to see why I threw out an umbrella (which had stabbed me a few times too many with its several broken spokes). I couldn’t understand why they had retrieved and what they may be saying about my discarded sketches from the life drawing session back in Ubud. Again – perverts or appreciators of the level of drawings I judged worthy of the trash. Hmmm…. I choose to take it as a compliment as I’ll never know. Again, the mind is in control of perceptions and can make a huge difference in our experience. So that decides it. These two young men were simply appreciators of true beauty 🙂  .

Creatures:

The washroom was actually very nice with its bamboo trees, stone sculptures, and new fixtures. Thank goodness, the fogging at Kolonial House seemed to work – I didn’t see any mosquitoes. It is odd though to take one’s clothes off outside at all hours after spending a month covering up to protect against both the sun and disease-baring mosquitoes. As I sat down for my morning business at 5am on Sunday (with the dim but warm illumination of a tungsten light bulb), I got pleasantly distracted by the beauty of my surroundings and its natural sounds (excluding mine). I had gotten quite used to the movement of adorable little geckos everywhere– love them and the fact they eat bugs. This time, however, I enjoyed watching toads of various sizes jump around. Did you know they climb walls? I sure didn’t. Straight up, just like geckos. Impressive! I wondered why they hadn’t made a comic superhero called Toadman…

The second morning though, still in the dark, I wasn’t so excited. You see, the night before, on my way to the kitchen in the other part of the complex to refill my water bottle, I’d made eye contact with one of four big rats that scurried up from somewhere below. As our eyes locked, I recalled an article I’d read in the English Sanur newspaper the day before about the epidemic of rabies and the consequent euthanasia of dozens of purebred dogs that people had tried to smuggle into Bali. Poor dogs. Anyhow, the thought of rabid rats certainly took my mind off mosquitoes as I myself scurried in the dark to do my business. Every little toad became a huge hairy rat with blazing red eyes…. it was early! Hee hee.

There’s one more creature worth mentioning here. On my last afternoon, I went to the Flames restaurant across the street from the Mercure resort. I had already packed and just wanted a quick lunch before doing some writing. As I walked upstairs, my eye caught a movement in a nearby tree and I gasped. It was a bat the size of a cat, almost within arm’s reach to one of the tables. I could see its crew-cut hairstyle and perky little ears. This fruit bat, it turns out, hangs out there (yes, pun intended) every day and is named Rasta (not sure if there’s a link to Reggae music or not). I took lots of pictures of it as it did its yoga – constantly in slow movement, hanging from both feet, or a combination of a foot and a wing, each equipped with a long hook. I felt scared, yet excited. It seemed to be fanning itself or doing some sort of devotional heart pounding with one of its wing. I was surprised it wasn’t sleeping since it was daytime – can’t say I’m an expert on bats though. I also thought they were blind, so when I decided to use my flash, I was shocked that it cranked its head backward and made full eye contact with me through the lens. A bit of a déjà vu from the night before. A bit freaky. After that, I left it in peace, but kept observing it from a few tables back, alone on the terrace. I wanted to shout to tourists walking by below on their way back to the Mercure luxury resort – “Hey! You’ve got to come see this bat!” Instead, I’m sharing it here with you.

Sanur Beach:

I’ll be writing more about some of my experiences at The Power of Now Yoga Oasis in the next post. For now, I just want you to see how beautiful the beach and ocean are. I spent a few hours here on all 3 days. There are several resorts along the beach and each has its own area for lounge chairs in between the restaurants, spas, and water sport vendor booths.

These stretches of beach seem reserved for the tourists, each with its security guards. The first stretch of the beach, however, near the parking and food vendors, got quite crowded at times with Balinese families.

I enjoyed spending time here too, especially at the small pavilion at the end of the partition that divided the areas.

There, I could be in the shade and breeze while listening to the water, simply being or chatting with the locals, and watching the young tattoo-covered locals fishing. The tonal contrast of tattoos on darker skin isn’t as high as on white folks, but perhaps that I why I liked them better. The designs contributed to that feel too – same as on the old temples – gods and monsters mixed with modern imagery. Interesting. I’ve never been into tattoos, but I grew to appreciate them more here.

I’m sure some of the tourists never leave the resort areas– there’s a whole different world just steps away. I took the longer route home on my last day to find a crowd gathering for an organized cock fight. I didn’t stay to watch, but prayed that some Balinese woman wouldn’t lose her home because of it. I found out women can’t own property here. So if the husband gambles it away or passes away, they’re at high risk of being homeless. I hear it’s not so uncommon.

On Sunday morning, I was on the beach at 5:45am, in time to see the subtle pre-sunrise colours and observe workers cleaning the incredible amount of garbage that the tide had brought in (a mix of plastic bottles, food containers, and flip flops mixed in with the more natural prayer offerings and seaweed).

I liked walking there in semi-darkness, barely able to see the dozens of lumps on the beach – the sleeping dogs that would soon rise to play together before it got too hot. Later in the day, you’d find them motionless in holes they’d dug on the beach, under tables in restaurants, under boats or any other shady spot. One time, I admired a white one under a table at a restaurant in deep sleep despite my camera clicks nearby. When I looked a few minutes later, a couple was sitting at that table, but the dog hadn’t moved a muscle. I can only assume they had seen it. since it was inches from their feet. It didn’t seem to matter to anyone. Cool!

Early mornings also saw a change in mosquito brigades – from small bats that zoomed overhead to swallows or a similar small bird with a v-shaped tail. I do like my early mornings.  (I’ll share more of my sunrise photos in my next post.)

By 7am, however, the light was already too bright and the sun too hot for me, so I made my way to the yoga center for my complimentary huge bowl of fruit, muesli, and yoghurt (not ayurvedically friendly for my out of balance Pita, but delicious nonetheless). I would then relax in a hammock or on a couch flipping through spiritual books opened at random for messages about love and fear – some very appropriate – before partaking in their programing (more on that in my next post).

If given a choice between living near a mountain or near the water, I’d definitely choose the water. As a Scorpio, I’m a water sign. No matter the reason or size of the body of water – it just soothes my soul …. despite the tsunami evacuation signs (they only scared me for a minute).

I am so grateful I chose to go to Sanur. It wasn’t part of my original very structured plan – but that may have made it even more special. Plus it was closer to the airport and didn’t add too much to the expenses of my trip. Yay!  Ketut, the driver that had brought me here, who had been highly recommended by a friend, sent a relative for the taxi ride back to the airport – he got me to the airport nice and early.