Bali: the island of offerings
Same religion, different practices
Bali is an island located in Indonesia. As you go around the place, you will come across a multitude of temples and sculptures of Hindu Gods. This is because most of its population follows Hinduism. The beliefs, rituals, and practices the Bali Hinduism follows differs from what Indian Hinduism follows. It’s strange how a religion can take a different shape as it spreads across different places.
Underwater world of both fish and plastic
On our trip to Bali, we tried out snorkeling. At the first spot we dove, we caught a glimpse of a Manta Ray and then all we saw underwater was plastic. While we were fascinated by the Manta Ray, the dirty litter disappointed us and even lowered our expectations for the next dive spots. However, we were completely surprised to see a variety of fish and coral reefs during our next dive: everything from an enormous school of striped fish to purple-glowing corals. I had never seen such vibrant colours and variety of marine life on any of my underwater adventures before.
White-water rafting
On the second-last day of our trip, we went for white-water rafting in the morning. Before starting off, our guide gave us a brief on how to manage the raft. It wasn’t much: just how to move forward, backward, right, left and, well, not be petrified. We stopped at a small waterfall and got drenched by it. Then we continued. We smoothly completed the first half of the journey and stopped for a break. After having some delicious coconut water on a small piece of land in the middle of the river, we resumed our ride. Just after a few minutes, our guide fell off the raft. We freaked out. But he fortunately held the raft with his hands and climbed back in. We breathed a sigh of relief and then went on. I enjoyed my first rafting experience and would like to go rafting again in the future.
Attention! Vegetarians
On the first day of our trip, we tried out the Balinese cuisine at a restaurant nearby our hotel. When we checked the menu for vegetarian options, we only saw a Greek salad and fried rice. The food arrived and was extremely bland. We sprinkled some good old oregano and chilli flakes on it. And sprinkled some more. Finally, we ate the food. One thing we can say for sure is that the local food there is not for vegetarians. Vegetarians-it is best to carry your theplas or survive on margherita pizza for the entire trip.
The currency
We went to one of the many souvenir shops lined up outside the Tanah Lot Temple (a must-see in Bali). There we bought a crocheted bag and paid a hundred-thousand of the Indonesian Rupiah. I was astonished to see so many zeros on one single note. In fact, one dollar would amount to approximately 16 thousand of the Indonesian Rupiah. While chatting with our taxi driver, we learnt that Bali’s economy is primarily dependent on tourism. Most of the locals work in different sectors of tourism such as hotels.
Visiting the coffee plantation
On our visit to the coffee plantation, at first, the guide showed us the different plantations like Ginseng and Vanilla. Next, we saw a Luwak resting in a cage – the animal partially digests coffee beans and then its excretions (I know, ew) are used to make coffee. Then we understood the process of making the coffee powder, which included the grinding of the beans and sifting the powder. We also got a chance to try out the Kopi Luwak – a.k.a. the world’s most expensive coffee. After putting on disgusted looks on our faces for quite some time, for obvious reasons, we eventually tasted the coffee. To be honest, it wasn’t that bad. Then we tried a few even more unexpected flavours of coffee and tea. The weirdest of them all was the ‘Avocado coffee’, which surprisingly did have a little avocado flavour in the aftertaste even while keeping the coffee flavour present. Other flavours included chocolate, vanilla, coconut and ginseng
The one thing that I loved the most about Bali is that it has a diverse range of attractions, everything from water sports to historical temples, and is a place where any one would enjoy irrespective of their interests. Bali is a destination that you need to add to your bucket list!
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