white sandy beach, candidasa

another beautiful little discovery...this time in Candidasa. this is White sandy beach in a village called Prasi. you turn down an alley and drive about 2 km and then you reach this. a peaceful little spot sprinkled with colourful umbrellas, a few warungs and beautiful blue waters. well worth the two hour drive to escape the craziness of Kuta beaches. two thumbs up for this spot!

another day in a different paradise...Gili Trawangan...

Friday 1st October 2010

ok, so one would imagine that living in Bali, one would not need a holiday away from their holiday...well, think again! sometimes it does get a bit hectic here, especially during tourist high season, where the roads fill up with traffic and one feels like locking themselves away in their homes until the tourists have all gone back to wherever it was they came from...hence Gili Trawangan, one of three small islands off Lombok, the other two being Gili Air and Gili Meno. They are a short plane ride from Bali and a complete paradise in that there are no cars and motorbikes allowed on the island. this means transportation is down to bicycle, feet or something called a cidomo which is a horse drawn carriage.

it's pretty idyllic, with crystal blue waters and and white sandy beaches. life is very very slow and night times are one big party after another, with the location changing every night from one bar to the next. however, on the downside (if you can possibly imagine one!) food and drink is very expensive. with being such a small island everything has to be imported from the mainland, hence in some places there is a 21% tax charge! and most of it doesn't really taste that fantastic.

however, if you need to get away from it all and get a feel for what Bali might have been like 20 years ago, this is the spot. it's peaceful, you can find quiet beaches, swim in turquoise blue water and completely unwind. i'm thinking next time a trip to Gili Meno and Gili Air is in order as they are even less populated than Gili Trawangan.

the latest discovery...

Sunday 5th July 2009

headed off on another road trip yesterday and made the most amazing discovery...after a very bumpy, dusty ride down a long winding road...we reached a temple with a staircase...and as we descended the staircase, we caught glimpse upon glimpse through the trees of what would finally greet us when we reached the bottom of the descent...the most beautiful, peaceful beach i have ever had the luck to set foot on in bali. beautiful clear blue waters, white sand and best of all...hardly any people. it was a most welcome sight, especially after the walk down, which made my legs wobbly...but a dip in that crystal clear cool water was enough to ease away any pain. i believe there will be many return trips made to this spot...

the sea is a hungry dog...

Thursday 18th June 2009

taken at Batu Belig beach 18/6/2009

The Sea

The sea is a hungry dog,

Giant and grey.

He rolls on the beach all day.

With his clashing teeth and shaggy jaws

Hour upon hour he gnaws

The rumbling, tumbling stones,

And 'Bones, bones, bones, bones!'

The giant sea-dog moans,

Licking his greasy paws.

And when the night wind roars

And the moon rocks in the stormy cloud,

He bounds to his feet and snuffs and sniffs,

Shaking his wet sides over the cliffs,

And howls and hollos long and loud.

But on quiet days in May or June,

When even the grasses on the dune

Play no more their reedy tune,

With his head between his paws

He lies on the sandy shores,

So quiet, so quiet, he scarcely snores.

James Reeves

a golden sunset...

Saturday 13th June 2009

with sunsets that are generally full of pinks, reds, blues and purples here...my breath was taken away all over again this evening when i had the pleasure to experience my very first golden sunset...and what a sunset...i'm at a loss for words (rare thing for me!) and am, as always, humbled and awed by the wonder of the planet...

never-ending sky...

Thursday 4th June 2009

one of my favourite views on any given weekend...a little bit of umbrella and a whole lot of blue blue sky...with my feet in the sand, salt on my skin and sun in my hair...it just doesn't get much better than this...

who needs cable...?

Sunday 19th April 2009

when you have a sunset show every evening starting at 6pm til dark on a tv screen as big and far as the eye can see...and no two shows are ever the same...the wonder of nature never ceases to take my breath away...i can't say the same for soap operas! so switch off the box and get your backsides outside and fall in love with the planet all over again...you just know you want to!

Batu Belig beach,

Kerobokan, Bali

the bridge to...

Wednesday 15th April 2009

...happiness. that's what this is! behold the beautiful, wobbly, bamboo suspension bridge at the end of my road, that leads to batu belig beach and beyond. once across this suspended piece of either mastery or craziness (depending on your sense of balance and trust in the universe) the whole of the coastline from Kuta to Batu Bolong is at your fingertips.

to make matters more perfect. if you look back across the bridge you can see a little warung nestled quietly at the end to the left. that is Warung Agung Kayu Putih, one of the most relaxed spots to have a beer and watch the sun drop serenly into the ocean. it's all too convenient, really...

photos courtesy of Rebecca

sunset at seminyak...

Sunday 30th November 2008

so where is one of the best places in the world to watch the sun drop right into the ocean and create a fireball in the sky as it takes its' last shimmering rays of light away for the day? why seminyak beach of course! it's a little further along the way than kuta and legian, but well worth a visit simply to see one of the most magnificent natural displays of light and colour blaze across the sky. and every sunset is different...no two the same, just like every day is different...it's a fabulous way to bring a close to the daylight hours...to just lie on the beach with your toes in the sand and watch and breathe and remember how tiny we are...earth, our planet, in contrast to the magnificence of the sun...its strength, light, heat and power make us earthlings and our planet seem like mere shadows to its' great existence...and remember that...we are but mere specks of dust compared to the size of the sun...and no matter how much we think we are the centre of our own universe, we are not...so get your toes down to the beach, sink them in the sand and marvel at the wonder of it all...

oh, nothing but blue skies, ba-by!

Sunday 7th September 2008

yesterday, i went to one of my favourite beaches in Bali - pantai geger. it is a very well kept secret! so let's just say that you can find it in Nusa Dua and if you really do want to find it you will make the effort, i'm not going to make it easy otherwise it won't be such a well kept secret any more! it has one warung where you can eat breakfast, lunch and dinner (there's a pretty decent banana pancake). it has lots of sun-beds, where you can just lie and lie and lie forever. it is a great beach to swim when the tide is in, the bottom of the ocean is soft and sandy with some patches of seaweed. and when the tide is out you can see the seaweed farmers gathering their treasures. there is a cliff at the end of the beach where there are some beautiful temples perched on the edge. ample parking space. white sand. bliss, bliss, bliss...need i say more...those blue skies...ahhhhh!

just another day at the beach...

Sunday 17th August 2008

as you might have guessed by now...i am a serious anak pantai (beach child). i am happiest when i am by the sea. any stresses and anxiety i can imagine washing away under the gentle lulling of the waves. the water becomes an extension of my fingertips and all the things i want to let go of ebb away with the current. it's truly blissful! this weekend i had the greatest of luck to be invited by one of my fellow Green School-ers to the beach at Sanur where he lives. i have been to Sanur many times before in the past when i lived here and it never disappoints. the sand is beautiful and white and although it can be a bit rocky in spots, there are certainly plenty of places along the coastline to dip one's soul in the salty cocktail of the ocean. which i did, of course, with pure and utter abandon. i also enjoy how the beach is sprinkled with little pockets of colour as every now and then one comes across the parking ground of the fishing boats. they are beautifully constructed and painted a rainbow of colours and look adorable waiting patiently in the sand for their next put out to sea. some people say that Sanur is the 'old folks' beach, and although the age of people who visit there does tend to be older than one might encounter at somewhere like Kuta, it is peaceful and quiet and one is not particularly bothered by beach sellers, masseurs or hair-braiders! i enjoy it for the tranquility and of course the sea...so until my next salty dip fair ocean...

a most serendipitous discovery...

Sunday 10th August 2008

just got back from the beach after a fabulous weekend and a new discovery. this is a picture of balangan beach, down south, near uluwatu. it is a beautiful, peaceful beach. it's quite a surfer hang-out but if you don't mind that...then you can enjoy a beautiful landscape...with cliffs cascading into a blue ocean and a white sandy beach with a private little cove. there are lots of little warungs where you can grab a bite to eat and even rough it rustic-style by sleeping in some of the warungs for Rp. 100,000 a night or you can have a little more luxury and stay in some of the fancy-schmancy bungalows up on top of the cliffs for Rp. 250,000 and there's a pool and restaurant too. that definitely sounds like the spot for a nice weekend getaway!

the water is cool temperature-wise and when the tide is in you can have a decent swim over to that little private cove and when the tide is out, you can wade across and the depth would be up to you thighs.

i can honestly say that this is my new favourite beach and believe me i have been to a fair few in my time. but if you have the transport and the inclination to go a bit off the beaten track then you really have to take the time to visit this beautiful little peace of heaven.