In order to get to Raja Ampat, I flew to Bali, stayed there for two nights and took the flight to West Papua. On the way back, I stayed in Bali for another three weeks. I had made a mistake with my fight dates back to Bulgaria and had booked a date that was a month further in the future. I managed to arrange to change the date, but I still decided to give myself two weeks more than the initial week and a bit, that I was planning to stay there. I just wasn’t so keen in staying in a place that was so touristy and popular, like Bali. But after being there for a while, I decided to give it a chance and explore the island further.
Kuta and all of the Denpasar Area is very urbanized, with lots of traffic and tourism. When I saw it initially, I thought that I will never drive there. Ubud, where I stayed the second part of my visit to Bali, amazed me with it’s ancient architecture, lively traditions and amazing little shops. The streets we covered with rice and flower offerings every day and the air smelled of incense sticks. The local people were honoring their hinduist traditions very strictly and certainly not for tourist show.
Getting more used to the traffic in the South of Bali, I got braver and hired a scooter with which to explore the island. I quickly got used to riding amidst the craziest traffic and learned the local ways of behaving on the road. Almost every day, I would ride to a different place, but the island is quite big and I managed to see only a small part of it.
The people of Bali are quite positive, relaxed, friendly and helpful. I made some local friends and learned more about their life and culture. I happened to experience the Balinese New Year, where for a whole day, you switch off all lights and stay quietly at home. There are even special people patrolling the streets to make sure that no one goes out.
I also spent a few days filming the monkeys in the specially designated local park. These creatures are quite interesting and funny to watch and the little ones are just adorable. But make no mistake to think that they are friendly to humans. They are only interested in getting something to eat out of you and can be very aggressive. Once I was trying to shake off the monkey that got on top of my rucksack and tried opening the zipper. In an instant another monkey darted towards me and bit my leg. Fortunately, she didn’t manage to brake the fabric, but I still got a bleeding bruise and went to the medical station for them to disinfect it. They assured me that these monkeys are all healthy and don’t carry any diseases, but just bear in mind to be very careful when interacting with them. In the end, I collected quite a bit of footage of these monkeys, but the final video is still in the making, as some of the files got damaged.
After all, I was quite amazed by the colorful life of Bali, it’s diversity of landscapes, beautiful traditions and the lovely and welcoming locals. I will certainly want to go back and see and film more of it.
I am preparing a few videos with the footage, I managed to film on the island, but for the moment only one is ready and available: https://youtu.be/JdlTsEoJtLA
Some footage from Bali can also be seen in this one hour long collection of aerial shots, that I have filmed over the last few years: https://youtu.be/Wiw5kYi1TL0
Sunset in Kuta. Storm is coming. The amazingly decorated architecture in Ubud. Every traditional house has it’s own temple. Every day there was a ceremony somewhere, that didn’t have anything to do with tourists. The beautifully sculpted rise gardens. Enjoying the view. I rarely have my picture taken, let alone by a talented professional photographer like Nargiz Suleymanova 🙂
Check out her soulful photography at: https://www.instagram.com/nargiz.suleymanova/Beautiful memories… Sweet old lady, that makes you smile 🙂 Many shops in Ubud were so beautiful just to look at. So much colour… Babies playing in the tree. The incredible Banyan trees. Peaceful meeting… The most amazing Banyan tree that I have seen. As above… …so below. I love the view of big, strong roots, that hold the earth and rocks in a strong embrace. This side of Bali is not suitable for diving, but is loved by surfers, for it’s big constant waves. You have to be very specific in your needs 😀 The freedom… Just normal traffic in Denpasar. Long stretches of quite empty beaches. Evening in Ubud. One of the many scary monsters that come out on the streets on New Year’s Eve. The beach in Seminyak is full of tourists, but is so wide and beautiful with the waves gliding over the sand for ages. Surfers love Canggu. Amazing little hidden waterfall. Guests on my table for lunch 🙂 The famous water temple in Beratan Lake. Bali can get pretty wild too. Lots of people were riding their motorbikes and scooters on these long empty beaches. Storm is coming, I need to leave. But it’s too beautiful to stop filming and photographing 🙂 Traditional Balinese dance performance, depicting a story of gods, kings and battles and… love, of course. Find the differences 😉