Nusa Dua Part 2: Gratitude

The funny thing about travelling is that as much as you enjoy exploring a different place and culture, it also makes you so grateful for the life you live back home. Today we flew back to Singapore from Bali. I feel both refreshed and inspired. The Balinese people are some of the kindest we have met on our travels. Despite language barriers, they are always quick to laugh and smile with us. They hold on fiercely to their unique cultural identity and traditions, regardless of western influences. Graciously, they allow us to witness these customs. Most people from Bali live simply, work hard, value family, and live life joyfully. Those are the inspirations we take home with us.

These past days in Nusa Dua have flown by. We have done so much! One of our absolute favourites was the Bali Seawalker; this is sort of like snorkeling but for wimps like us. Essentially they take you out in a boat, put an astronaut-type helmet on you, and let you loose in the ocean. On the day we went, it was just us and a middle-aged couple from New Zealand. They were awesome and Ryan and the Kiwi guy talked hockey and rugby the whole time. When it came time to do the seawalk I was actually really nervous. The helmet is quite heavy and I felt a little panicky as I stepped down the ladder to the ocean floor. But as soon as I got oriented I was thrilled! We were surrounded by fish of different kinds and even walked over to some coral. It is surprising how strong the current is and at one point Ry and I smashed into each other. The divers gave us fish food and we were able to feed a giant school of fish. It’s sort of like when you own fish as pets and its feeding time, except we were in the tank with them! We couldn’t even see each other a foot away because there were so many of them swimming around us.

We enjoyed the resort life, relaxing on the beach or by the pool. Yesterday we walked over to an incredible natural wonder called “water blow”, a spot where enormous waves from the Indian Ocean crash against the rough limestone cliffs, creating big water sprays. We didn’t last too long there because we were both getting hangry (hungry + angry) and annoyed with each other. Oh the joys of travel! We were best friends again after eating massive amounts of carbs, and headed to the Nusa Dua theatre. There we watched the Devdan Show, a blend of traditional Indonesian and modern dance combined with mind-blowing aerial acrobatics. Overall the show was fantastic. The performers were really talented and it was an interesting way to see traditional dances from throughout the Indonesian Archipelago. During each dance there was a screen to the side which explained where the dance originated and what its meaning was. For example, my favourite performance was the “rain dance” which originates in Sumatra and is done in times of drought.

Bali has so much to offer -more than we could have expected- and we would love to come back one day. We were sad to leave this paradise but grateful for the opportunity to travel there and for the things we have learned.

*our apologies for the lack of photos on this post, we (*ahem, Ryan*) were too busy relaxing and slacked off on the picture taking

All our love- Cass & Ry

Bali Sewalker

giving the “ok” sign to the diver

photobombed by a fish

our beach

just relaxing

selfie attempt

fisherman off the point

waterblow!

fisherman

The end of the Devdan show (the only time pictures were allowed)

the Melia resort at night

our beach at night

view from our floor in the resort

Ryan “this is the happiest I’ve been this whole trip”