Bali - March 2019 — Isabelle & Pierre

March 2019 - Bali is a long way from Miami Beach! Miami to Houston, stop in Taïwan connecting to Denpasar, but it’s worth it: Lots of great hugging as we arrive!

We jump right away in the Bali “spirit”: We go to a traditional Balinese House Blessing Ceremony. It’s purpose is to cleanse the area of all negative energies and leave all the “medaging or pedagingan” – The pure souls – remaining. These ceremonies must be performed prior to moving in for the new owner to be protected.

Agathe shows us around Canggu where she lives, the beach, the night spots and shopping… We fall in love with this painting at Stephane Sensey gallery, it is from Java and is set to end up in Ars-en-Ré soon.

And already off on our scooters…

… to The Temple Lodge in Bingin in the Bukit Peninsula. The hotel is sitting on the cliffs above the surf breaks with super views! Highly recommended! Very simple, beautiful and serein…

We scoot around to Pantaï Pandawa beach, a beautiful very popular (here a school trip from Java) beach surrounded by two cliffs and a difficult to access beach where the statues of the Pandavas and the Kunti goddesses are carved into the cliff.

The very south tip area of the peninsula is called Uluwatu. There is a few hidden paradises, one of them is a gem hidden in the caves near Suluban beach and Gunung Payung Beach. You need to walk down the steps to the beach. The walk up and down is not only steep, it also takes a while and gets a lot tiring when you have to climb back up…

We ended the day in Uluwatu at Pura Luhur Uluwatu temple, it is one of several important temples dedicated to the spirits of the sea first established in the 11th century.

Back home for lunch with Clement L. et Paulo! And some very tickling fish-pedicure…

Pierre and I took a trip to Ubud to see the rice fields and the monkey forest. Agathe meets us for lunch with her friend from L.A. Jessey W. We closed the day with a very soothing sound healing cession.

Agathe is off this week end, she organized a trip to Nusa Penida, an island very close to the southern tip of Bali and well known for incredibly gorgeous beaches… Crystal bay beach where we saw the most beautiful sunset ever! Atuh beach, Diamond beach, Kelingking Beach and Goa Giri Putri Temple, an amazing temple in a huge cave. Some of these places have very difficult access: long and arduous path on our scooters, very high and steep stairs to the beach in a scorching sun or tiny access to the caves… All very worth it, these make these beaches very secluded! Lodging recommandations: Batan Sabo and Penida Bambu Green Villas. Very nice beach bar & restaurant: Penida Colada.

The next morning, early start to fly to Sumba Island. In Tombolaka airport, there is more than gender when it comes to restrooms selection… :) We arrive in our hotel ready to discover a very remote island renown for its black magic… And the discussion begins on the topic of reincarnation…

The next morning we wake up to a very sad news: Pierre’s Dad, Philippe, had passed away… Agathe practices yoga… we take a walk on the beach… as Philippe’s passing starts sinking in… Time seems to have stop but we need to figure out our way back to Paris… It is a holiday in Sumba, all offices are closed, wifi is very random so we mostly spend the day trying to reschedule all our flights. It is April 1, 2019. He was 89 years old…

We have one more day in Sumba until our flight back to Bali. We will visit the villages where the women weave the famous Ikat fabrics and the traditional villages featuring Sumba’s unique megalithic tombs and stunning high-roofed hut architecture. This Sumbanese house is characterized with its high-pitched central peak in its roof and strong connection with the spirits or marapu. Animism is strong in Sumba, Their religion focuses on the marapu which includes spirits of the dead, of sacred places, of heirloom objects and the instruments used to communicate with the spirit world. We drive thru beautiful landscapes…

Bye bye Sumba, it is time to make our way back to Paris… Stoping in Bali until we catch our next flight, Agathe took us to visit some beach areas near Canggu.