Hinduism and Hedonism
I haven’t worn underwear or socks in Bali, just trunks and sandals or bare feet. I have a wardrobe system that I try not to stray from, a pair of trunks for surfing, two pairs for general living, and a pair for formal occasions. Whenever a pair isn’t being worn it needs to be hung up in the sun. Sandals should also be baked in the sun whenever possible. Entrust in the system and good things will happen. Forsake the system and end up with a bunch of soggy shorts.
Last Days on the Bukit
I scored a few more days at the left points on the Bukit Peninsula. I was nailing the dawn patrol for a stretch there, being the first guy in the water three days in a row at Uluwatu. I’d walk down the cliff, through the cave, and across the reef in the dark. I actually hate dawn patrolling, but the main problem with Bali is the crowds, so the super early session was a part of my crowd-avoidance strategy.
I can’t really describe how much I love nasi campur. Shoutout to Fritz, an American surfer who turned me onto some of the best nasi campur spots. I was going to this one everyday, and the lady who runs it is awesome. She’d always make fun of how much I’d get. This was probably my biggest plate and she wanted to get a picture:
Not a ghost but dead inside
Canggu
The swell settled down a bit so I left Uluwatu and went to Canggu. Canggu wasn’t even on the tourist map the last time I was in Bali, but now it’s this fully developed surf-hipster party town.
The best beach in the area for surfing is Echo Beach. It’s a short black sand beach bookended by two small reef outcroppings, and there are four fun spots densely packed along the beach. Each of the flanking reefs has a wave, and there are two well-defined beach break peaks in the middle.
The left off the eastern reef
The first peak
The second peak
The right off the western reef
There’s a stretch of restaurants, coffee shops, and bars right on the beach as well, making for a pretty hectic scene:
The easy sand-bottom paddle out was a welcome change from all the cliff climbing and reef walking I was doing on the Bukit. My feet were pretty destroyed from the reef, I wish I was cool enough to not be too cool for reef booties.
The waves at Echo Beach are super fun albeit insanely crowded at times. It didn’t help that the dawn patrol strategy mostly fell out of my repertoire. A few long nights on the town precluded me from the early wake ups. The party scene in Canggu is a total blast, with packed bars and dance parties all along the beach. This is when the formal trunks would come out.
Cruising
I got into the flow of motorbiking after that shaky start. The rules of the road are flexible here. In America, you’re beholden to traffic laws and liability. Here, you’re beholden to immediate physical consequences.
I took a few bike trips up the coast looking for waves, but didn’t find much other than closeouts and rice fields.
This guy relentlessly battled the shore pound with his unwieldy boat. He eventually made it out.
My wheels
There are quite a few small scale backyard rice farms like this:
I was trying to work through how this could possibly be worth it, considering how cheap the finished product is in on the shelves in America. According to this report, Indonesian rice yields are ~4.7 metric tons per hectare. ‘Wet paddy’ rice is quoted to go for ~$400 per metric ton in that article. I’d say calling some of these backyard farms .25 hectares is generous. Let’s say they’re getting .25 * 4.7 * 400 = $470 per year from their backyard rice field. Doesn’t seem like much, but apparently full-time construction work pays ~$7 a day here. With that context, backyard rice doesn’t seem like a bad side hustle.
The smallest dog I’ve ever seen
Balinese Hinduism
Indonesia is predominantly Muslim, but Bali is mostly Hindu. The Balinese have built temples all over the island, and routinely put out canang sari as offerings. Hinduism seems pretty cool. I think it’s about respecting truth, being righteous, and believing in karma. The Balinese seem to reflect these tenets for the most part. I had a bad habit of forgetting the keys in my bike, leaving wads of cash and other valuables accessible under the seat. A few times I accidentally left cash visible in the cupholder of my bike. Nothing was ever taken. People are genuinely helpful without asking for anything in return. I respect the Balinese people for being cool and virtuous amidst the tourism boom, I imagine it’d be easy to take a more predatory approach to the situation.
Next Stop…
Bali living is so easy, cruising around on the motorbike, surfing good waves in warm water, and eating and drinking for cheap. It’s obvious why it’s such a popular place for tourists and expat surfers. With that said, I’m ready to change it up. I’m sure I’ll be back in Indonesia at some point, but now I’m off to New Zealand.
Reading Rec
I was hanging out with a Polish girl in Canggu. She works at a quarterly Polish magazine which covers art, culture, society, and various other things. She showed me their most recent issue and it’s really impressive, ~200 pages of articles, interviews, cartoons, and more. They’re starting to release English translations of some of the content, check it out.
