So as we are onto exploring Malaysia now, I will be wrapping up Bali with one more post including our time in Uluwatu and Canggu.
One area of the island that Ron and I wanted to explore was Uluwatu, which is down in the southern part of Bali. We heard that the sunsets down there were amazing, and the waves were even bigger, so we had to see for ourselves. On our first day in Uluwatu we arrived at a hostel a few miles from the southern coast of Bali. We did a quick check in process and quickly headed out to get a cab to a beach nearby. When our driver pulled up to a large toll booth and asked us for our tickets, we had no idea what was going on but apparently you had to pay to enter the beach. With not many options we handed over 35,000 Rupiah to gain access. After a short drive down the cliffs we emerged into a parking lot over crowed with huge tourist busses and kids everywhere. We made our way down to the beach passing small warungs and clothing shops. When our feet hit the sand we were stunned at the amount of tourists and children on the beach and in the water on kayaks. The beach was way over crowed for our taste but since we were there we decided to make the best of it!
We ditched our bags and headed into the water to attempt to swim against the curiously strong currant. We are fairly use to strong Ocean currants but this one was such a strong sweeping motion to the left that it was hard to stand in even knee-deep water. What made our swim even more challenging was trying to dodge all of the children in kayaks learning how to paddle and also getting swept away to the left. Even so, we had fun playing in the water and on the beach before heading back to the hostel in time to get cleaned up for free dinner!
That’s right! The hostel we were staying at offered FREE dinner every night; SCORE! The hostel would have been a great find if the mosquitoes in the shower didn’t also get a free buffet dinner on my body before we ate. Seriously, when I got into the shower I feared for my life getting out of the water and seeing the huge swarm of mosquitoes above me just waiting to dine on my skin. I tried as quickly as I could to get out of the shower including running out into the common area full of people in just my towel so that I could get dressed in my dorm room instead; but sure enough I was still covered in bites from my shower experience.
When it was time for dinner everyone that was staying at the hostel gathered up around the family table for a great dinner. The dinner consisted of steamed rice, chicken and vegetables, fried potatoes, green beans with peanut sauce and chips. It was amazing and everyone was happy. Dinner also gave us a chance to meet a lot of the other traveler’s staying at the hostel. People from all corners of the world gathered at one table and sharing a dinner with great conversation.
After diner there was an announcement that there would be a beer pong tournament and anyone could sign up. Even with my skills being a bit rusty, I signed up and coaxed Ron to be my partner. We were randomly chosen and put into brackets and since we had an uneven amount of teams, Ron and I were automatically advanced to the next round. After three more games of close but victorious games, Ron and I found ourselves in the winner circle and the winners of a free beer from the bar!
After beer pong was over of course there were instigators in the crowd insisting we play more drinking games and I fell for it. We played a game that is till don’t know the name of, where you start with over 50 cups with shots of beers on the table. You then proceed to bounce ping-pong balls in cups and stack the cups higher and higher until the cups are gone. I lost, a lot, and ended up drinking a lot. But it was all fun and games and I knew to say no after the first round of that crazy mess of a game.
Apparently I have changed and learned since college to know when I have reached my limit 😂😂
Our night ended, and we crawled into bed for what I was hoping would be good, solid, beer induced sleep. That is until around 2 am when I felt my bed, the walls, and roof shaking and rumbling. In my half sleep stupor I just thought to myself “damn train”, until a few moments later I realized where I was, and there were no trains, but yet an earthquake! My first earth quake! I instantly snapped wide awake and sat up in bed shaking Ron saying “that was an earth quake, that was an earth quake!” To which he replied “yep, go back to sleep”. Apparently he was so accustomed to earthquakes from when he lived in Japan, that it didn’t even phase him. I however, was terrified by this fact because we were very close to the coast and I know that tsunamis can follow earthquakes. Also given the recent earthquakes and tsunamis that hit Indonesia only a few months ago, I was on the government web sites right away researching and seeing how strong the earth quake was and if there would be a tsunami warning following it. A good hour later after developing many escape plans in my head for the “what if” tsunami , it seemed like everything was clear and there were no warning signs of a tsunami.
The next morning the breakfast table at the hostel was buzzing with chatter about who felt the earth quake. While some shared just as much fear/excitement about it as I did, others simply slept right through it. After a quick breakfast and chat at the breakfast table, we packed up our bags and headed out to another room further up the coast of Uluwatu. We decided to switch locations because this next room was within walking distance of the beach and if Ron wanted to surf, we wanted to be able to walk to the beach everyday instead of spending money on taxis.
Once we got to our new location, we ended up staying for a few days and just walking around exploring the beaches in the area. 
Padang Padang Beach
A little hidden beach area we found
On our last night in Uluwatu we decided to head to the famous Uluwatu Temple and by advice, we bought tickets for the Kacek Fire Dance that was to be performed at sunset overlooking the ocean.
I would like to say that we enjoyed the dance, but I think we went into it with different expectations than what was actually performed. I had images of women dressed head to toe in brightly colored outfits performing choreographed dances in front of the setting sun. How the performance actually started was by 50 men in robes coming out and singing or mimicking drum and instrumental sounds for the first 15 minutes or so before a few actors came out and performed a scene in the center of the men who were providing the background music. It was all a very interesting a cultural experience but just not what I was expecting. The actors did however start to have some comedic relief with the audience at the end laughing, making jokes and pulling audience members in the circle to act along. We were still able to admire the temple and the gorgeous sunset over the ocean.
Two of our friends from couch surfing met us at the temple and we hung out at a small shop nearby just chatting until mosquitos had taken over and it was time to go back.
The next morning we headed up to Canggu which was further north on the west coast. Our hostel we booked was just a few minutes walk to the beach which was perfect for us. Once we arrived we were able to kick of our shoes and head right to the beach. We ended up spending about 3 days in Canggu walking the streets and exploring, hanging out at the beach, and enjoying sunsets at our favorite location, Hidden Beach Bar. Sunsets there were truly magical with a coconut in hand.
Sunsets at hidden beach bar
After our first visit to this bar, we wanted to instantly return due to the kindness of one of the gentleman who worked there. His name was Reon, and he instantly asked us our names and remembered us when we returned the next day. Apparently, he had previously owned a bar on Gili Trawangan, one of the small islands off the coast of Bali, but when the tsunami hit, his bar was destroyed, so he moved to the mainland to start over. Although he had lost everything, he was such a kind, humble and happy man, ready to build his way up and start again.
Everyone we met at the bar was incredibly friendly. This included a woman named Bexie who had moved to Bali and started a business and now was coming to the bar everyday to take care of and feed all of the local dogs who called the bar their home.
Two other great people we met while at the hostel included Kinsley from Washington DC and Morgan from San Francisco. We connected and instantly started talking travel. We ended up spending a morning together on the beach with Ron and Morgan testing out the waves. Kinsley and Morgan were on a short holiday so we only spent one day together but we were still able to share many stories and get some great book recommendations from them. Once we had enough beach time at the hostel, we were headed back to stay with Mayo, which you know the story from there!
Overall our stay in Bali was magical and inspiring. We were blown away by the beauty, intrigued by the culture and food, and touched by all of the friendships we made. Bali, island of the gods, you really were spectacular.