The start of my journey and a home for much longer than expected.
All started with a phone call with a friend called Jenny. She was planing to be in Bali for two month and why not meet each other for a new adventure? We both had worked in the same company and quit in the same year. Then my best friend Kumji from Korea said she could join me for a week, if I stay in Bali. So I decided Bali to be my first destination, and there it all started.
First Stop; Jimbaran
There it is, where we met. Jenni, her friend who became my friend Nath and me. I arrived on June 30th with only my NorthFace backpack as a hand luggage (size small) and a lot of excitement. When I arrived in Ngurah Rai International Airport I couldn't believe what I had done and I could not wait to soak in all the experiences and memories.
Before the girls arrived, I met a lot of locals, cruised around and got lost with my scooter, laughed at my own, tried delicious local food and went surfing in Uluwatu. New new new, everything was new and I felt just incredible free and independent. The world was open to me!
Next stop, Ubud
5th of July we took a taxi and drove all the way to Ubud. It wasn't that long but the road was just insane. Asian vibe, crowded "highway", all the scooters of the world seemed to be there and Balinese just packed everything they own on top of their scooters inclusive the whole family and the grandma on top. As my goal was to safe some money during the trip and spend the least as possible, I took a Hostel and the girls had already booked a Hotel room. Ubud; fancy delicious food, a lot of temples, a touristy rice field we got trapped in and a funny story in my dorm.
So it was an only girls dorm and apparently there where two Australian sisters who turned on the AirCondition to a freezing cold temperature. Didn't I just came from the cold? I didn't see the point to be in a tropical country, searching for the tropical warm vibe and getting sick because of an AirCondition. After the first night coughing and just accepting it, I changed it all the second night. In the middle of the night when everyone was sleeping, I took the device of the AirCondition. I needed to be clever so I swapped to "Fan only" and then took one battery out of the device so it's not functioning properly.I put the device back, went to bed and hoped nobody would check the batteries in the middle of the night. I slept like a chick under a heat lamp (heaven) and I guess some might not have a good night.
Sorry girls, drinks on me whenever we see each other again!
After 3 days, the girls left. Nath back home and Jenn to meet her family in Canggu. I stayed in Ubud to meet my friend Kumji, who was supposed to arrive the 9th. I had some much appreciated me time, joined a friend to visit the Splash Water Park in Kuta (not a huge fan of water parks, but I tried..) and had a blast spending time with a beautiful soul I met in the Dorm, her name is Olivia. The cutest, funniest, genuine, warm hearted, nerve bundle ("Nervenbündel") I know. A Swiss girl from "Rappenswil".
Gili Trawangan
The 10th, me and my friend Kumji arrived at Gili Trawangan. Carriages only, lots of young tourists and a busy street. Gili Trawangan has 1800 habitants and is the biggest one of the Gili Islands (Air, Meno, Trawangan) in the north-west coast of Lombok. Apparently a party and mushroom island because there is no police, only the locals controlling the situation, but what I saw is that due to Covid it got more calm. We had a great stay in the **Hotel and a great Host, making jokes all day long. The highlight was definitely the Food Night Market where you get to choose from fresh food, what to get cooked. Fresh fish, meat, veggies and of course rice with a spoon of delicious peanut sauce. All for 15'000 rupiah, which is one Swiss Franc. Everyone sits together in the middle of the food market, where they put tables and chairs. It's busy, fast food and you get to know a lot of people. We got to know Jannes a young German world traveler, who spent a few years of his childhood in Indonesia and a Swiss guy I don't remember the name off. He was funny though.
We went on a trip to Gili Meno, to snorkel and saw a turtle which was really cute. Gili Meno is even smaller and you get around the island pretty fast. Not a lot to see if you are not a diver. We took a few shots to feed our Instagram profiles and headed back to Trawangan.
The next day we visited Nusa Penida for two nights. We visited Kelingking Beach in the morning and it was insane! I was not to visit it before, because apparently there are thousands of thousands of the same shots in front of this beach. It seems like the whole world takes the same picture and visits the same spot. But I must say, it's totally worth the visit if you go early in the morning before everyone arrives. The power and energy of the beach and the cliffs are as I said INSANE. For a sunset drink we went to Amok Sunset View, with our friend Eric from Costa Rica we got to know on a beach during the day. Happy hour, good snacks and got chats! This is what traveling is for, right?
Bye Kumji, hello solo traveling and AMED
What a welcome. Booked the Deepweek in Amed, arrived to the first workshop, felt something is wrong with my body, went back to bed and stayed there for the next week. I guess Covid hit? It was so bad that I wanted to go to the hospital, because I didn't know what my body was going through. I was completely out of energy and every small movement was just such an effort I've never felt before. Turned out I had fever and everything else in my body was functioning properly. Well, at least it was trying to. I couldn't eat, couldn't move, my food was swollen (from the surgery back home in April) and I had lost a lot of weight. I was staying in a Dorm at Pondok Aldi, an accommodation owned by a lovely couple. Their sun is named Aldi and Pondok means cottage in balinese. The owner were so kind and looked after me, so I felt pretty safe and in good hands. Poor my mum, she suffered a lot and thought I would be worse and worse. Made it mum <3 =)!
After this torture I made it back to the Freediving community and joined the Molchanovs family. I took diving classes with the experienced instructor Shane from Liquidlifeindo and finished up my Wave2 and Wave3 in a Master Course for more than a month. Diving, eating, relaxing, repeat. For one month. Oh in between I visited Malaysia for a Visa run, as my Visa was about to expire after one month. Overall, I met a lot of beautiful people, literally dived deeper into Freediving and have grown a lot. But for now, I am ready for the next adventure. Terima Kasih Bali!!
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