Dear English-speaking readers, this page is an automatic Google translation from a post originally written in French. My apologies for the weird sentences and the funny mistakes that could have been generated during the process. If you can read French, the original and correct version can be found here:
Français Indonesia: Flores + Komodo + Bali - July 2011
I often go back to Bali while traveling in Indonesia. The island is a magician, who always brings me back to her. The more I go back, the more I love it.
Bali, my favorite air hub
Well, there are practical reasons, of course: Bali airport is a big hub both international and domestic. Convenient to get to Indonesia and leave, especially for connections, when you must then take a flight to another destination in Indonesia or a neighboring country.
And then, we do not land in Denpasar (name of the capital of the island, given, by extension, at the airport), but right next to Kuta, the big seaside resort of the southwest. The airstrip is at the far end of the beach, to the south.
I do not like Kuta, terribly touristy. But it's a nice stop anyway, between two flights, two pieces of travel, when you arrive exhausted from a long-haul flight from Europe, or just before taking the flight back.
I like every time to walk long hours on Kuta BeachBeautiful black sand beach, which stretches endlessly to the north, along Legian, Seminyak, Kerobokan. From one year to the next, I return to admire the sunset.
There, facing the waves, it's an immense euphoria that invades me at the beginning of the journey; or, on the contrary, a sweet and tenacious melancholy, when I'm about to fly back home ...
July 2011
In July 2011, most of my trip to Indonesia was Flores and Komodo, in the Small Islands of Sunda. An extraordinary journey! Again, I arrived by Bali. I already talked about it, quickly, at the end of this article dedicated to Air Asia X's long-haul flight from Paris.
But I still have not told the following: after Flores and my cruise-dive in the archipelago of Komodo, I returned to spend a few days in Bali!
I chose to land in the northeast of the island. I was in Tulamben, near Amed, where I had stayed in 2008.
I love the area and can not recommend staying a few days in the area for those visiting Bali for the first time. There are cute coves of black sand and fishing villages along the coast, beautiful rice terraces in the interior of the country, temples and palaces full of spirituality, and especially the volcano that dominates everything, the magnificent and imposing Gunung Agung.
In addition, it is a renowned dive spot. Tulamben is where the fabulous wreck of the Liberty, in front of a beach of black pebbles.
For several years, I go back to dive, without getting tired ... And for those who do not dive, there is something to marvel too, simply snorkeling (palms-mask-snorkel), on the coral trays and the top of the wreck.
Good plan for accommodation and diving in Tulamben
July 2012. Small addition: I'll let you know this real good plan of resort to divers (we have a guide for ourselves and we dive at the times we want, preferably outside the busy times), which is also an excellent address , especially if you are a sub photographer, and you want to discover the wreck in the best possible conditions → Liberty Dive Resort
The mesmerizing island
Bali is often decried by travelers who swear by the "authentic". That's right, Bali has changed. It has modernized, developed. And there is no need to be a specialist to see and understand the damage that mass tourism can cause.
Bali has nevertheless remained captivating. For those who want to take the trouble, it's easy not to meet only Australian surfers. Take a step aside to escape the crowds, including in famous tourist spots. To soak up the beauty of the island, its special atmosphere, linked to Hindu traditions and beliefs of the population, for whom spirits and gods are everywhere.
The island is neither too big nor too small. It can be easily crossed during the day, to change region, atmosphere. And I am always touched by the incredible welcome of the Balinese. By their tolerance, their availability, their openness, their contagious good humor.
In Bali, it is easy to be invaded by an incredible SENIENCE, which we no longer believed capable. To rediscover yourself a little. To savor the time that passes, the pleasure of living.
How lucky I am. I'm going back soon!
Bali will be a stopover, again, in a wider Indonesian journey ... But I'll tell you more in a few days.
😎
Indonesia: Flores + Komodo + Bali - July 2011