Bali...Round 1

The first of December took me to Bali and my first adventure south of the equator!  It took me a bit to realize that out of my short but adventurous life, I have never stepped into the southern hemisphere until a few days ago, kind of exciting for someone interested in geography like me, but in most other ways completely insignificant.  No ceremonies or toasts for the crossing as I was just speeding along on the 3 hour flight.


It was a quick but enjoyable trip.  Many members of my host Rotary Club in Malaysia (RC Titiwangsa) were attending The Bali Rotary Institute and invited myself and Tomoko (the other Ambassadorial Scholar) to come along.  We spent one day in Kuta, which actually felt more like Australia because there are so many Aussie tourists there, and two days in Nusa Dua at a fancy like resort where the conference was being held, we could afford it because we were sharing the room between four people J  I would have liked to explore more and enjoy the culture, but the time was so short that we just squeezed in some shopping and beach time. 

Not to fret though, because I will be returning to Bali in no time!  A dear friend from Alaska, Janelle, will be heading my way in January and we plan to visit Bali for a yoga retreat and more exploring.  I never thought I would find myself living some place where I could say, “No worries…Bali is so close that I can just come back anytime!”  I also met some great Rotarians at the conference from Ubud, Bali who have invited me to speak at their club when I return.

One really neat activity that we did get to enjoy was a traditional Balinese dance performance called Kecak atop a beautiful cliff temple called Uluwatu.  It’s unique compared to the many other forms of Balinese dance because it is not accompanied by any musical instruments.  Instead, a chorus of about 50 men imitate the sounds of musical instruments and aid in the story telling with different sound effects.  It was truly a beautiful experience to watch this performance at sunset on top of the majestic cliffs overlooking the ocean.