Bali (Seminyak) - Indonesia
04 March – 07 March 2020
If somehow the memories I have of our Bali trip managed to travel forward at the speed of light until now, then by comparison, I think I may have aged dramatically, if not physically, then without question, psychologically. In the same manner that Einstein’s theory of special relativity predicts that the person ‘left behind on earth’ would age significantly when compared with the person flying into the future, aka (space), on their anti-age defying machine of light speed.
Truthfully, the nine months from March until now have felt like five years in the age of our COVID-19 ravaged reality.
These days, as I peer out of our apartment window, looking down onto Flinders St, I find it completely empty, bar for the occasional Uber eats cyclist or an emergency service vehicle on its way to another crisis. This is the end-of-days scenario that we use to admonish ‘Doomsday Preppers’ for anticipating. In its early days collectively we all thought that just like any other melodrama that has emerged via our pixelated idiot boxes, that the Novel Coronavirus would somehow disappear in the manner of SARS, MERS or Ebola. I think part of the contempt initially was that somehow we were immune to any sizeable global catastrophe. Bad things, global troubles, were only ‘real’ and identifiable in the guise of the tangible, things such as armed conflict, terrorism, natural disasters. As the now emeritus Donald J Trump said in this oft repeated snippet, ‘You know in theory when it gets a little warmer it miraculously goes away’. Going on further, and to reiterate my initial point on how long the decade of 2020 feels, he goes on to say, ‘We only have 11 cases and they’re all getting better’…. that was on February 10th, 2020….
…Roll forward to 10 December 2020, exactly 10 months later and the US Coronavirus statistics read like this;
- 15.2 million cases
- 286,000 deaths
- 200,000 + cases per day
Aside from the sheer stupidity and ignominy of a leader making such bombastic comments, the numbers offer more to the reality than our collectively conflated denial back in the day was willing to grasp.
Before the deluge, the onset of the pandemic that halted economies, travel, social life and much of everything that has modern day humans we had taken for granted, we'd planned a getaway to the island paradise located to our north-west. A getaway not just for this Australian trio, but also, for Inga's family who would be meeting us in Bali before returning with us to Melbourne in order to have their first experience of the Great Southern Land.
Inga and I were making our first visit to Bali after a four-year hiatus. In that time we had circled the globe a few times, gotten engaged, then married, relocated to Australia and had our first and only child to date, Aiden. When you summarise it all in just a few lines like that it makes you realise that a hell of a lot occurred in that time-frame.
Generally the Australian perception of Bali is that it’s that locations where bogans go to have their international holiday. Giving them the ability to say that they’ve been overseas. Famously epitomized in the Redgum song I’ve been to Bali too, the lyrics, ‘Bali T-shirts, magic mushrooms, Redgum bootlegs, I’ve been to Bali too’ inevitably the images that many of us conjure when we think of those other Australians making their way to the island. And sure, there is some of that style to be expected of Australians in Bali, especially in Kuta, but Bali can, and does offer so much more. I can say from personal experience that I(we) have only scratched the surface of both the beauty of the people, their land, and all that it has to offer. So in that sense I’m not ashamed to say that not only have I been to Bali too, but, I plan on returning a number of times in the future.
Flying into Denpasar on a typically balmy Bali evening, we were met by Komang, our driver and guide from four years earlier. A friendly, genuine and somewhat understated individual, he typified to me a lot of what the people here seem have within the fabric of their DNA. Not anything brash, or overt, but a sincerity and openness that is not manufactured for a purpose. Once again, we had asked him to be our guide for the next few days once again, this time playing host a slightly extended family audience.
On this occasion we had rented out Villa Gupta for our time in Central Seminyak. A tranquil, gorgeous, three -bedroom abode where we would spend our time between our comings and goings. A truly great place, perfect a bigger group like our and in all honesty, much better value than having to book three different rooms in a hotel or a resort.
For the next couple of days we spent most of our time either in Seminyak or on the most southern coastline of Bali. In this regard, there wasn’t an overwhelming urge to undertake mass sightseeing but we did all get an idea of the key elements that make this island such an overwhelming favourite for so many people.
Being from Australia,
this part of the world is relatively familiar to me, in the sense that it’s
proximity gives you a sense of awareness for it. Coming from Latvia on the
other hand must feel like your stepping into a totally different universe. A
paradise that inspires a tropical state of mind. Coming from a land where the
average annual air temperature is just +5.9 degrees, Bali must truly be a tropical
splendour.
