Sorry folks, but Bali is not peaceful. Unless you step off the main streets of Canggu or Kerobokan or Kuta, it’s most often a messy dirtpile of holey sidewalks, smelly motos, and loud hawkers trying to get your attention.
But… BUT! If you take the time to step off the beaten track (a theme you will hear me wax about often), you *can* find that vibe you’re looking for.
Like all of my Snapshots, there is a story behind the video.
We lived, while in the Denpasar part of Bali (the south, near the tourist beaches of Canggu and Kuta) in a small city about 5 km from the beaches called Karobokan. It’s best known for Bali’s infamous prison, but it’s also very typical of local Balinese life, home to many villas and expats. It’s where you will not find the chain stores and the trappings Western life you might miss. It’s the kind of place we like to be in, because it gives us a sense of what life for locals might be.
But it’s incredibly noisy and confusing, an overload of sensual stimuli.
On Google Maps, I spied a road that led to… nowhere. An empty space on the screen that could only be rice fields. And so I set out, after a particularly busy and tiring day, to find them.
My walk was interrupted with a “where are you going”, and if you watch and listen carefully to my tone, you can hear the subtle annoyance in my voice that almost led me to keep my head down, and keep on going. Instead, though, I stopped and talked to the man.
A split second decision that made all the difference, and led me to a peaceful place.