Un-Bali-vable

This is a slightly different travel story as it’s from a friend’s 30-year-old daughter. I definitely WOULDN’T do everything she did, nor would I expect you to follow in her footsteps but she did have some experiences I think everyone could enjoy. Covid hit Jess Coder hard and her company gave her time to ‘reset’ with a month off, so she decided a new adventure was in store. Now, where to go?

From Jess: “I am not a planner (as you will soon see), but I took a few things into consideration when choosing where I wanted to travel. One, I wanted to go somewhere safe for females, do something that although I was traveling solo, I would not feel “alone,” and doing something good during my time was a bonus. I decided to do a ‘pay-to-volunteer’ program where you pay a fee but your room/board and other needed items are provided for once you arrive. I love the ocean, so when I saw a coral reef restoration program on the island of Bali (part of Indonesia) I was sold. I signed up for a two-week period where I would be scuba diving and picking off trash stuck to the coral reefs. This was also a good jumping-off point for me to visit another SE Asian country.

First travel issue: She had to decide as soon as she landed at her first stop, where she would travel secondarily after her layover in Doha (Qatar airport) because their government required that she had to have a ticket out of Bali to be allowed into the country. A new and unknown travel concern. Fortunately for her, the local Starbucks offered WIFI, and she made her future travel plans between lattes.

After a long travel time, approximately 32 hours, she arrived. The Bali airport is located in the southern part of the island and is where most people spend their time when they visit Bali; it is filled with clubs, boutiques, and avocado toast! The following morning, a driver from the restoration program picked her up to take her to Lovina (a three-hour drive on the north of the island. On the way, they stopped to eat some roadside durian (the fruit that is so stinky it is illegal to take into some public places but tastes like cheese, almonds, garlic, and caramel all mixed together). They also stopped to feed some monkeys on the side of the road.

Lovina and Volunteering

Jess: “While tourism is still a large portion of Lovina’s economy (due to the dolphin population nearby) it was much simpler, more primitive, and had far fewer yoga junkies! When I arrived for my first day of volunteering, I was dropped off at a seaside shack and instead of the picnic tables being filled with other volunteers, there were four Indonesian men chain-smoking cigarettes (next to the scuba equipment and oxygen tanks). They spoke limited English and at this point, I started getting nervous. I am a certified scuba diver, but haven’t scuba dived in 10 years, and unless I got a refresher I was in trouble. I started to panic. ‘Why did I sign up for a scuba diving program if I didn’t know what I was doing? How did they even allow me on this program? Should I just quit now?’ Luckily, one of the dive masters gave me a 5-minute refresher mostly going over the hand signals of ‘up,’ ‘down,’ ‘problem,’ and ‘turtle.’

“They then equipped me with my scuba gear, handed me a netted trash bag, and we proceeded to walk into the ocean. I proceeded to fill my bag with marine trash and did meet a turtle.”

“Over the next few days, my three counterparts arrived (all as clueless as me) but because I had one dive more than them, I was deemed the group expert! Unfortunately, this program was incredibly disorganized. While I had a lovely time and no regrets, if you are interested in making a difference – do your research! With this program, I can’t say I was doing much to help the environment, but I knew my donation was going to the people who actually knew what they were doing to continue to save the reef and to a local school.”

“So, yes, do your research and look for independent reports on ANY programs you want to engage in. Some may be beneficial, others not.”

“The good thing about exploring North Bali & Ubud, was they were close to great diving (not part of our program), several majestic waterfalls, and Lovina is the “Dolphin” capital of Bali so we found lots of things to do when we weren’t volunteering. Some of these were:

Dolphin Tour

Most people go to Lovina for a “dolphin tour.” You can’t go 15 feet from your hotel without being offered three dolphin tours. However, once I went, I was not disappointed. You leave at sunrise and are racing the other 20 boats (each of which holds about five people) to get closest to the dolphin pods. But the best part is you can hang off the boat on a bar in snorkel gear so you are in the water with them. I never got close enough to touch them but it was an unreal experience watching pods of 20 of them swimming 15 feet below me in a blue abyss.

Word of wisdom, wear tight-fitting swimwear because when those boats see a dolphin they take off and you have to hold onto that bar for dear life. (Again, not recommended for seniors, not sure what happens if they lose you.) I had one death grip on the bar and the other on my gopro/bottoms that were at risk of flying off any moment!

Coffee Tour

: Bali is also a coffee (and tea!) mecca, and several places allow you to try their coffee free of charge. The only coffee you have to pay to try is “Kopi Luwak Coffee” The Kopi is a civet mammal that sort of resembles a ferret. They eat the coffee bean cherries and during their digestive process, the beans acquire a different flavor that makes coffee extra good. The animals are fed coffee cherries, their stomach enzymes dissolve the pulp and they poop out the bean. It is collected, cleaned, roasted, and ground into coffee! Yum! Right? Also very expensive due to the extra “handling cost.”

Temples

Bali is also known for their Hindu temples. They are everywhere and are all amazing. One of the more interesting experiences Jess had was at the Ulun Danu Temple at Lake Bratan where a group of girls asked her for a photo. As Jess reached out for their camera they said, “No”…turns out they wanted her photo!

Bali Overview and Warnings

Jess: “I loved Bali and I wouldn’t do anything differently. I only had a bout of bad luck early on, within two days an ATM machine had eaten my debit card. I was told all of the itchy bites on my skin were bed bugs, and I fell victim to what is known as “Bali Belly” (food poisoning which unfortunately is very common for visitors in Bali). Best to always be prepared for such events. Things to avoid: greens and ice. The water used for washing food or making the ice may not be clean.”

Elephant Sanctuary

This was the only item Jess planned more than one day in advance. Most people when they think of Thailand, they think of elephants. Unfortunately, due to tourism “elephant rides” and elephants being overworked in industries such as logging many are injured/abused. If you are interested in seeing an elephant, it is highly recommended you visit a sanctuary where you can interact with elephants but they are treated much better. Each elephant is assigned a handler who is essentially that elephant’s babysitter, except for the baby elephants who have three handlers because they are always running around and it tires the caretakers out. The baby she saw was about three years old and kept running at the tourists because as a small 100-pound baby he was allowed to sit on the caretaker’s laps…but now being a few thousand pounds, he hadn’t caught on that that behavior was no longer appreciated!

Overall Trip Thoughts

Jess: “I was always hesitant to travel alone, I was worried I would be lonely or bored, but I can wholeheartedly say, if you have the opportunity, do it! Southeast Asia is a lovely place to travel, especially as a solo female. Thailand and Bali are especially easy to get around, it’s easy to meet other travelers, and I never felt unsafe. I came back refreshed, more confident, with many stories, and a nice tan”

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