Bali - Day 1

We slept in, surprisingly L woke up at 11 am, which suited me just fine. Our hotel in Seminyak is quite pleasant, the room is clean and the bed is comfortable. We headed out first to the supermarket next door to buy water and some snacks and since we got off at such a late start and we had to be back by 4pm for L’s medication, I decided to do something close by.

We visited Santo Mikael’s church, about a 10 minute walk away (which we did in 20). It’s quaint little white church with blue copulas surrounded by a small garden with figurines. Frogs seemed to be a general theme but there some Buddhist-like figurines scattered around as well. After the church, L was feeling hot and sweaty, and also hungry. It didn’t help that I hadn’t really thought up a plan for lunch, so we stopped at the first busy restaurant we found. I had some spring rolls (very good) and L had pasta. She’s determined not to try out new food, and even when she wants to try out something new, she always picks food she can’t eat (like chilli).​

After lunch we went back to our hotel for a quick shower to freshen up and for L to take her meds, and then off we went in an uber to Pura Petitenget, which is a temple by the beach. I think for L the highlight was the beach. She loved running across the sand, waiting for the waves to come in and touch her feet. She particularly enjoyed throwing rocks at the waves and I had to constantly hold her back from running into the water.

I have to say though, the beach was a major disappointment and I really hope not all beaches in Bali are like the one we went to. The sand was a dark and dirty grey, although the water did seem clean from the shore. It’s such a huge contrast to the white sandy beaches back home and couldn’t help thinking, this is why people come to Bali? If so, they don’t know what a beach really is like…

​​The Balinese are extremely friendly and very helpful, without seeming overly so or too much. They are extremely welcoming of children, L is constantly being spoken to and gets so much attention. We passed by a massage place where the workers were standing outside and they crowded over her, asking her name and her age. It was the cutest thing.

I think this trip is making L a lot more comfortable with strangers approaching her. She’s finally agreed to high-five strangers and wave at them, whereas recently she’s always shied away from them. There’s no way I can know for certain, but I really think she’s having fun on this holiday…