It was a long isolating period since Covid came and passed. My motivation to go abroad waned considerably when the advent of covid destroyed my San Deigo Comicon plans back in 2020. After that, I sort of waited for air fares and international quarantine restrictions to die down and after that, I got used to just being home-based.
Then my aunties shared experiences of them relaxing by the beach and the curiousity slowly built.
My cousin had a dive training site at Padang Bai Bali, and so one day I decided to fly there, based on some self-rationale to visit a relative for once and just to go for a short holiday at the same time.
It turned out to be a 3D2N journey of relaxation and all-day booze fest.
Padang Bai was a transit small-ish beach resort town east of Bali Island (Indonesia) and it was remote, yet current enough to provide both a 4 star resort experience and great laid back diving/beach fun-vibes to all tourists.
I arrived to really bright sun, characteristic of Bali, and after a long car ride, ended up at my hotel/villa resort the Bloo Lagoon. I have very few complaints of this 4-star resort. The rooms/villa were exemplary and the service flawless.
A wee peeve I had was of the pool, which was rather over-crowded with kids, and the water was slightly murky. It was like swimming in a pond in the middle of the jungle. The resort was on top of a hill as well, which when underestimated, led to a sobering and humbling trek up a steep (and very very dark) slope at 4am while very drunk but yet feeling intrepid enough to risk rolling downhill to possible death or disability.
However, the view from your very own porch was something to die for and worth every dollar spent.
I took 3 different shades of sunrise at the crack of dawn and I thought they were, even in my inebriated state, pretty much money shots.
The booze was so cheap that I partook substantial amounts on both evenings with good company provided by my cousin and some of his companions. It was fun to drink with young people or people around my age again. There were more topics to cover and jokes to share for sure.
I was so drunk, I failed to go out for my intended snorkling session on day 2, so I promised myself I would do that on my next trip.
I had a crippling pain in my neck and shoulders. Thankfully Bloo Lagoon provided great Balinese massages and it was performed near the edge of a real cliff.
I left for home on the 3rd day, with full intentions of coming back for a longer stay soon. My next blog on Padang Bai will cover my cousin’s fledgling bar/live band business and more pictures of the people , beach and laid back scenes.
Wanderer's Anthology 