So we draw to the final 11 nights in Bali, so what’s next you ask? Some old favourites that’s what, Canggu and the stunning Uluwatu! Although I spent a month in Canggu during my Yoga Teacher Training last year, I felt I didn’t get enough time to really explore, as my days off during this time were spent exploring outside of Canggu. So off I set with my gorgeous driver Kadek, however first I needed to return my scooter in town and Kadek informs me that the road into Ubud is closed due to road works. I have to follow him on the scooter down the bumpy backstreets, past some rogue chickens, dodging some serious pot holes, smiling and waving at the ever so happy Indonesian children until we get to Monkey Forest Road and then I show him the way from there. WELL…surprise surprise Kadek, that was so 7 days ago and I can’t remember exactly where it is!! We drive along for about 10 minutes until I pull over and give into google maps. I type in the name of the scooter rental place and away we go, however there is one problem…there is also a clothes shop named the same as the scooter place and it takes us to the wrong place of course. Not ideal to be lost in the thick traffic and one way streets of Ubud with a large vehicle following you. I admit defeat and give the business card of the scooter rental company to Kadek, and after a very confusing phone call and bad line we are on our way. We had driven past it the first time on Monkey Forest Road! I return the scooter, and as I am now a seasoned traveller in Bali I know that a 40 minute drive usually translates to 1 hr and 30 mins in Bali time, and I am sensing some avoidable hangry’s happening and I ask Kadek to wait while I find a cafe to grab some takeaway lunch for the road. He doesn’t realise he is dealing with Miss Google the shit out of any restaurant/cafe before you step foot in the door, however to be fair to the poor guy I decide to wing it and come across a beauty. Folk Cafe is a funky new cafe in Ubud on Monkey Forest Road that has a seriously good menu, filtered water with ice, awesome staff and a killer acai bowl to take away. I’m not sure they get people requesting take away all that often as they had to give me actual cutlery to take with me, which I found pretty funny.
I find Kadek and off we go to Canggu, I feel like this is what it would be like for the cashed up. Private driver, mac open doing work while chowing down on my acai bowl with Kadek flattering me (for tips no doubt) telling me I look 25…i’ll take that, flattery will get you everywhere my friend. I have a moment where I check in with myself and think, life is pretty fucking sweet right now. We get to Canggu in about an 1.5 hours and as the owner of the villa is in Australia at the moment she gives me instructions on how to get the key and let myself into the villa. I get into the villa and it is literally a glass house, and is amazing! Each window I look out of is tropical plants, frogs galore, sunshine and the private glistening pool all to myself for 7 nights. I am staying on Batu Bolong Rd literally right behind one of my favourite cafe’s Crate Cafe which is an absolute cracker spot. Amanda only takes one person staying in her spare room, so if you are staying by yourself it’s an absolute must Cocoon Villa. So after I get settled, I organise a scooter at the end of my driveway and take a little ride down to Old Mans for a beer on the beach while catching up with a couple of friends on the phone. I end up meeting some crazy canucks and having a laugh with them over a couple more beers and a cheeky burger, we make plans to catch up the following day for Happy Hour at Old Man’s and head to Deus for a few Sunday sips and catch a gig.
I wake up the following morning and it’s Sunday morning, I have full plans to head to yoga at Desa Seni. I get up and jump on the scooter, I get within 5 minutes of Desa Seni and my stomach does a backflip and i’m not sure what to expect. I had some serious cramps and felt nauseous and after a quick google doctor search, I diagnose myself with having Bali Belly and decide that it’s too much of a risk to keep going on this occasion and I make my way back so the villa to have a lay down and see if this moment is going to pass. It does within about an hour thank god, misdiagnosis by Dr Clifton on this occasion, but I have now missed my yoga class for the morning. I decide to do some nude laps in the pool instead, and make it a “mindful swim”, I haven’t felt that carefree and a sense of freedom for a long time! Highly recommend it if you have a chance…i’m not saying go down to your local pool and do some nude laps because there is a good chance you will get locked away, but if you have a pool to yourself or a secluded beach nude up. Next stop was a quick breakfast at Crate which was amazing as always (Hipsta Bowl and a Piccolo), then off to a fairly new market they have started at Love Anchor, which is a few doors down from Crate (heading away from the beach). This was a really cute little market with loads of cool jewellery, clothing, bags etc. I bagged myself some beautiful bamboo cotton hand printed yoga tanks ($15 each!!) and some stunning silver rings for an absolute bargain. The day got away from me pretty quickly and before I knew it, it was time for happy hour at Old Mans with the Canadian’s. This time they wanted to make the most of the 2 for 1 drinks and decided to buy a table full of beers. I stuck with my 2 for 1 caprioska’s, and lets just say we were all quite happy by the end of happy hour. I left Old Man’s and headed home for an interlude and something to eat before heading to Deus, the young Canadian crew were on a mission to PARTY AND STAY MERRY and stayed at Old Mans for a little longer before they head home to get ready for Deus. An hour goes by and I am ready and decide not to wait for the Canadians as they are taking their time, I decided to hit Sunday Sesh on MY OWN. This is something I would not even contemplate at home, I used to struggle with the idea of going out for dinner on my own when I was travelling for work. So off I went, when I got there it was pretty packed which is a usual Sunday night at Deus and there would have been easily 500+ people there. I grabbed a cider and headed for the side of stage to check out the band, had a little boogie by myself and within 5 minutes a number of different people had come up to chat to me. It got me thinking that travelling alone is something really special, and it puts you in situations that you would rarely experience if you were travelling with friends. I went on this trip with no expectations, but in my mind I was planning on spending a lot of time on my own, however the universe had other plans for me. Andy strolls on up and asks if I am on my own, I tell him I am “waiting for a mate” and he invites me up to one of the shacks that he and a group of friends were lucky enough to score for the night. I head on up and there are a mix of guys and girls, mostly Aussies who were all chilled and having a good night. I had a few more drinks, some laughs and chats with the Deus crew and called it a night.
The following day I decided to head to Seminyak to visit some friends who were here from Melbourne. First stop was a late lunch with PC at The Corner House where we had some super healthy and tasty salads with a cocktail on the side…the intention was there. We spoke about all the exciting business opportunities that could be had in Bali, all of PC’s creative and genius ideas, and my dream of living in Bali during the cold Melbourne Winter every year. I love catching up with friends who turn their dreams into reality and make me excited about the possibilities that lie ahead for my own dreams and goals. Next in line was the gorgeous Kathsta, I dropped into her hotel on the way back to Canngu and had a cocktail by the pool with her Bali crew. There is something different about catching up with friends while on holidays versus catching up with friends at home. Everyone is calm, relaxed and happy to be on holidays and it really feels like quality time, rather than a rush to get to the next place or thinking about what you have to cook for dinner that night. I think also when you are travelling alone for quite a lengthy period, you really value the comfort of familiar faces and the company they bring. There is never a dull moment when Kathsta is around, we jammed as many laughs and inappropriate conversations into 1 hour that we could, and I left with a big smile on my face and headed back to Canngu for some dinner. I showered and headed out to dinner at Betelnut, whilst I was waiting for a table there were two German girls in front of me also waiting for a table and they asked if I would like to join them. So up we went, had some tasty burrito’s and talked about our journey’s so far. We got along so well that we ended up continuing our conversations over beers at Old Man’s and then onto Black Shores to meet up with more friends.
I know what you are thinking…damn for a yogi there seems to be a lot of drinking on this leg of the trip. It’s all about balance my friends, I am not one to completely commit myself to one aspect of my life and devote my entire life to that one thing no matter how passionate about it I am. I’m not saying that there is anything wrong with those that choose to do this, however it’s just not me. I’m all about life experience, and this life experience translates into who I am as a person and also into my life on the mat and to my students. This trip for me was very much about being in the flow and going with all opportunities that presented themselves to me, even if it meant having a cheeky cider or two. My yoga journey was still very much present, and I found some amazing studio’s and teachers:
The Practice (a new yoga studio on Batu Bolong) – here I did a Hatha Yoga class with Michael. His class flowed beautifully and I learned a lot to take into my own classes. I haven’t practiced a lot of Hatha in the past, but I have really enjoyed slowing down my yoga practice over here and allowing myself to learn new things from all the great teachers over here. After class Michael made mention of a talk that was on the following night with Karina, so along I went and I am so glad I did. The way Karina spoke and the words she spoke really resonated with me. Wouldn’t it be great if we could plug into some peoples minds and download their knowledge into our own!? I guess it’s not the same as actually having the experiences yourself to talk on the subjects with such passion though. I decided to do her class the following day and it was just as good, a similar Hatha class to Michael’s but with her own spin on it.
Desa Seni – I have been here before and absolutely love this place for the experience. It really is a destination and you can quite honestly spend all day here…and that I did. I started off with a Vinyasa Lab which was run by Bernard. Up until this point I had done ALOT of yin, slow flow and hatha classes so I wanted to fire up and holy shit did we fire up! We spend most of the class strengthening up to forearm stand which is a pose I have historically struggled with, so it was great to break it down and see how far I had come in my own practice. With a few minor tweaks thanks to brilliant cueing I felt so much lighter in this pose and it felt like more of a float up rather than a kick up and straight back down. After practice I had a yummy ginger tea in the relaxation lounge before heading to the pool for lunch and a swim. It was pretty warm, so I opted for a smoothie bowl and green juice and booked myself in for a massage. The massages are more expensive here and to be honest for the same price you really can’t get any better than Jari Manari in Seminyak (thats just my opinion though). Next time I would probably opt for a healing modality as a point of difference rather than just another massage.
I also checked out a cool co-working space called Dojo which is on the way down to Echo Beach in Canggu (conveniently located next to Nalu Bowls). I have seen a lot of them popping up in Melbourne and since I have started writing and taken an interest into starting my own business, I thought I would see what all the fuss is about. Dojo was very busy and I was greeted and shown around the various workspace options. There were stations by the pool, around bigger tables, aircon meeting rooms, Skype booths for privacy, a day bed for a quick snooze, bathrooms, showers, a kitchen to heat up food or make a tea/coffee. It really is like going into an office, however what I did find awkward was the business conversations that people were having on the phone within ear shot. I think this could be one of the only downfalls to working within close proximity to others. It is certainly not that cheap (when you can go and work from a cafe for free) with a casual daily fee of $20 and options for various memberships, so I guess when you are paying to use the space you want to make the most of it and get some serious work done which I found to be quite good. I am known to get distracted at cafe’s and home, so I found that with that accountability I got a lot done.
My last nights in Canggu involved meeting some incredible humans out for dinner each night at some of my favourite restaurants in Canggu:
Warung Dandelion is the best warung I have ever been to. It is set in this Balinese wooden shala that opens out onto the prettiest garden, each table is candle lit and as if it wasn’t cute enough…there are pet rabbits hopping around the garden!! Cuteness factor through the roof! Food it a 10, staff and service a 10, and value for money is a big bonus. While here I was quite happy to settle in on my romantic candle lit dinner for one, and a date with Lizzy Gilbert and my Big Magic book. My wine arrived and I had just opened up my book, when a gorgeous girl came up to me from a big table and asked if I would like to join there table. At this stage in my trip I was SOOOO comfortable in my own space, but I never turn down an offer to meet new people so I agreed and joined the group of 6 who were all from different parts of the world. They were so excited to talk to an Australian, firing a million questions at me as I sit at the head of the table feeling like the guest of honour. We exchanged Facebook details and had promised to meet up at Old Man’s for the crazy Wednesday night shenanigans, but when I scootered down there it was mental! There was a guy threatening to throw a coconut at his girlfriends scooter, while she called him a child and piled her best friend and dog onto the scooter and left him there…standard Wednesday night in Canggu really! I decided that everyone was going to piss me off because I simply wasn’t on their level of slurranese and called it a night.
Lacalita – This Mexican restaurant is AAAAMAZING and one of my fave spots to eat and drink cocktails in Canggu. I have been here a few times on my last trip to Canggu with one of my beautiful friends Schmicko. It is more like fancy Mexican tapas, which is my fave type of Mexican. The fish tacos are epic and there is a dish called Fundido which Schmicko and I ordered just for the name, loving the fact that we could order fun on a menu! BUT wait till you hear what is in this pot of fun…
FUNDIDO
Definitely on the sometimes list of foods!! It’s definitely a dish to be shared also otherwise its not that FUN…I ordered it on my own on this occasion and felt like a greasy piece of cheese afterwards, too much FUN is not always a good thing. Another stand out dish is the Ahi Poke, again ordered for the name and pretty sure we changed the lyrics to Hokey Pokey while eating this dish…
AHI POKE
Here I sat at the bar by myself on this occasion, and a couple of English girls came and sat down next to me at the bar. Before you know it they too were ordering the FUN and what was to follow was more wine, followed by more wine at Deus and a full run down of ex stories, and one that gives mine a serious run for its money. This was what you call ‘Day’s of Our Life” stuff! These girls were absolute legends and they had a friendship so similar to the friendships I have with my close besties at home. Deus was closing down around us and the staff actually left us sitting there on the outside tables while they went home for the night. We figured out that we were all leaving for Uluwatu on the same day and so we planned to have a Sunday Sesh at Single Finn.
More wining, dining and entertainment in Canggu:
Betelnut Cafe – good for anytime of the day! Healthy, fresh and tasty.
Samadi Organic Cafe – great for Breakfast or Lunch after a yoga class.
Milk & Madu – unfortunately I didn’t make it here, but everyone raves about it!!
Cafe Veda – only new and owned by some yogi’s. Great healthy vegan options, health shots, raw desserts and kombucha to die for.
Old Mans – for classic pub style meals, happy hour err day between 5pm-6pm and Wednesday and Friday nights to party.
Deus – mixed menu, taco & free tattoo Tuesdays (no I did not participate on this occasion), epic Sunday sesh with incred live music.
Bottega – this place is an adorable little Italian Restaurant. It is possibly the smallest restaurant I have come across, but the menu is simple and tasty.
Sunday rolls around and it’s time to check out of my beautiful glass house in Canggu and say goodbye to Amanda who has been an incredible host and just a bloody good soul. We had very similar life experiences as I have had with most of the people I have met on this trip so far, the Synchronicity’s are just uncanny! One of my favourite saying’s is by Carl Jung who says…
” synchronicity is an ever present reality for those who have eyes to see”
Jung coined the word “synchronicity” to describe “temporally coincident occurrences of acausal events.” This tends to happen when we are in the flow of life and living from a present moment. Being conscious every step of the way, which means we are open to meeting people we are supposed to meet, having conversations we are supposed to have and experiences that match our life purpose. Unfortunately most of us (including myself at times) walk around with our head in our phones and not present at all with the now, and miss these opportunities and synchronicity’s. Next time you are out alone and feeling awkward, just sit with it, smile at those walking by or those who may sit next to you and you never know what might happen. When we sit alone and just be, this is where the magic happens either through meditation or just being mindful.
Once again a big digression, but these little wisdom nuggets come to me when I am writing and I feel they are important to share!
Onto ULUWATU!!! I set off with my driver and away we go, we left quite early in the morning and made good time. So much so that I got there too early and couldn’t check in straight away. Not a problem with a view like this…I got myself a coconut, took my book and relaxed on a bean bag looking out over the ocean. I finally check in to De Sapphire and they give me a scooter to hire which is VERY HANDY, as I don’t fancy a walk up and down the hills around Uluwatu on the search for one. It’s no Scoop Dog but she does the job! I get a message from Lauren and Gemma to say they had just arrived and are nearly ready for Single Finn. When they mention the name of their villa I have to laugh again at the synchronicity as they are staying right opposite me…let me tell you Uluwatu is not a small place, it is very spread out with loads of different hotels and villas. We meet at my villa and get a driver to take us to a cool little chilled out restaurant for dinner called Bukit Cafe, before we are on our way to Single Finn. We finally arrive at Single Finn, get some drinks sorted and find a spot for the night to settle in. We found a nice little ledge that overlooked one of the three levels at Single Finn, and it wasn’t too long before we made some Kiwi friends. The night got away from us pretty quickly and before you know it we are in a ratbag of a mood and want to keep having fun…so off we head to the minimart where we purchased half the store and headed down the beach for the “Padang Padang Beach Olympics”. We had some gold medal winners in the crab catching and handstand comps, and also an injury due to the clash of legs during the synchronised cartwheel heats. We cranked the tunes, acted like we were 15 again and had an absolute ball.
Day two in Uluwatu rolls around, and due to my semi sore head from the night before I allow myself a little sleep in and some time in the sun. Then for dinner and a couple of quiet ciders at a small bar which was no frills but a good laugh and singalong. Day three is my final day in Ulus and in Bali!!! I wanted to make this a special day and have been meaning to check out Karma Kandara as I have heard it’s pretty spesh. It’s about a 20 min scooter ride, so I chuck in the headphones and put on one of my fave playlists that I have created over time with the oh so original name of Mixed Bag and away I go, lapping up every last minute of this experience. It was honestly one of my favourite days in Bali, the weather was on point, the drive down there was super quiet and around the windy roads, through beautiful green tree lined roads and looking out over the ocean. I get to Karma Kandara and make the trek from the car park down to the pool…CLOSED FOR WEDDING!!! It was not a small trek either, let me tell you! Plan B, I had also heard about Sunday’s Beach Club which is next door so I head there and i’m so glad I did because it is next level. I jump in the gondola which goes down the steep incline to the beach and dine in the restaurant down there (amazing taco’s…obsessed with taco’s much?), next to catch some rays on the sun beds, go for a SUP and then finish off with my last massage for the trip which is up in a little hut looking out over the ocean. Pretty damn good way to spend my final day in Bali I say! It doesn’t stop there though, I have just caught sunset on the way home and decide to stop at Anantara for a sunset cocktail. I was VERY LUCKY to stay here for one night when I was doing my Yoga Teacher Training with some beautiful souls and let me tell you…it is the nicest and most breathtaking hotel I have ever stayed in. The view is like nothing I have experienced, and I decide to stay for the seafood BBQ (rude not to). It was some of the tastiest seafood I have had, but when you are steps away from the ocean you would expect nothing less. This was my final night and I did spend this alone and had a lot of contemplation time, time to think about the trip, time for gratitude and just time to be and take it all in. There was a live band who was playing a vast array of music, and they decided to come up to my table and asked what song I would like to hear? I said “surprise me”…and that they did. For those who have read my previous post about my dad being in spirit with me on this trip will know the uncanny music following me around in Gili, and one of those bands being James Blunt (one of dad’s favourites). This Indonesian band started playing James Blunt “Your Beautiful”, and I was overwhelmed with emotion. I gave them every last bit of cash I had left as a tip, and they were incredibly grateful.
This is one of the longest posts I have written, as this was the longest leg of the trip with the most memorable experiences. Once I had my healing in Ubud it was like I finally let go and allowed myself to just trust the process of this trip and not put any pressure on myself to achieve anything from the trip. When this wall came down, it came crashing down and the people that I met along the way all had something in common with me or a story to tell that I needed to here and vice versa. These people were the most beautiful strangers that I have ever encountered, and I am a big believer not only in synchronicity, but in “your vibe attracting your tribe” or “law of attraction” because I was attracting people into my life that were a mirror of me, and because I have done SOOO much work on ME and SELF-LOVE, these people were pretty fucking amazing!! Let me tell you this hasn’t always been the case, particularly on a romantic level. But I will leave you with one of my favourite readings which I read when I needed to, and it changed my mindset forever…
This may be the end of my travels, but it is not the end of my blogging. Stay tuned for a vast array of wellness topics that I will cover. Until next time…
Peace, Love and Bali Bliss Hugs,
Legsy xox
Live Light Yoga & Wellness 
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