Soulful Woman Bali Retreats:
Pampering and Empowerment in One Package
There’s a quiet revolution happening in women’s self-care. Women are seeking respite and healing from the stresses of daily life through taking well-earned retreats. Imagine taking a week-long retreat dedicated to rejuvenating your body, mind and spirit. Imagine taking this retreat somewhere lush and tropical and at an affordable price. Read more
Marie-Pierre writes:
Usually I far prefer to travel solo, but as this was my first trip to Asia I decided it would be nice to have a guide to familiarize myself with Bali. I hoped to lessen the culture shock. I contacted Jennifer at Bahagia travel and discovered that travelling with a knowledgeable guide and a group could be a lot of fun after all. Read more
The day after arriving in Bali I went from a rural village of Bona to the town of Ubud. This is how I got there.
First with my messenger bag (with my MacBook and clothes and toiletries) in front of me and my sling bag slung over my back, I rode on the back of a motorbike 2 villages away to catch a bus called the Bemo. (I was just short of terrified! I can only imagine how the poor boy driving the bike felt with this white woman clinging to him like a baby monkey!) They drive on the wrong side of the road and there are innumerable numbers of these bikes, plus cars and trucks! No one drives very fast, you can’t, there are 2 lanes and the bikes pass on either side, or often between other vehicles.
(It is nothing short of amazing to see what is carried on these motorbikes. I have seen whole families, 2 adults and the kids!! 10 foot sticks of lumber and what looked like a small mattress strapped on the driver’s back and babies of all ages sitting or standing with their little hands perched on the front or holding onto the mirrors!)
Turns out the Bemo is a tiny old van with benches across the sides…no door! This is when I knew, for sure, I am in Bali. However on this Bemo ride, Susan, her friend and I were the only passengers, they were saying and laughing that it was a charter! What? OK. On Monday, I discovered the harsh truth of the Bemo…I went to Ubud on my own…enough of the quiet countryside for me! I needed action. Well, I asked for it.
Gek took me to Gianyar on the motorbike, a 10-minute ride (feels like longer!!) to where I could get a Bemo. The one I got on was smaller, shaped like a miniature VW bus, vinyl bench on either side, no door of course…this one only had push out windows that opened about 2 inches. There was one woman on the Bemo when I got on. Cool. Then a teenager and little girl got on. We waited. I was just taking in all the activity, noticing an old woman carrying 2 big chickens by the feet. Alive or not I couldn’t tell!
Oh, she is coming our way…sure enough she & the chickens climb on the Bemo…then 2 other old women with HUGE sacks that took up all of the space. Then a man with a duck, alive for sure. As we pulled out onto the road I thought how long will this 20-minute ride seem? Two minutes later the driver stops…What?! A man with a HUGE crate on his head gets on, with the crate! I don’t yet know how…I was mushed up against the back hatch, hoping it didn’t fly open…then two more minutes and he stops again. No way.
There are 2 seats up front, one with the driver and the other with the guy and his duck. A woman gets on and squeezes in with the man and duck! One more stop and a tiny (thank god) woman and a little boy get on to replace one who got off. All together eleven of us rode this tiny van into Ubud with very little air and 2 chickens and one duck! Wow, welcome to a new world…By the way, I got off the Bemo in front of Ralph Lauren of Ubud! See why I have sensory overload!
Trip to Armada Bungalow Resort, Candidesa, Bali
In 2008 Susan left her home in Florida to travel alone in Bali and New Zealand for a couple of months
As I was gently swaying in my new best friend, the hammock, a Bali girl came up to me and said, are you ready for massage? Oh, yeah, I kind of forgot… didn’t I say maybe?? What the hey, it’s $5 and the little massage area is right out on the shady lawn and it is late afternoon. However, if I get more relaxed I will surely slip into a coma. So I walk over a few steps and she says “take off.” I think, take off what? I only have on shorts and a tank top. So after a moment of awkward silence I say, “let me go put my swim suit on…”
Out I come with my swimsuit and a sarong wrapped around me and lie face down on the massage table and then she proceeds to take OFF my swimsuit! Oh my God, in broad daylight – outside – in public! Outside I was calm but inside there was a primal scream going on. At least she stop pulling my tinsee bit of clothing off just at the edge of my buttocks!! The lower edge. What could I do?
I just went, in my head, down to the beach and walked around (fully clothed) and enjoyed the gentle waves lapping the shore…and eventually spaced out. After about 30 minutes of this – and I had grown accustomed to it quite nicely, very relaxed – abruptly I was startled with her saying, “face up”. WHAT? I’m naked! I wanted to yell. Outside in broad daylight in public!?
Remarkably my swimsuit had been returned to around mid belly, so I am merely topless with may face to the sky. I kept me eyes tightly closed and reminded myself that I will never see any of the people that may be strolling the grounds ever again and probably will never even see the countries they are from. My only comfort was in the old technique of childhood, if you keep your eyes closed then no one can see you. Once it was over I took my oiled self and tried to walk nonchalantly off to my room…20 feet away.
If God had wanted me to walk around naked He would have given me a 20 year old body for life.
Trip to Armada Bungalow Resort, Candidesa, Bali
In 2008 Susan left her home in Florida to travel alone in Bali and New Zealand for a couple of months
