First of all, what a charming village!  Ungasan is at the very south end of Uluwatu, the Melasti beach is just 7 mins drive away, so the ocean air is right by your ear and on your skin. But the village had a mixed of local Balinese, a touch of Modern European, out far, there are valley and jungle,  and because it was wintertime here, it felt a bit like Africa to me too!  I was overwelmed for a moment and couldn’t quite figure out where I was, and gosh I live for those moments honestly.

I know, curiosity killed the cat but I am that girl who just likes to walk into places and guess what, the results are usually very rewarding! All you need is to say hi!

The first neighbour I came across was an Australian lady, (surprise surprise, there are Australian on this island!) we had a little chat and learned that she’d been here for 26 years. What a life!  It can be a very romantic reason for you to move to an island in the first place, but it must be some true calling that you’d spent almost all your life in this one place. She was on her balcony while I was outside on the street, and there are dogs coming around and playing with me, I thought they were her dogs but then the other lady from another villa came out and calling for their names.  And she invited me to her house for a cup of coffee too! See, just a short walk and I’ve made some friends.

Of course, it won’t be just the expats living in villas, I made some local friends too. Remember last time at the beach I met a grandpa who only says yes to every single thing I asked? This time I met a grandma who was curious about everything on me, of me. ” Where are you coming from? How old are you? Why are you here? Where did you get this dress? What are you drinking? Do you live here? Where do you live? I don’t think she cares about the answer, because I said nothing to any of the questions above and she just kept staring at me and laughed. What a creature!

I’ve met two boys who were trying to fly a kite under the mango tree. Two very skinny cows mowing at me, and then, I walked passed a very tiny tin-roof house. It was so tiny as if it was made up for a stage play. I heard the baby crying, and then there came the grandma, the mom, the sister, but not a man. I wanted to talk to them, but none of them speaks English. I would love to know their story.

There are about 10-12 houses on this side of the village, and not a long walk later, I have come to the deserted area. Where I call it “my Africa”. The dogs didn’t even bother to follow me here, so I had the place entirely my own, though there was the trail down to the jungle, I didn’t meet a single soul there. And I loved that.

Sunset in the village

It was a gorgeous sunset that day. It’s always a perfect sunset day here. I decided to chase the sun a little, and for that, I need to cross the street to the other side of the village, where I know nothing about. It’s right there but it never accrues to us to check it out.

I was a very independent child from a very young age, I mean my mom dropped and picked up my brother from kindergarten to high school. I, on the other hand, begged my parents if I can bike to school at the age of 9. I know it’s not even legal but after my mom followed me for a few days and made sure I can handle the trip on my own, (my school is very close to my house), she trusted me and let me had the freedom to bike to school every day from grade 4-grade 6.

I’d have all this freedom afterschool. I once tried a shortcut and stopped to watch a snake and a frog fight, and forgot about the time. (a story for another time. ) What I like to do most is to stop and wait to see the sun slowly set until it completely disappears. I always wanted to capture the moment that the afternoon turned into evening. But no matter how long I stare at it, no blinking at all, I never just get it, it’s always somehow changed the color from dusty pink to deep ocean blue in less than a second time and my eyes are not quick enough to catch I guess.

But this time, maybe because I didn’t expect it, so it happened. Like the time I saw the green light over Alaska while flying. I saw the color change in front of me and my eyes could not believe it. It made me so happy I was telling the local girl standing next to me that I saw the magical moment, I think she understands nothing but she’s as happy as I did and we jumped and yelled, made the dogs bark too.

 

It’s not what it looks like, not always

I know this island is full of Australian but funny enough, the only two times I thought someone is Australian, they turned out to be both Kiwi:). It proves once again that not everything is what it looks like, even when they are incredibly close. If it’s not, it’s not. It taught me always to stay open-minded and to embrace everything with my open arms. Everybody has a story to tell, and I can not wait to hear them.

Maybe it is true, most of us don’t walk in Bali, but when we do, it certainly does something to you, it moves you, in the little alley, in the deserted land, in a small indomart, in a little girl’s smile.

On an island famously known for slowing down, aren’t we driving a bit too fast?

Slow down my love, slow down, come walk with me, I will share my cup of coffee, and take you to the deserted land too. And If we are really lucky, the mere moment, the magic second from the afternoon to the evening will appear again.

All photos by me shot in Bali, Indonesia.