For our weekend “Excursion” in Bali (granted, every day feels like an excursion on this beautiful island), we headed over to Canggu — a quaint, beachside town about two hours from our homestay. My first impression was it strongly reminded me of the laid-back, surfer lifestyle of Southern California. As someone who’s originally from the Golden State, I especially appreciated this environment from a place that was so far from home.
We woke up early on Saturday morning to soak up as much of the Canggu sun as possible; we first explored the local town and checked out the various surf shops (it’s hard to beat these SE Asian prices!). Later, we attempted to enjoy a surprisingly strenuous vinyasa yoga class — but the craziest part was we soon discovered that our nice yoga teacher was a recent graduate from the University of Michigan! The Largest College Alumni Network in the world really does span every corner of the globe…Go Blue!
Saturday night, we enjoyed a light dinner of healthy salads and smoothies at an organic cafe (again, very similar to SoCal), followed by a gorgeous sunset walk on the beach to wrap up the peaceful day.
On Sunday, our activities were quite more adventurous and extreme, as we first embarked to go “Waterfall Jumping”. The first jump started at 5 meters high, and they progressively ramped up to 15 meters (roughly 50 feet). For those of us who are deathly afraid of heights (myself), this was a great opportunity to overcome our fears. And I was proud that everyone in our group was courageous enough to try every jump. Needless to say, it was quite the exhilarating experience for all of us! Also, it’s worth mentioning that as potentially dangerous as this activity may sound, we were closely supervised by experienced guides who exercised every precaution necessary to ensure our complete safety and security. No reason to worry, parents!
In continuing with the Waterfall Theme of our day, we later traveled to Sekumpal to swim under the island’s tallest waterfall. On our walk to the falls, we explored a mountainside village where we graciously sampled a handful of tasty Balinese staples (jackfruit, snake fruit, coffee, and more). When we finally made it to our destination, neither words nor pictures could do it justice, but these falls were absolutely stunning. Complemented by the lush green jungle, towering mountains, and colorful skies, the picturesque image of these waterfalls was truly something I’ll never forget.
We concluded our memorable weekend by feasting on a large dinner at a local restaurant overlooking the breathtaking mountains that we had previously climbed. Our Weekend Excursion to Canggu was a total success and we were tremendously grateful for the opportunity to experience such an awesome town. We returned to Ubud on Sunday night refreshed and excited to get back to work on Monday!
EGL Family Abroad 