Unveiling the Charm of Bali — Indonesia's Hidden Allure

Unveiling the Charm of Bali — The Hidden Allure of Bali, Indonesia

A comma in the flow of everyday life: the moments photographer *Yoon Jeongvin captured with her shutter in Bali, where she went on vacation.

Words & Photos Yoon Jeongvin
* A photographer who captures everyday moments around the world and has won prizes in several photo contests. She currently lives in Indonesia.

Four months after I arrived in Indonesia, I got a two-week vacation. I gave up on spending it in Korea and chose Bali as my destination.
Since it was November, I expected it to be cooler than summer, but that expectation was thoroughly dashed. Bali’s rainy season runs from November to March. During this period, the rain mostly falls at night and stops by dawn. It is much hotter than in the dry season, from April to September, and the days are longer. By Korean standards, even a hot summer feels merely mild, and winter here means sweltering weather. That is why winter is the off-season. The upside is that, because of the weather, the island is not crowded with tourists and lodging is cheaper.

Bali can be roughly divided into mountainous Ubud; three beachside areas, Kuta, Seminyak, and Canggu; Uluwatu, known for its beaches set against cliffs; and Sanur, which is quieter than Canggu or Seminyak. Bali is an island three times the size of Jeju, so there is plenty to see, but these are the best-known areas. In Ubud, tucked quietly into the mountain jungle, I visited the Monkey Forest, a temple home to monkeys, as well as the terraced rice fields and the waterfalls scattered here and there.

Hinduism regards monkeys as a form of god, so they are considered sacred. The Monkey Forest is a good place for a leisurely stroll. With so many monkeys and more than 100 species of plants living there, you can walk around without getting bored. The monkeys at Uluwatu Temple are notorious for snatching people’s glasses, but at the Monkey Forest, park guides act as a kind of barrier and the monkeys are not particularly aggressive. If you want a quiet walk, head to the Campuhan Ridge Walk. You climb up past a temple at the entrance, and it is an easy, comfortable hike.

Kuta, Seminyak, and Canggu are linked by the shoreline. If Kuta is the old town, neighboring Seminyak is lined with restaurants, shops, and beach clubs. Canggu is the up-and-coming area compared with Kuta and Seminyak. The various beach clubs along the coast offer wonderful sunsets. Above all, it feels like a surfers’ paradise, because the waves surfers love form in every season.

At a guesthouse in Canggu, I happened to meet some surfers from Korea and learned about the appeal of surfing. I was told that Canggu Beach, where I stayed, and Batu Bolong Beach have what you might call soft waves, without a rough edge, so they attract surfers from beginners to advanced. But the lineup, the spot where you wait to catch waves, is a long way out, so for someone like me who can’t swim, or for any beginner, it isn’t easy to muster the courage.

I have mostly traveled for the sake of photography, so I used to choose busy city streets and crowded places where I could take the pictures I love. This time in Bali, unlike before, I wanted to step away from daily life and put in a brief comma. I didn’t think too hard about shooting; I pressed the shutter whenever something caught my eye. So my gaze naturally turned to the surfers. Seeing them walk along with their boards against the setting sun, I barely managed to resist the urge to rent a surfboard. My lazy vacation in Bali let me feel a different charm of travel than I had before. In a sense, I achieved my personal goal.