An afternoon in Sanur

It was time for another excursion, out of our familiar territory. A straight trip across the island, through Denpasar, takes you to Sanur. The trip itself was an experience, giving us our first glimpses of Denpasar and what a surprise! Our road leads directly into the capital of Bali, and slowly transforms from a suburban road into a beautiful tree lined boulevard to the heart of this city. Government buildings appear and disappear either side, parks come and go, shopping malls galore, beautiful family compounds (homes) with the most ornate temples at their entrances, just spectacular. To top it all off, the amazing monument to the struggle of the Balinese made us have an impromptu stop. It is an impressive structure, rising high above any building, with its intricate stone work all the way to the very top, narrowing into a point, as if touching the sky. It is a delicate and beautiful art work despite its sheer size, set in the centre of a large park, full of people enjoying a walk, kids running and youth playing soccer. Half an hour later, we arrived at the beach town of Sanur. The set-up in its principle is the same: beach, followed by the main road with shops, cafés and restaurants, hotels everywhere. The big difference is in the vibe! The beach is white, instead of the volcanic black sand we have over here; calm waters, instead of crushing waves, as the island provides the perfect wind break; gently rocking fishing boats anchored just meters offshore; peace and tranquillity instead of a beach full of tourists and sellers. A beautiful paved walk follows the narrow beach, and we enjoyed it immensely, as it took us through perfectly manicured high-end resorts with their guests sunning themselves on their “guest only” beach, glimpses of beautiful private villas with spectacular gardens overlooking the ocean, past fishing boats drying on the sand and lots of empty stretches of sand. So much so, we just had to jump into the calm blue waters and enjoy the serenity. We expected a different beach, we found a different world.