Bali Bliss 2016 was another epic adventure. This trip has become our annual tradition with the Temple Pilots, a group of paragliding pilots based out of Pune India. This year our longtime friend and paragliding pilot Ashley joined us from Australia. Due to Kingsley's work schedule, we only had a long weekend to spend with our friends but we packed more than enough fun and adventures into every minute of our time there.
Grey Panda Incident -
One afternoon while flying Suhas had a bit of a rough top landing and sprained his ankle. It began to swell that night when we were at dinner so on the drive home he asked me if I had a "crepe bandage" at home (which is what we call Ace Bandage in the US). I could not figure out what he was asking for and for a few seconds I paused trying to think what he could possibly be asking me for because all I heard him say was "do you have a grey panda at home" so I finally blurted out "are you asking me if I have a GREY PANDA?" to which the entire van full of temple pilot paragliders erupted in laughter. We all had a good chuckle about the miscommunication and GREY PANDA became the code word for almost everything the rest of the trip. It's probably one of those "you had to have been there" stories but anytime I see or hear of a ace wrap bandage from now on I will fondly remember grey panda.
Here is a great video Suhas made of our paragliding trip:
Our our lovely Temple Pilot friends. We absolutely LOVE our Bali trips with them each year. Kingsley and I still can quite figure out why we were accepted into this amazing group but we are thankful. This was our 4th year of Bali Bliss with the gang and again it was full of incredible memories.
Late afternoon and I had already changed and was wearing a nice dress and wasn't quite plananing to get back in the pool that day but Suhas and Anita had other plans and I got dunked in the pool fully clothed. So we turned it into an impromptu underwater photoshoot and had a ball laughing and posing underwater.
Two days in a row I showed up at the brand new Ritz Carlton to wait for Kingsley and Suhas to land on the beach there and have a drink together at the end of the day. They always send me ahead to win over the staff so they aren't given any hassle from the hotel staff or security. So I did my duty and got a great cabana spot on the beach and was chatting with the wait staff telling them how my husband was paragliding and would be landing on the beach soon. However due to wind condition changes Kingsley did not fly that day so it was only Suhas who landed on the beach and the staff thought this was my husband. Fast forward to the next day and I arrive at the hotel and say the same thing to the staff, a while later Kingsley lands on the beach and I run up to give him a kiss. The poor staff were SO confused. It was priceless...
When the wind is a bit strong in the morning, chess was the game of choice.
We had the most wonderful time in Bali on our 3rd paragliding trip with the Temple pilots. Though we come from different backgrounds - our shared love of flying and having fun has bonded us forever to our friends at Temple Pilots.
For the prior two trips we stayed in Kuta to be close to the action but this time around we stayed in sleepy Nusa Dua which was a nice change of pace.
A few snapshot highlights from the trip.
Every evening out with this crowd was a fun adventure as we tried a new restaurant each evening. I always ordered the freshly caught grilled seafood platter with french fries on the side - the seafood in Bali is fantastic!
Kingsley and I had one night where it ended up just being the two of us and had a romantic dinner on the beach at Kendi Kuning. I would highly recommend this restaurant to anyone who is staying in Nusa Dua. It was our favorite restaurant from the trip.
Pool playtime at the Mercure Hotel after a long day of flying.
Our first morning in Bali we arranged to have a 90 minute himalayan yoga session with David West which was fun. It was interesting to learn this paticular series of postures and of course I enjoyed working a bit more on my headstand and even tried my first handstand!
Kingsley and I were fortunate enough to be invited to join the Temple Pilots again for their annual Bali Paragliding trip. We have enjoyed some amazing friendships over the last few years of paragliding and love that we have been embraced by the crowd.
Avi and Anita who run the Temple Pilots school have just started a blog and I loved Avi's post from our time in Bali.
Check out Avi's blog to read more details of flying in Bali.
Here is a great excerpt from one of his posts. I think it sums up Paragliding in Bali perfectly.
Time-Out from work has been working wonders to get a sensible perspective on life n myself. I am able to dig my heels deep in the Bali sands and just be. There's so much going on all around n so much to process but yes, a breath at a time, moment to moment, in the mystical Now, there's peace n plenty. Bali for me is now a homely heaven since Anita n me have been visiting it regularly for around ten years. Its a Hindu island n the locals religiously pray twice a day n there are bigger prayer ceremonies every second day, So you can imagine the kind of energy the resort island has.
People here are humble, affectionate and would genuinely greet you with authentic smiles every time they meet you, well mostly. It's the people energy that makes a place welcoming or otherwise n Bali is rich, its easy to fall in love with Bali. Flying is rather leisurely, laminar sea breeze, super smooth conditions, stunning scenery while flying the southern coastline and the famous Bintang beer to boot. Yesterday we had an amazing first day of flying at Timbis, the flying site.
We celebrated Kingsleys 40th Birthday with a Seafood Banquet at the villa. The villa staff laid out a beautiful table for us and spent the whole day preparing for the dinner.
Made (villa manager) went to Jimbaran beach at 5am in the morning to pick out the best seafood fresh off the fishing boats. In the evening he cooked baby lobster, calamari, prawns and fish on the BBQ. See menu below.
Amazing to look around the table and see that John and Carly (Seattle), Roon and Bron (UK), Zimbo and May (South Africa) and Ervin (Seattle) came from all over the world and were able to join us for the birthday dinner.
After dinner we indulged in tropical fruit and ice cream sundaes along with a custom made chocolate mint birthday cake for King sley.
The evening ended in the media room with a special surprise for Kingsley - a 30 minute video full of short clips from special friends all over the world wishing him a happy birthday. It was an incredible evening and an unforgettable 40th Birthday for Kingsley.
Let me start by saying that the Villa Windu Sari reviews on trip advisor are unparalleled. Out of all the 5 star amazing reviews there is only one person that gave it a four stars and that was for some lame reason like the sound system was not loud enough....seriously? Needless to say I booked this villa with pretty darn high expectations. And I have to be honest, I was blown away by our experience there.
We had an amazing staff of 7 people who took such great care of us. One merely had to think "a nice cup of tea would be so nice right now" and it would appear. The staffs intuition and ability to exceed our expectations time and time again was unlike anything I have ever seen.
The villa itself was also stunningly beautiful and immaculate. And I cannot say enough how cool it was to have our own pool and lounge space where we could swim anytime we wanted and play whatever music we liked. I would say on average we were in the pool at least 2-3 times a day. Before breakfast, late afternoon/before dinner and quite often in the wee hours of the morning as well. There were games of chicken (Rooney and Bron were undefeated), throw someone/anyone in the pool, breath holding and (my all time favorite) synchronized swimming championships. We had so much fun just goofing around and not having to worry about disturbing anyone or getting in trouble with security.
I recognize that staying in such a wonderful villa was one of those once in a lifetime experiences but I feel so fortunate that we were able to spend a week there with special friends.
