What’s your
dream tourist destination — either a place you’ve been and loved, or a place
you’d love to visit? What about it speaks to you?
You’ve heard
me say this before, but the first place that comes to mind is Bali, Indonesia.
I have been there and loved it and would be interested to see if a second trip
would speak to me in the same way the first one did. It was during a time in my life that I needed
exactly what the yoga retreat we attended there provided, a chance to “Escape
the World,” which is the name of their retreats still today. Not only was it a beautiful and tranquil
setting for a meditative yoga retreat (up in the quiet, mountainous area of
Ubud), but it was also a very spiritual experience. When we were not doing
yoga, eating their healthy and delicious meals, or relaxing in their spa with a
massage, we were spending a day in silence (now that we really, really hard for
me, so as you can imagine, I did a lot of writing that day) going on bike rides
down the volcano, visiting gardens and rice fields, and participating in a
unique Balinese purification ritual at one of their sacred springs.
The
purification ritual and prayer session was amazing! It was there that I began
the process of releasing (through prayer) all the things in my life then that
were causing me stress as we were guided through the springs offering ourselves
up to be symbolically cleansed by them. We also had the privilege of participating
in prayers led by local priest and although the prayers were not spoken in
English, it did not matter. We all felt what was being expressed and came out more
enlightened than when we entered into this sacred place of the Balinese. We
were even required to dress in their traditional sarongs for the ceremony, so we
really looked the part of the locals as well.
It was just
so focused on helping you relax, cleanse, and take care of your body and soul that
I can’t imagine NOT going back and being bettered by the experience once again.
And isn’t that what taking a vacation should be all about anyway, truly sitting
back, taking time to reflect and put life in perspective, and coming back to
our every day worlds refreshed and renewed?
Well, that’s what I think it should be about, so I’ll take Bali most any
day over other overcrowded, touristy destinations that everyone else may choose
to go to. Not that I wouldn’t like to see all those famous and beautiful places
at least once, but if I knew I could only take vacations to one place for the
rest of my life, I’d glad “Escape the World” in Indonesia again and again!!
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