Marla and I were very excited to take our granddaughters to Bali last month. We chose the 9 hour, Bangkok direct flight to Denpasar, Bali. Our hotel for this trip (our 27th+ Bali trip) was the Padma Legian Resort. It was “not” Marla’s favorite as we have stayed here 7 times before, but I thought the Girls would like all the amenities. We haven’t stayed at the Padma since 2019 when we took our grandsons there. The hotel and much of Bali has changed and not always for the better. (More on that later.) I must say that for a minute or two I thought I had ventured into an Australian “bad” tattoo convention. I’ve Never encountered so many tatted people in my life,…and we are talking about the grandmothers!

Afternoon nibbles and beverages in the Club Lounge at the Padma.

We strolled on the beach in front of the hotel before dinner. In 2019 this area was essentially sand and a few beach chair rentals. It is now not much different than so many over developed beach areas in the world.

Marla talks about the hotel and our room.

Walking to breakfast.

We snagged our favorite table.

We booked a private all day tour with a guide to visit some of our favorite places. We were fitted with sarongs to visit our first temple. Goa Lawah Temple (Pura Goa Lawah), known as the Bat Cave Temple, is an 11th-century Balinese Hindu sanctuary built around a natural cave filled with thousands of resident bats.

The Girls are great explorers and took the lead as we approached the entrance. They have visited India and Morocco with their family in the past 2 years.

Climbing the steps to the temple entrance.

Carved stone guardian statue.

The temple cave entrance.

These must be very spiritual bats as they love this temple cave.

They describe their experience at the bat cave.

Our adventurers.

Our guide has a spiritual connection to this place.

Two sisters dressed up for a temple ceremony.

Again, we were given sarongs to cover our legs and a sash at the Goa Gajah Elephant Cave. It was built in the 9th century as a spiritual sanctuary.

In front of one of the purification bathing pools. Six surviving stone statues of celestial women (Hindu angels) stand along the edge, holding water spouts that trickle into the pools. Originally, there were seven statues representing the seven sacred rivers of India (Ganga, Yamuna, Sarasvati, Godavari, Narmada, Sindhu, and Kaveri); the seventh was destroyed in an earthquake.

We were lucky to arrive early so it was not very crowded.

We are in front of the Elephant cave entrance. The cave was rediscovered by Dutch archaeologists in 1923.

Let’s explore.

The cave complex contains both Hindu and Buddhist imagery with lingam and yoni, symbols of Shiva, and the image of Ganesha which Marla is looking at on the right.

Daily offerings are made in the cave.

We were so happy to return to Murni’s Warung in Ubud. We first visited here in 1997.

This is a cute YouTube video about Murni’s in local Bahasa language.

Each of the many rooms in Murni’s Warung are filled with fascinating objects from around the region. The very large bronze of Ganesha, the elephant-headed Hindu god of wisdom, is very impressive!

I took the Girls down to see some of the lower riverfront dining areas where Marla and I took their cousins, Paxton & Logan, for lunch in 2019.

This is such a wonderful Ubud restaurant & gallery.

An old stone carving at Murni’s depicting characters from Hindu epic stories.

We had our guide drop us off in Ubud for some jewelry shopping. The Girls are excellent shoppers!

The chef at the Padma came to our table and serenaded us. When we were here with Paxton & Logan in 2019 she did the same thing! It was so much fun.

I have a few thoughts on traveling to Bali. The island has changed a lot from the special and unique place we found on our first visit in 1995. Obviously, things change. Throngs of tourists (most from Australia, followed by China & India) have changed the vibe, especially in the larger towns of Kuta and Ubud. Traffic is horrendous almost everywhere! It took us 4 hours last June to drive from Ubud to Legian, versus the normal 2 hours! You can still find more authentic areas of the island but it takes some research and a little work. Many tourists come to Bali just for a wonderful luxury experience and that is fine as well.

Take a look at a few of my past blogs on Bali:

HIDDEN BALI…EXPLORING THE SPIRITUAL PATH: https://gentryconnects.net/?p=13212

A VERY EXCITING & SURPRISING “OGOH-OGOH” PARADE IN BRESELA, BALI: https://gentryconnects.net/?p=21879

A RETURN TO THE MAGICAL ISLAND OF BALI…A STAY IN A FABULOUS RESORT HIGH IN THE JUNGLE: https://gentryconnects.net/?p=21731

Photos: Dick Gentry. Not to be used without permission.