Bali

the morning of the Earth
You can feel the magic already at the airport, when queing for the 15USD visa that will allow you to stay in the island for no longer than 30 days: traditional music known as gamelan gives you some hint about a possible landing in Nirvanaland, and that is only broken by some RipCurl adverts on the walls of the airport.

You get out, and you face another fact: people will stop by, offering their help to carry your surfboard, or luggage, next to the taxi. Traffic is chaotic, you don't actually expect this, you arrive at your hotel right in front of the break in Legian after crossing the crazes of Kuta, where herds of Aussies with their Bintang bottle in their hands and Bintang shirts will tell each other how scary and big and screaming was Ulu today...
Bali can surprise you everyday, for its heritage can sometimes be buried after the fools of development and what they call "progress": this means you need some training before you land, get ready for heavy traffic jams, street sellers, day trip offers, foot-massage and don't get stressed after 2 hours walking down the streets. When done with the training, you are ready to enjoy some of the best spiritual experience ever, getting lost in a temple or trying to focus on the street you're driving without loosing your sight in neverending ricefields, or enjoying the pure perfection of a wave rolling and roaring for a hundred yard ride on the top of a reef.
The people


Something that you learn when shooting street photos in Milan (or London, or NYC...) is to be as much invisible as you can, since the best shots will come if the subjects won't realize you're there with your silent Leica; well, you can take a vacation from that when in Bali. People are just too warm, and friendly, and peaceful to simply ignore this fact and smile at them before the click. You will always feel safe in Bali, even if you're stopped every ten meters and invited to buy something. They're hindu... This will turn your photo session in a great smile experience, where you learn to smile back at your subject, and thank them for your little intrusion in their life.
The ricefields
Rice fields are found all over the island, and can offer a stunning spectacle, with the workers leaning to pick up the plants... it's incredible how many times you will ask your taxi driver to stop the car to shoot a picture, or sometimes you will even shoot from the car window. You'll find ricefields all the way to Ubud, or on the west coast, along the busiest streets of the island, with its trucks driving towards Java. Picking up rice plants is the toughest of the jobs, down there, and when you look at the extension of the fields, you have a clear understanding of this. Most of the workers won't even speak english, but will always be giving you a smile...
The waves
Surfing Balinese waves has revealed a very humbling experience, that let me understand, once more, the power of the ocean, and allowed me to visit some of the most perfect waves in the planet. The roaring of Uluwatu's bombs is still in my ears...