In twenty years from now you will regret the things you didn't do so far more than the things you did. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbour, catch the trade winds in your sails. - titular-journal.com
The sooner we start exploring the world the merrier.
Visiting the waterfall of Tegenungan was definitely a highlight during my recent trip to Bali (Indonesia). Being a water addict helps appreciating the beauty of such a scenery. Also there was a lot of funny things to do around the attraction - both in the water and ashore.
It took me a while to pronounce the name of the place correctly, which then turned out to be the running gag of the day. But I don't want to anticipate too much..
Let's have some fun in Tege... Tegenu... Tegenungan! :-)
@surfermarly arriving at Tegenungan
Stepping into the tourist trap
Before starting my trip to Bali, my friends who had been to the island before told me that it's quite crowded nowadays.
Well, 6+ million tourists are hard to hide.
Supposedly many of the spots I visited during my stay were unexploited, romantic and natural places once. But now since they're available for mass tourism, there's actually not much of the idyll left.
Maybe Bali's facing the same issues like other popular destinations in the world. They missed to put a limit on visitors, and like that protect the most valuable asset they have: their island.
Now close your eyes and imagine this place without the crowds of tourists!
The waterfall of Tegenungan in the morning
Having fun anyways
After overcoming my first moment of outrage, I decided to enjoy the place no matter what.
As a surfer who appreciates being in balance with nature all the time, you automatically want to protect the environment no matter where you go.
Now seeing this place being treaded down by masses of tourists, definitely hurt a bit.
Yet since I cam there as a tourist by myself, I had few valid points to criticize tourism in general then. So I decided to forget about my principles for a moment and do what everybody does at Tegenungan.
If you need to queue for a selfie, you know things are getting crazy. My face's telling the whole story..:-)
@surfermarly waiting for the perfect shot
Picture or it didn't happen!
It was interesting to see how many bloggers were around at Tegenungan.
I spotted girls in long red dresses putting some make-up on before posing like models in front of the waterfall. It was... weird? :-)
Then I looked down on my sweaty sports shirt and the ratty old boardshorts - and started to laugh. Probably I'll never become the 'classic insta girl' in my life, haha!
But who needs instagram if they can be a steemian?
It's a question of style...
So once I had recognized that this place was all about getting the best pictures for your blog, I started to enjoy the commerce :-)
And you can't say you've been to Tegenungan if you haven't done the swing, of course.
It's that moment when you pay for something you've done your whole childhood for free.
@surfermarly swinging around
These swings are quite popular in Bali, whether you try them on the rice terraces or in front of waterfalls
I don't remember the exact price for the ride, but it was definitely more expensive than in kindergarden.
Also what surprised me more than once: The security standards are very low at all touristic attractions in Bali. Thank God I'm afraid of height which prevented me from doing the completely crazy selfies on the top of the rock.
But believe me there were a lot of brave ones standing at the edge without any safety barrier! Honestly, I wouldn't ever risk my life for 'that one shot'.
I told ya: I'm not the classic insta girl.
But enough talking... Let the commercial video speak for itself :-)
I hope you enjoyed the little tour!
Remember: If you ever planned to visit Tegenungan, bring your long dress and the make-up beauty case...:-)
Just kidding.
Much love,
Marly -
PS: This blog post was created and submitted via eSteem Surfer 1.0.3 - my favorite Steem desktop client that was developed by the @esteemapp team. Give it a try following the instructions in this post and reading the update for the latest release here.