Bali Yoga Retreat Escape: An Impromptu Tanah Lot Adventure

How We Ended Up Escaping the Yoga Retreat

Indonesia Solo Travel Accommodation: Yoga & Meditation Bali Hotel Recommendations

This story unfolds during my stay at a tranquil Bali yoga retreat.

The air was fresh, the scenery stunning.

My days were a picture of routine: waking up to yoga and meditation,

followed by local activities in the afternoon,

and delicious, healthy Indonesian meals.

It was an ideal, wholesome routine... and I genuinely enjoyed it.

However, the fact that I was on an international trip, combined with spending most of my waking hours with the same people, led to us bonding. Slowly but surely, the urge to go out and explore began to bubble up.

Usually, such thoughts might just fade away, but among any group, there's always someone who actually takes action.

Before we knew it, a driver was arranged,

and we headed out early in the afternoon to Tanah Lot,

the closest major tourist attraction to our yoga retreat.

Since the yoga center was nestled in the mountains, the ride out on the bumpy roads wasn't the most comfortable, but we took turns connecting Bluetooth and playing our favorite songs, making the journey lively and fun.

Honestly, if the whole point of coming to this local mountain village was to focus on yoga, meditation, and self-reflection, then leaving the retreat wasn't really aligned with that goal.

It takes at least an hour to get anywhere, as we weren't near any tourist spots.

It truly went against the original intention of our trip.

But at that moment, we weren't very keen on suppressing our adventurous spirits; we simply followed our instincts and ventured out.

And so... we arrived.

It took us over an hour to get there (and almost 2 and a half hours for the round trip).

We agreed to meet back here later and then scattered to explore on our own.

We soaked in the magnificent sunset.

The sea breeze felt incredible after so long.

It was wonderful.

It truly was, but...

In our excitement,

we had decided on a meeting spot,

but completely forgot to set a meeting TIME...

We figured everyone would show up around a certain time,

so we headed to the meeting spot,

grabbed some snacks nearby, and waited.

The problem was,

everyone's idea of "a certain time" was completely different.

A whole group was nowhere to be seen, even after a long time had passed...

We had a group WhatsApp chat,

but they weren't even reading the messages.

We waited endlessly,

and waited,

until eventually, we all reunited.

Everyone was exhausted by then (except for the latecomers),

but we decided we couldn't leave without visiting a beach pub.

So we went.

After living a life seemingly cut off from the world,

it felt like sudden liberation,

We had a great time, ending the evening on a high note,

and then headed back to our accommodation.

While we were full of energy on the way out,

everyone was completely drained and silent on the ride back.

The round trip took almost 2 and a half hours,

and the time and energy spent waiting (which was quite a long wait) also took a significant toll.

I vowed never to do something so foolish again...

as we returned.

But who was it that said,

humans are foolish,

and tend to repeat the same mistakes?