"Each step forward has a sacred meaning of its own"   Sri Chinmoy

Geger Beach Bike Ride - Feb 2023 - Bali

The last of my Bali Bike Rides in 2023 was the most fun - a good ride for exercise, but also another chance to explore the Bali back roads and in addition we ended up at a spot that's been special for me since I first discovered it around 10 years ago.

After exploring north a few days earlier (the Tanjung Benoa ride) and ridden the hills towards the middle of the Bukit Peninsula on our ride to Garuda Wisnu Kencana, the only obvious route left to take was the coast road towards Pandawa Beach.

We started on the main road heading south past the long line of hotels and spa/massage places, until we got past the Kempinski Hotel and found ourselves in open country. As each turn came up, we explored as far as we could before turning back and trying another one. There was a troupe of monkies - young riding on parents' backs - following us at one point as well as numerous cattle grazing placidly on the roadside. The winding lanes led us between private houses, varying from the modest shacks to the rich hideaways with their own security guy on the gate. Mridanga grabbed a shot of the three of us - him then Amalendu then me at the back in this pic.

Once we'd had a good workout with the ups and downs I suggested we take the turn for Pantai Geger that we had passed and not explored on the way out - Amalendu didn't remember the name, but my memory of the visiting this temple-beach with him years before was still vivid and the name Geger had stayed in my mind. The turning was actually signposted for the temple, Pura Geger, and although it looked like another dead end this one did actually lead down a long and steep descent to the beach.

Here we locked up our bikes and strolled down on a route taken mostly by the avid surfers who were paddling out from here to a break on the reef. Once on the sand, we had views of the open sea one way and the gorgeous hidden temple of Shiva and Ganesh the other. I call it a temple, and it is, but there is no building as such - just a shrine perched high on the rocks and accessed by narrow steps from the headland or with wet feet from the beach. Just as we entered a monkey leapt on to Ganesh's head then scaled the rock wall to the open air. Inside it was serene and you could feel the perfect harmony of human spirituality and the natural world. Perhaps that's the essence of Bali. 

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