Volunteer Stories  |  Rasmus

I had a hard time choosing between Ubud and Semarapura (Bondalem wasn’t a choice at the time), when I thought of volunteering in Bali. Because what was the difference between these two places? I ended up choosing Semarapura for this one reason: Weeeell, I do like the sea and Semarapura seems pretty close to the sea. One heck of a reason, right? But as it turned out Semarapura, or as everyone calls it Klungkung, had so much more to offer than just being close to the sea. It is a small town, where you can be sure that everyone will ask: where you going?

And smile and wave. Just down the road from where we lived, SMA2 (A government supported school, which made them have loads of holidays due to five state religions), was a small place with a big red sign. It was usually open until 8 pm, and had the best food and was also really cheap. It cost 6000 rupiah (50€ cents) for a nasi goreng (fried rice) or a mie goreng (fried noodles) and the owner Dila, was able to speak a fair bit of English.

Klungkung is in the eastern part of Bali, it’s very close to Padangbai, only 20 minutes by bike. The bike is a must for Klungkung, or Ubud and especially Bondalem. The traffic seems at first hectic and it’s kinda scary, but after the first week you’ll be cruising along at the pace you want to go. And there are LOADS of places you want to go! I was in Uluwatu, a great place to surf (though I only stood up one second… just ask Nathan or Henning about that story), Kuta, a great place to party, Ubud, the nice tourist city where you’ll be a couple of times just because the other volunteers are there, Bondalem, just by Bondalem there is a small city called Les and in Les there is a small waterfall that is definitely worth a visit, and so on!

I stayed in Klungkung for three months, and traveled all around Bali with some other volunteers. I had the core group in Klungkung, and we always hooked up with some people from Ubud, and if you get to Bali before September 2011, Hidde from Bondalem. We were also joined by the coordinators, especially Nathan. But the other coordinators were always a good laugh as well! Just ask Henning or Komang about Mount Agung, I’m sure their legs still hurt.

What do you need to bring to Bali? An open mind and if you socialize with the other volunteers, you’ll have a far better trip! So be up for anything and don’t just hang around Klungkung, Ubud or Bondalem. You need to see the rest of Bali as there is really a lot to see. The culture and the people you meet along the way is different, but everyone is always nice and if they speak English they will try, but listen very carefully to Komangs language lessons. Those few phrases you learn can really be helpful.

And oh yeah almost forgot, it’s really hot there so you might want to wear sunscreen.

If you want to get in touch with me to find out more about the Bali, just email me!