We were worn out after the long ‘waterfall’ hike and were looking forward to a more relaxing evening watching the sunset over Kelingking beach. Kelingking beach is a famous site, perhaps not in name but certainly in image, and were excited to experience the site for ourselves.
The fun and excitement of the scooters wore off somewhere around the 5th hour of riding them around the island for the day. Balancing on the bikes for so long while rattling over tree roots and small boulders was exhausting and inflicted pain to multiple areas of our bodies, and we were thankful to finally arrive at the Kelingking overlook.
We still had a little bit of time before sunset, but thankfully there were hordes of monkeys to keep us entertained until then. The monkeys scurried around collecting bits of food from tourists or pieces of garbage from the trash cans and would ferociously chase each other until another piece of trash caught their eye.
The trash was one of the more disappointing aspects of Kelingking beach and of Bali in general. There are picturesque sites throughout the islands that are kept clean and ‘picture perfect’, while just behind the camera shot are piles of trash sometimes as large as a small house. Garbage litters the streets and smog hangs in the air of the cities, while monkeys run around eating bits of garbage and scattering trash piles all over the paths. As beautiful as the islands are, they truly are very dirty.
While frustrating that some of the most beautiful areas of the world are subject to such levels of pollution, after seeing the living conditions for many of the population throughout the islands it’s not hard to understand that environmental preservation is not the highest priority for the locals. Although their beautiful beaches, jungles, and waterfalls are the source of livelihood for many, simply surviving and putting food on the table is the primary concern for most. Add in the threat of earthquakes and tsunamis, and trash piles suddenly don’t seem that important.
Despite the trash, Kelingking beach was breathtaking. The violence of thousands of years worth of earthquakes, volcanoes, and crashing waves have carved out spectacular rugged beauty that can’t help but leave you feeling small. The cliffs jutting out into the ocean with the beach tucked safely in the cove gave a sense of isolation; despite the hundreds of Instagrammers lining the cliffs above, all attempting to capture that perfect shot.
Kelingking beach was not only an enjoyable evening with a beautiful view, but also a reminder of some of the hardship that exists outside of our first world lives and vacation travel itineraries. Although it is a tremendous blessing to be able to travel across the world and view these beautiful sites, there are many to whom even the idea of leaving their island is an unfathomable luxury. I love these beautiful sites in Bali and never want to take their beauty for granted, but our love of the beauty in the natural world should never outweigh our love of the people who live there.
