20th Anniversary Dream Trip Contest

Great Travel Moment

My last evening on Lembongan Island, Bali. The scents of seaweed, Frangipani and incense mingle to saturate the hot humid air. I take one last stroll through the village when a procession of Hindu women files towards me. This time I'm not sitting in a taxi or competing with the blinding midday sun. I photograph them all as they file past me with their sensuous grace, rewarding me with gentle smiles and generous laughs. From behind, the absence of their faces shifts my attention to their slender silhouettes and the mounds of fruit they bear as offerings. Their moving away from me becomes a warm metaphor for the end of my trip to Bali - until she glances over her shoulder. Her self-consciuous beauty stops me in my tracks. This is my moment, this is the face of Bali that compels me to return. And I will.