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Published: April 14th 2008
New Tattoo!
It's actually prety nice and very detailed. In fact it makes my other one I got 10 years ago in Toronto, that was 4 times the price look much less detailedI haven't written my blog in quite sometime, mainly because I've been in Bali for over two weeks and I don't usually finish a blog until I leave a particular area. haha! Thanks for all the concerned emails! I'm fine. Bali and Indonesia as a whole are super safe and nothing to worry about 😉
Our luxury bus from our recent spot around Mount Bromo on Java to the tropical island of Bali boarded a great big ferry boat. Excitement and anticipation was overwhelming me and I couldn't wait for the 11 hour trip to be over. I took a seat in the sunshine on the top deck and saw a couple of kids about 12 years old sitting on the railing, about 40 feet high from the ocean. As the ferry blew it's horn 3 times and started to move all of a sudden the kid fell backwards right off the boat. A few locals just stood there, smiling, as if they didn't see or care to see what happened.
"Oh my God!" I thought! Somebody has to throw a life vest to that kid, he's going to get run over by the ferry! I ran to the
side to get a better look. I saw him there treading water yelling "ONE EURO DOLLAR!!! ONE EURO DOLLAR!!!" People on the 2nd deck were laughing and throwing coins into the sea as he'd dive in to get them. I inhaled a sigh of relief. As we sailed off, another ferry came in straight for the boy. Not caring that the other massive ferry was coming straight for him he kept yelling for change before finally swimming to the side of the boat seconds before the ferry would of inevitably hit him. That was my first taste of Bali!
A buddy I met in Yogya named Costa arrived together to Kuta late at night where we found a cheap $4.00 hotel, (which of course that price includes breakfast) ate some dinner and went to sleep. I woke up went for a walk, totally disorientated to where I was. The
gangs (lanes) are narrow, twisted and confusing at first. Like a giant walled maze. And lining the maze are hundred of souvaneer shops, tattoo artists, nightclubs and bars, restaurants, surf shops, and pretty much everything you can imagine. At at every overstaffed shop was someone trying their best to lure
At Gilli Trawangan
And my new Tattoo! you in using every tactic imaginable including literally grabbing your wrist and dragging you in.
Bali does tourism well. Although I'm at the end of low season there are literally tens of 1000's of tourists here from all over the world, particularly Australians. The tourist infrastructure is alive and well here, in fact too well. There are more shops than tourists and competition if fierce by the sometimes desperate hawkers and touts.
"Good day mate!" They would say in a perfect Australian accent. "Transport? Sunglasses? Rolex watch? Cannibus? Hashish? Transport? Wanna learn surfing? Weapons? Transport? Sexy Ladies? Massage? Transport?" Is what I would hear from every single Indonesian person as I walk by. It's enough to drive me crazy as I am at this point totally lost in shopping hell and everybody trying to sell me something. And they just don't take no for an answer. They will try to shake your hand and keep you there, leading you into their shop. Sometimes they'll follow you, but mostly if you ignore them you'll hear them.....sir! sir! hello? sir right here? transport? Hello sir, can you hear me? Do you speak English? Francais? Dutch? HELLO!!!??" As if I want
Laguna Resort & Spa
Wow... what a beautiful hotel! to answer every single person. Walking through some of the streets such as Kuta Square, Seminyak and parts of Legian look as if you're walking down Robson street in Vancouver, or any other fashionable street in a western country.
I finally found the beach. The pale brown sand colour mixed with streaks of volcanic black are pretty, however they don't compare with Thailand's beautiful beaches. It doesn't compare with the nearby beaches in Bali either, but still it's damn nice, especially at sunset. It stretches for many kilometers from touristy Kuta 5km to high end Seminyak and beyond. The waves are big enough to surf, yet not too powerful so they're easy to learn on.
I took a long walk down the sandy coast, occasionally approached by tattooed Indonesian surfers asking me if I'd like to be taught how to surf. The usual conversation would arise such as where are you from?, name? etc. They'd give me tips for nightlife on Bali and then I started to realize that everyone must be a pimp here. "If you are looking for local girls, be careful" they would say. "They only want marriage. If you really want
boom boom I
View from my hotel balcony
The massive pool surrounded the entire huge resort can arrange it for you, just 200 000 rupiah ($20.00) I laugh, and of course say no, I would say I'm here with my wife and say I'll come back and see him if we get a divorce haha
The motorbike guys saying ...."transport, transport?" are also saying "young lady?, sexy lady?" The taxi cab drivers are saying it. The shop owners, my hotel worker, and of course all the massage parlors. Is everyone is a pimp in this town? Even this one time a cop stopped me on the street corner. He was carrying a big rambo knife instead of a gun which I think is pretty insane in itself. What is he going to do with that knife if someone cause trouble? Cut his head off? Other times I saw them with big machine guns. Anyway.....He asked my name and was being unusually friendly for a police officer. Then out of nowhere he whispered "you like pretty lady?" Of course many girls around town say the same thing to me. Being a single guy in this town is interesting to say the least. I get sexually harassed! haha It's not open though and being here as a
Ganesh
Bali Style! couple or a family I have my doubts that anyone would be approached. All that being said it's not as bad as it sounds. For everyone 100 times I'm asked if I need transport I'll get one sexy lady offer.
I had to beat the system though. I really wanted a massage and at around 40 000 rupiah ($4.00) or as low as $2.50 for 1 hour, that's a deal that can't be beat. I headed for the public and open area of the beach where the older chubby ladies were giving massages. There's no way in hell they were prostitutes I thought. And it's true they weren't prostitutes. She gave a wonderful massage. Then it got creepy. She leaned in my ear and said "you like fuck fuck?" I tensed up, turned around and looked at her wrinkled face. Her face looked like rubber from being n the beach constantly giving massages for so many years. "No way! I mean come on lady!". I couldn't help but be rude. It was just that she was repulsive! Gave me shivers down my spine that she had been touching me for 30 minutes. Then she said she would bring sexy
Balinese Hindu Temple
Bali an island of Hindu people. Much different from the majority Muslim peopulation on the islands of Indonesia lady for me. I felt so relieved! "oh ok good, haha I thought it was you hahahaha!" I couldn't stop laughing. She was excited she thought I was accepting the lady. She got up to go talk to someone and I ran into the ocean for a swim to escape her. There must be some sort of commission thing going on around town.
I usually spend about 2 or 3 days in any given city and then I move on. I'm here in Bali for a total of 18 days. I dreaded the thought. Will I go mad with boredom of being in the same place? During the day there's not much for me to do except for walk the beach, swim and of course shop. I spend the nights usually drinking at the nightclubs. Nightlife here is great. The clubs here make me wonder why Vancouver can't come close to the classiness and overall atmosphere of some of the venues. There are all kinds of scenes here from the surfer and rocker hang outs to the ultra trendy that caters to tourists and Bali's elite. Besides all the offers for ladies, overall Bali is less sleazy than many
Hindu offerings
At every doorway to every shop, every street and so on. Are food offerings for the Gods to bless their shop. hey do this 5 times a day. touristic places in Thailand. You are unlikely to see old white men and young local girls walking hand and hand. And there are not any girlie bars on every block.
The people of Bali are Hindu. Which means I'm not getting woken up at 4am each morning by the call of prayer in the mosque. The Hindu religion here is practiced differently here then in India, but of course has many similarities. In front of each storefront you could see the offering of food that they give to the spirits 5 times per day. The beauty in it is you can even see the tattooed, and pierced Bali surfers and rockers dressed in traditional clothing offering gifts to their Gods.
Nightlife and tourism as a whole had a huge slump in Bali because of the terrorist bombings that happened here a few years ago killing hundreds of foreigners and locals. There's a huge memorial across the street where the nightclub used to be. Tourism is still down in Bali which is unfortunate. Sure there's a chance of another terrorist bombing here, but there's also a chance in the London subways or New York or even Vancouver. That shouldn't
On the ferry
With one of the curious Muslim men stop anyone from doing what you would normally do. Beside the memorial you can see each day locals praying to their Gods, blessing those who have perished that night. Naturally the local people regardless of religion despise the terrorists as much as anyone else.
I have a lot of fun dancing, hanging out and drinking. Some nights are wilder than others. One morning imp articular I woke up with pain in my shoulder. This was different pain than I had previously in India. It's on my other shoulder, and it's not in the bones. It's a burning sensation like a terrible sunburn. Then I remembered....oh yeah it's that tattoo I got last night! Wow,....what a night that was. I really have to stop following local people haha! I started making a lot of local friends around town quite quickly. A girl I met name Marjorie, I became good friends with. She showed me all kinds of places I wouldn't of normally seen including an area literally only a couple minutes from Kuta, yet you wouldn't find another foreigner around at all. That means all the shops and restaurants are 1/3 the price of the tourist places I've become accustomed
to here. I'm not too sure what I would've done without her on some nights. It's nice to have company. She is an exact look alike and has the same attitude as my friends fiance A.J. It's really creepy sometimes. The way she folds her arms and gets mad. It gives me shivers down my spine.
After 6 days I headed to peaceful and serene Ubud, which was a nice change of pace. Somehow I found a room at a beautiful hotel in the center of it all. It's incredibly scenic and beautiful. The main tree lined street are lined with world class spas and high end shops. I found a hotel for just $6.00, including a nice big breakfast. And finally a hot water shower, I haven't had one of those in a month! Finally a place where I can get a professional massage without fear that I walked into a brothel. The people here are gentle and friendly, I can really get used to it here. I spoiled myself by getting plenty of professional massages overlooking terraced rice fields.
I rented a bicycle for the day and rode through the hills past rice terraces, and Balinese
temples. I did my best to get out of the tourist district by riding as far as I could down the side roads getting lost. And I was well rewarded with incredible views and great restaurants with real Indonesian prices. That night I saw the Kecak dance. It's something I saw in the movie Baraka, and inspired me to travel to Asia to find it. Finally after many months and many countries I tracked it down. It's hard to explain but you could Google or youtube it.
Bali so far is a place I could see myself living in the future. It's friendly, cultural, modern, beautiful and close to some of the most incredible places in the world. Wishful thinking I guess, but I guess who knows what the distant future holds. Regardless, I can see myself coming back here.
When I got back to Kuta things seemed a bit different. Calmer. I still heard, among others, the cries of transport and the like. However I either don't notice it as much as I am used to it, or people recognize me and don't offer as much. I'm not sure. It made me come to realize that although
Bali Memorial
For the victims of the nightclub bomb blast that took over 300 lives the people here can be annoying with their offers of shopping, they're only doing their job trying to make a bit of money to pay the $80 per month rent of their shop and make enough money to feed thir families. Unfortunately there's just more shops than tourists so the ones who can convince tourists to go in their shop has one up on the others. With so many tourists walking by ignoring them, you could see the frustration in the locals eyes as they try to make that one sale per day. Sometimes I'd stop and talk with them. They'd try to sell me something of course, but after a while they'd let their guard down and I could really get to know them.
With the 10's of thousands of tourists here, the strange thing is I haven't really met too many people. Usually I meet someone either local or foreign everyday but only for a few hours before we go our separate ways. The main reason I think is because there's not too many backpackers here, rather it's couples, families or large groups of Australians on holidays. I'm content though and rarely bored. The beauty of Bali,
Gilli Islands
Photo taken from the internet shows the 3 beautiful tiny Gilli Islands and actually Indonesia as a whole is that if you'd like to meet an Indonesian person, simply strike up a conversation. In fact you don't need to because they've probably already started one. Over the two weeks I've been here I've woken up in my fair share of random peoples houses
After a couple days I decided to head to a 5 star luxury resort in Nusa Dua, an area of Bali. It's not something I normally do but I guess being in the same place for so long made me want to see somewhere new. I entered the gated community in a taxi. They searched the entire cab and my bag for bombs, and then I walked through a metal detector. After that first class service all the way. The Laguna Resort. Said to be one of the finest in the world and I believe it. It's a Starwood Luxury Collection Hotel frequented by top world politicians, movie stars and the super rich. The service was first class, and I was treated the way movie stars are used to being treated. I'm sure I could get used to this!
The resort itself had a massive pool surrounding
About the perform
The Keachak dance the compound. So big that if you were to swim the distance it would probably last at least 1km. Dotted around it were bars, and workers there to serve your every need. The ocean was near by, is straddling a coral reef. Walking through the shallow waters I saw all kinds of colourful tropical fish. My room contained a 42 inch flat screen TV hanging on the wall, a jacuzzi, a king sized bed and a butler who was there whenever I needed him. If I was to reach for my coffee he would jump at the chance to pour it for me. When I wanted to be alone, he would leave, when I wanted him there he was there in an instant. First class service all the way.
The seafood buffet dinner was incredible. Lobster, giant prawns, all kinds of fish were all included. At one point the head chef came to my table and introduced himself. He took his time out of his busy night to ask how my evening was doing and if there was anything he could do to make my evening more pleasant. With a big smile, I said I was doing great. It
was sort of a lie. I wasn't doing great at all. To be honest I didn't really like it there. Actually that's not true, I loved it. Well I guess I had mixed feelings. There was just something missing.
It's so artificial. This is not the Indonesia I've came to love. There's no Indonesians here besides the resort workers. After I got over the beauty of the pool and the service I got bored quickly. There's really nothing to do, nothing to see. There's nobody to meet except old yuppie millionaires who are confined to the safety of their gated luxury resort. I spent most of my time watching the same news over and over again on CNN. Spending a week here, would drive me mad. I'm not sure why but I feel much more comfortable in my $4.00 hotel room than I do in a luxurious resort catering to my every need. Don't get me wrong I thought it was great, it's just not for me I guess.
It felt great arriving back in Kuta. Maybe I was meant to be ghetto. The area which I am in which is Kuta, and nearby Seminyak, and Tuban is massive. So massive that although I've been here for more than a week there's so much I haven't seen. Usually in towns like this such as Nha Trang, Vietnam or Koh Samui, Thailand I'd see it all within days. This day I found an area undiscovered by me that was only a few hundered meters away yet contained 100's more shops and hotels.
I did all kinds of side trips using Kuta as my familiar home base. I'd leave my stuff at a local friends house that I met and then head off for a few days. Tiny Gilli Trawangan, just off the island of Lombok, is my next destination. There are 3 tiny gorgeous Gilli Islands all with tiny populations of about 500 people, famed for their crystal clear deep blue waters that surround them. A 2 hour minivan, a 5 hour ferry, another 2 hour minivan and then a 45 minute boat ride got me there.
Everything was great except the rust bucket ferry ride from hell. The hard bucket seats were not built for comfort, and the only thing resembling comfort such as a mat to put on the cockroach infested floor were only for rent from the corrupt boat officials trying to make a fast buck. That wasn't the bad part. The worst part was the heat. The mercury hit 38 C (100 F) inside the stuffy box that I was inside. It was more bearable than standing outside in the direct sunlight getting sunburn. The shady outside part which was about 4 feet across was also for rent. My clothes stuck to me and I was soaking wet. The stench of the place was enough to make you sick. The swell of the ocean was about 20 feet, meaning the old boat would rock massively from one side to the other making me seasick from not really being able to see out the tiny windows.
It wasn't all bad though. The tourists were all on one side of the ferry and I was alone reading on the other side. I'm reading a book about India, and also the Mujaheddin freedom fighters in Afghanistan. The front of the book has a picture of a Mosque doorway on it, that really to be honest I hadn't noticed. The vast majority of local people were Muslims in traditional dress. A big difference from what I've been seeing in Bali over the last 2 weeks. I realized then that I missed the curious Muslim people I got to know in Java. It didn't take long for one to aproach me using the basic English that he knew.
He asked about the book I was reading. He thought it was a Muslim book. It explains a lot about the Muslim people and culture. But that's not really the main point of the 950 page book. He didn't understand that though and he was throughly impressed about my knowledge of the Muslim religion. He soon called over his brotherhood. They gathered around me, all asking dozens of questions over the next sweat soaked 4 hours. It was quite interesting. They've never met any of the millions of white tourists that go to Bali every year. Partially because they're shy, partially because tourists seem to group together not really reaching out to meet the real local people who aren't salesman. Especially ones that are different from them.
The Gillie Islands are everything they are said to be and more. Paradise. The water, which is a famed place for snorkeling and diving was perfect. Some of the nicest I've ever seen. Their beauty compares with Thailand's Phi Phi Islands, or the Carribean. But it's looks are distictive to the region. It's a bit strange there. As soon as I got off the boat every drug imaginable was offered to me, especially magic mushrooms. Indonesia is a place that will give you 10 years in prison for a very minor possession of hashish (or 1 year and a 10 thousand dollar bribe) or the death penalty for anything major. Needless to say don't associate with those people. This island has no police. It is enforced by a tribal council called the Satgas. The drug culture is open here and magic mushrooms are even advertised on the T shirts of the restaurant's employees. Still I stayed away though.......too weird!!
I woke up in the middle of the night to find that my hotel room was infested with Scorpions. I've never seen a scorpion before. I really creeped me out and I didn't get a lot of sleep that night. The following morning I went on a 4 hour snorkeling trip which of course was nothing short of amazing. A world class site. I swam with thousands of multicolored fish, live corals and best of all, large sea turtles. It's such a different world down there, and it makes you realize that the vast majority of our world is contained under water. I also got a massive sunburn on my back.....ouch!
The ilsand itself reminds me of a higher class Vang Vieng which is in Laos. It's full of all kinds of great restaraunts where you can chill out and watch a movie. I didn't stay long. The island is so small that you could walk around it's entirety in less than an hour. After snorkeling there was anything left for me to do. It's relaxing though and I could've stayed longer. Something keeps bringing me back to tacky Kuta.
I don't really know anybody, besides the usual faces. But I feel like I know everyone, and there's so much within walking distance that I haven't explored yet. The place is just that big!
Each night I head to the fancy nightclubs and drink and party until the sun comes up. Sometimes it's a bit to wild for me, but I'm having fun. I can at least say that! Sometimes I meet people from places I've met before such as the Gillies, or even Yogyakarta who I kept in touch via email. Other times I'd head out alone and meet people or even just have fun by myself talking the the guys behind the bar. As I said before I don't usually stay in places for more than 3 or 4 days. And when I'm there I like to see and do everything possible. I stayed in Bali for 18 days and didn't really see much at all. I just really enjoyed being here. I'm excited to start the next part of my adventure, 3 weeks in Thailand! I'll miss this place dearly though. I'll miss Bali, but I'll also miss Indonesia as a whole. It's reputation as a dangerous unstable place is undeserved. It's an extremely beautiful country with even more beautiful people.
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kimberley
non-member comment
tattoo!
Love the tattoo, David! xo