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Published: November 28th 2008
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Heads up, the road from the ferry terminal to Denpassar is a windy one... take a pill or bring a packet if you don't have a strong stomach! 😊 Other that that, the bus is great! Weaving in and out of the small villages and rice paddies and rushing passed all the Hindu monuments gives you a brief glimpse in to the very colourful Balinese way of life. The bus trip took 3 hours to Denpassar, and from there we hired a taxi with a French guy we met at the
Kawah Ijen & coffee plantations {Darrell} to Kuta.
Kuta must be the most chilled out beach city that I've ever been to! It's awesome! I can see how people could get lost here. After chatting to Darrell, I think that what I mean by 'chilled out' may need some explaining. To be sure, Kuta is not the deserted palm lined island we've thus far associated with the word 'chilled'. But what it is, is ultra-conventient. Kuta has just about everything... Restaurants with virtually any kind of food you can imagine, and cooked to perfection at that. Everything is cheap, and even the expensive options, when you think about what you'd pay anywhere else, are
actually reasonable too.
Motorbikes with yellow, U-shaped surfboard holders on the sides outnumber the regular motorbikes. And everyone is relaxed. (once again, if you don't let the '
'traansporrrt, teksi', musssage' thing get to you.) You can catch up on internet, no problem, exchange books to your hearts content, and do laundry in washing machines (what a treat! Ours came back in neat shrink wrapped plastic bags and smelling like lavender... oh how my heart melts. Darrell, who is really not keen on hand washing, was besides himself with happiness)! In the familiarity of it all, it is chilled. It's a place to catch up with the things to be done, which, in it's own way, takes a load off your shoulders.
The beach here is awesome. It stretches almost as far as the eye can see, and, unlike other beaches, the fuller it gets the more festive it gets. There are stalls up on the beach by the road selling noodles and fruit, and surfboards of all colours and size lie balanced against palm trees as eager touts try to rent them to passers by. Massage ladies and women selling sarongs weave in and out of the
shade showing their wares to anyone remotely interested. Fortunately, the trees are right up against the road, and the beach is wide. This combination has resulted in an invisible line of where the sales folk will approach you (in the shade) and where you can enjoy uninterrupted beach (in the sun) 😊
It was here that Darrell taught me to surf. We must have spent the whole day in the water, it was so much fun 😊 We eventually had to drag ourselves out of the water when the sun started to set, and our arms were too exhausted to catch another wave. The heart was willing but the body was just finished. I was surfing (well, trying to anyway 😊 ) on a longboard with a soft, rubber top to help my feet stay on... it was great fun, I even got a pro surfers tummy rash! The board would catch almost every wave regardless of size! - I really didn't expect the board to travel so fast though... It's actually really really scary! 😊 We'll get there. Apparently this is one of the best place to learn... It certainly was for me.
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Anne Mom
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owwwwwww
so that's what a rash vest prevents! (well the tummy scars at least). Surfs up at Muizenberg, but no palm trees!!