Kuta, Bali

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Hi Everyone

Sorry for the lack of blogging... it's hard to find the time to blog often but I will try to get you upto date now.

So, from Singapore we flew to Bali. Had the worst experience on the plane when it just dropped from the sky for a few seconds and everybody gasped and clutched the seats but everything straightened out again pretty quickly.

We had met a couple, Sarah and Derek, in the taxi to the airport who were on the same flight and so shared a taxi with them from the airport to Kuta. Kuta is the main town on Bali. It was a great beach, good surf and awesome nightlife. So it's pretty much where everyone starts out in Bali. We've heard it being called 'a Kuta vortex' since we left because everyone seems to get stuck there and stay longer than they intend to... and true to form, we did!

The main streets in Kuta are Poppies 1 and Poppies 2. They are narrow lanes rather than streets with hardly any pavement but that doesn't stop the stalls and shops spreading out into them and hundreds of scooters racing up and down them. Everyone is selling something. We can't leave our place without hearing 'Transport! Transport?!' or 'You wan' massaaaaage?' Neither can you lay on the beach for longer than 5 minutes without someone coming upto you selling bracelets, necklaces, fruit, ice cream, surf lessons, massages, pedicures etc etc. It's a cool place but we were ready to leave after 4 days!

James, who we met in Singapore, flew to Bali later that day so we met up with him. We had a night out with him, Sarah and Derek one night. There are numerous bars in Kuta. The Skylounge is where most people go since they have free entry and free drinks between 10pm and 11pm every night - recipe for disaster! But we remained sensible and met some great people. We met Vic, Lisa and Julia there on that first night and continued to see them again on other nights.

We went white-water rafting as a group one day which was really good. It was a 1 and a half our drive away and then we rafted for about 2 hours and had some lunch. The river was pretty choppy and there was a big drop down a little waterfall at the end of the trip which we had to prepare for.

So, from Kuta we went to Ulu Watu for a few days! Will let you know how we got on there another time.
Love to all
Naomi and Alex
xxx

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