Kuta Day 2

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Bali is very near to Australia. It is cheap in comparison. The laundry list in the hotel features 'singlets'. Not everyone feels it necessary to wear this garment for breakfast! We are always asked if we are Australian. There are three main obvious differences:

We lie and fry in the sun all day, they stay in the shade

We do not drink bintang from 10am and everywhere - in the street and in the pool (glass bottles!)

We READ as we fry, not one Australian appears to have brought a book with them

Kuta is most definitely the Balinese equivalent of Benidorm for the Aussies. I still like it though!

We went down to the beach for the sunset - great atmosphere, really chilled.The sea here looks great for bodyboarding - maybe another time. The swimmers and surfers are segregated, with lifeguards policing it.

Then, on the recommendation of the 2 Aussie ladies in the nail place, we walked along the seafront to find a restaurant called The Deck which has a seafood buffet. They said 30mins walk. It was more like an hour and Sam had her wedges on. AS we walked, we discussed the wisdom of going by personal recommendations of strangers. Sometimes it works, others not!When we finally arrived it was not buffet night. We ate elsewhere and walked back, still in wedges, limping by the end. No dancing for us! Bought a jug of maitai from the hotel and it tasted like Sam's grandma's bunion cream, apparently. Not that she actually ever tasted that...... Parts of the path were quite dark, and there were quite a few mothers with their small children, directing them to come up to us with bracelets, while carrying their smallest sleeping one. One even had one lying on the ground asleep using a black bin liner as a sleeping bag. Hard to know how to react - initially with anger that they should be home in bed, but then in another life and set of circumstances, that could be my gorgeous daughter with her three small children, trying to earn

In the night it proper rained, torrential, and a bit this morning, but then the sun came out and we had the whole day round the pool. No vendors. Bliss! now going out for some shopping, so practising our good cop bad cop routine! Ubud by minibus in the morning

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