Blogs from Kuta, Bali, Indonesia, Asia - page 12

I've been in Australia for over a year now. That means I haven't seen Beata this long. I headed off to Perth, Australia to finish my degree. She went back to Ireland. I was about to finish my 3rd semester and had a six weeks of vacation ahead of me. We both decided it was a perfect time to finally meet up. Afterall, we haven't seen eachother for 13 months! Since we shared such fond memories of Bali, we decided we going to meet there. It was only a three hour flight for me...for Beata it was a loooot more than than. On top of that the airline managed to misplace her luggage...overall, we were happy to see eagain! The funny thing is we both felt like we hadn't seen each other for not more that ... read more

We spent the morning sitting by the pool and reading. We also all signed up for our free massage. We get a free massage from our hotel for booking in longer then 3 nights. So, Laura went first and came back after an hour saying that it was nice but a little bit painful. Then Ashleigh went and came back and said that it was fine. So my turn. Keep in mind this is only my second massage in my lifetime and my first massage was a 3 hour long Thai massage that was...well a bit of an experience. So, I hop up on the table and it starts off really nice. Getting the legs massaged and then she moves up to my back. OUCH! She climbed on top of the table as well and really ... read more

Kuta is where our travels through Indonesia both started and ended. On our first trip, we were anxious to get out of the tourist hub to see the real Bali and experience our last international destination on this trip as much as possible. The constant surrounds of Australians and tourists seeking another place to party were harsh to swallow. The beach was also quite dirty at the time as the local government was just then responding the bad press of the Time magazine article "Holidays in Hell." It undertook a massive clean up while we were there. However, after having experienced Bali and other parts of Indonesia beyond Kuta, you realize that "the real Bali" is all around you if you can see beyond the McDonalds and the Quiksilver shop. The women selling dresses to the ... read more

Hello again, finally! Apologies for such a long delay between blogs - blame it on some whirlwind traveling if you like. I am in fact, as the title suggests, writing this during my final few hours in Indonesia, back where it all started - on Bali. Some parting thoughts on this truly amazing country to follow...firstly, however, I guess I should update you on my most recent movements. When I last blogged, I was in the tiny port town of Sape, East Sumbawa, waiting to catch the 9 hour ferry to Labuanbajo, Flores. This I duly did, though not in any great comfort. Before even reaching Flores I had decided that my original plan of driving halfway across the island was simply too ambitious, given the amount of motorcycling I would have to do to get ... read more

We arrived into Bali quite late in the evening and had arranged to meet with Wiebke and Meike (some of the Goa gang). We caught a taxi to Kuta which is only about 20 minutes from the airport. There was no air con in the taxi so it was the hottest and stickiest ride ever. It was such a treat to arrive and find the girls waiting for us with an ice cold beer each. We found some accommodation and then stayed up all night drinking and catching up. We had a lovely couple of days with the girls although we were really unimpressed with Kuta beach. It was horribly dirty and there was a lot of rubbish floating around your feet in the sea. That would never be allowed in Singapore! Dima did try surfing ... read more