Blogs from Legian, Bali, Indonesia, Asia
May 21st 2012
We had been excited about this one and here we are....! Yes, we talk about Bali, and for us it's another kind of Indonesia ( until now we can only compare with Sumatra ). People are more of the world here, especially the hawkers on the beach whom approach you to sell their stuff, no thank you no thank you no no no ! Lots of them speak a bit of English and luckily the nice thing is that they are still very friendly... Living standards are higher, we've seen some real poor villages driving through Sumatra. What really puts us in a good mood is the climate; so far temperatures have been really perfect and humidity has dropped so much compared to Sumatra and Malaysia, :) In Kota Bahru for example we just lost all ... read more
April 25th 2012
I've been wanting to write about this for a while. It happened not long after I had arrived. Me a Swedish guy and a German all in a pool. Both guys are air head surfers. Talk turns to me. I tell them I'm Bristich. German says "not a real European then?". Should I talk offense to this? Wasn't offended to continued on. Both men talked about Sharks. Swede seems to this they're friendly creatures. German disagrees. They find out I've dived with great whites. Swede is in awe. Then 2nd German dick head arrives (can I just poinbt out her that I like Germans. E.g. Christoph was the loveliest German ever and I liked him very much). It's just these 2 seemed to have a problem with me. Or more correctly with the Brits. The Swede ... read more
March 31st 2012
So........ After 26 hours of travel i arrive in Bali to a warm welcome of sniffer dogs and a massive sign saying 'We support the death penalty for drugs' so that was a nice relaxing start to my journey.. I arrived about 40 minutes later in my hotel in Legian. By this point i REALLY needed a dring so i thought ill have one quick one and head right up to bed. no such luck! This is when i met Doug (picture 1) Doug is an old American 'give me a nail i'll build you a house' kinda guy, i did'nt know if he was bored or just pissed but he instantly came over and before i knew it we were walking around the streets of Legian beer in hand. He was teaching me some of ... read more
February 18th 2012
Things did get better. Ubud turned out to be a great place to chill out for a while. I spent 4 days here leaving on the morning of the 14th for the Aussie-invaded beaches at Kuta and Legian. I really didn't do too much whilst in Ubud but to be fair doing nothing was what I had in mind right from the start following my escapades in Yogya and that bus journey over from Bromo. There was a real noticeable difference between this town and the rest of what I'd seen of Indonesia. Everything in Ubud is super polished and clearly geared towards better off tourists rather than poor struggling backpackers! Some restaurants were super high end and selling things that were pricey even by Western standards. I had to keep reminding myself I was in ... read more
February 16th 2012
A nice relaxing day this morning, had breakfast and a bit of a swim. This afternoon we had a long walk along the beach to Legian. We must have walked 6 kilometres in the heat of the day. We just keep saying to ourselves that it’s good exercise. We had a look in a few shops on the way and had a late afternoon lunch at a Lebanese restaurant. Very nice food; a Lebanese pizza and samosas but with Middle Eastern spices. After that we headed back along the beach to the hotel to watch and photograph the sunset. Always nice to watch when the sun sets over the ocean. This evening we went for a massage to ease the body from the day’s toils of walking in the tropical heat and humidity. After the massage ... read more
Legian gives you the willies....literally!!!
Published: January 20th 2012Asia » Indonesia » Bali » Legian
January 16th 2012
If Legian is the average tourist's idea of paradise then they can keep it. When you think of Bali, you picture it as being a sleepy little island where the locals ride around on elephants and buffalo, the silence is broken only by the sea breeze blowing gently through the palm leaves above your head, the beaches are all white and spotlessly clean and it's generally a place where life takes on an easy going, laid back approach. Well, nothing could be further from the truth. The areas around Denpasar are like Ibiza on steroids! Dunka dunka music makes a constant assault on your eardrums from every direction. Hedonistic, drunken twits wander around in search of their next conquest while members of the opposite sex wear as little as possible which can often be quite stomach ... read more
August 6th 2011
“ a harmony in eating and resting, in sleeping and keeping awake; a perfection in whatever one does…“ Bhagawad Gita A Warung is the name of a traditional roadside eatery As we learned in cooking class food has 6 flavors sweet sour spicy salty bitter and astringent. Sound strange? You wouldn’t believe the taste! I have had a few currys and some other dishes and I havent tasted anything I didn’t like yet. Besides all the glorious food there are the spas. Reflexology, acupressure and traditional Balinese massage, Ill have all my body parts in correct alignment when I leave. Using taxis and car & drivers we have explored the area . We traveled to Tanelot a temple of the sea on the edge of the sea with gray volcanic sand. After an afternoon tea with ... read more
August 4th 2011
I have a bit of a traveling addiction, and, ah, yeah. I went to, ah, Bali this summer. Fisher Stevens After a long commute I finally arrived in Bali to a warm welcome by my friend. At first glance it is a typical asian city: motorbikes, gridlock and storefronts you know will house people and motorbikes after closing. We headed off into the night to explore the beach, the town and all the hopping places on the strip. A perfect intro to a place that is going to be very special. The next day we taxied to Denpasar , the capital city to visit the museum and follow a walking tour outlined in our bibles, the Lonely planet. We visited the state run temple outfitted in the official sarong and belt before we entered the outbuilding ... read more
Peace of mind is not the absence of conflict but the ability to cope with it.
Published: August 13th 2011Asia » Indonesia » Bali » Legian
August 3rd 2011
July 25 80% of it was getting in a van, sweating, listening to music, looking out the window, sleeping, getting out of the van, stopping at a roadside pit stop for "traditional indonesian food" which means more and more rice and vegetables which means we didn't eat much, which means we would then get back on the van for 5 more hours or so, snacking all the while... We slept at this really cool motel lodge for people all going to trek mt. Bromo in the morning - the walls were all bamboo which meant that everyone could hear everything, but also that it was really pretty. July 26 Today we woke up at 3:30am and drove to the lookout point. Then we hiked up for about a half hour in the pitch black to ... read more
A day at the spa, followed by shopping and ending with a sunset on he beach!
Published: July 14th 2011Asia » Indonesia » Bali » Legian
July 4th 2011
We headed over to the spa at 10 am for our appointments. We all decided on the same treatments so we started off getting a one hour head massage. It sounds so much better then it was. Parts of it were really nice but other parts really hurt. And they use an oil to massage with so your hair becomes super greasy! Next up we had a half hour manicure. I picked out a pretty pale blue colour for my nails. Then we finished up with a one hour pedicure. It was very nice and relaxing. I picked out a really pretty bright bluey green colour my toe nails and then my lady painted on a white frangipani flower onto my big toe nails with a toothpick. So talented! We decided to head to a thai ... read more
