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Published: October 17th 2007
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1 USD to 9050 Rupehia another currency change!
Arrival to Bali USD25 - Departure tax USD10
Flew into
Kuta on the 22nd July & stayed in Bamboo B+B....people say get out of there as fast as you can, I actually liked it, the main beach wasn’t that appealing but the shopping was paradise but be preapared to bargain down... (and now that I am typing this from Thailand - way way cheaper than here too...)
Spent 2 nights in Kuta and then on to
Ubud haven for arts and crafts and I certainly wasn't disappointed..... I picked up
3 AMAZING paintings for the price of a Wham bar...
Also got mugged by a monkey,. stepped out of the jeep with my bag on my back with some cookies in the side pocket and I never even noticed that there was monekys all over the place ,one just shimmied up my legs and stole the cookies...see picture...so we gave them the can of fanta to wash them down.
Spent a few days in Ubud and was caught up with the whole art culture there,
it really is worth a visit if your in Bali. it's such a beautiful place but the night life is non existent... so you can find yourself at home in your hotel pretty early most nights, I lightened my back pack by 6kgs (3 months ship 50USD) After a couple of days though I was happy to move on, the girls stayed on and before I knew it I found myself on another paradise Island called
Nusa Lembongan Shuttle & Ferry to Sanur from Ubud 95,000 Rup. Met up with Loes a lovely Dutch girl so to keep the costs down we decided to share a twin room ...which was great as she had a DVD player lol!!
Hired a motor cycle for 2 days for the astronomical cost of 110,000 Rup..less than a dollar fifty and also came with a full tank...I mean where is the logic in that.... I'd spend it looking out the window at home.
We toured the Island for the day visiting
Mushroom Bay (best beach to chill out)
Dream Beach, underground house (not worth the bother) and over the
creaky bridge to Nusa Cheningan....a seriously scary
moment for us both...number one because I was driving.... although out of the two of us I would have been the one with more sense...as me and motor bikes do not get on...it was an auto matic so all I had to do was keep it up... we passed a little volley ball court where there were loads of local kids playing so we decided to stop....
Their little faces were bursting with happiness and enthusiasm when we did...so we joined in on a game...their little english consisted of..."you servay"..."you servay" and every time we would score there would be
high fives all round... eventually after a
victorious win we finished up to notice that half the village had come down to
see what all the fraca was about, my favorite was the guy in the blue hat... I just wanted to run away with him.
There was fierce competition when the camera came out of who could look the coolest and if someone got in the way of their picture being taken...there was sulks and tears until I took another picture.
Nusa Lembongan is a quiet enough Island whose main
industry seemed to be growing & collecting & drying seaweed (for shampoos - there you go girls….when you buy products that say it has seaweed in it…it really does… its dried and shipped off to China. On leaving Nusa after a couple of days of rest (which was seriously welcomed after my 2 crazy weeks in Sydney) for the
Gilli Islands via
Sambawa to catch up with Karen & Kelly.
I said good bye to Loes and boarded the
SMALLEST boat…..boat is an understatement - …with 5 Auzzies, 2 Americans, me, one local and 2 guys who navigated the boat.. thats 11 of us!!! With all our back packs….7 surf boards and some local things they were bringing across the Ocean…yes the Ocean at a knock down price of 50,000 RP…I think my life is worth a little more than 50 cent….it was so small (see picture) all our knees were touching and the joke for the duration was….that our little boat was a flight and the emergency exits were “One to the right and One to the Left and today folks our in flight entertainment is
“YOU’ we were so close to
each other the topic was how did you get that scar…so we all told our little stories and one of the Auzzie guys tells us about his little scar on his foot…. "It was a plane crash”…and then a pause from everyone….he went on to say that he and 5 of his friends flew from
Manila in the Philippines to another Island in search of good surf and the small plane that carried 20 passengers never made it over..it crashed in the sea and he managed to stay concois & see an opening and swam to the surface………….
Then someone dared to ask….so your friends…they were ok too… the look of anticipation on everyone was unnerving….apparently they didn’t and he spent the next week going to funerals at home…. That was the craziest story I have heard on my travels…very sad by all accounts… not much laughing after that on our TWO hour journey in a tin wooden can??? across the ocean….Sorry…bit of a sad story but I felt the need to share it with you….
Arrived to
Kusamba in one piece and 6 of us haggled for a bemo to
Padangbai - main
Port - for 17,000 RP each - cheap as chips…from
Padangbai the public ferry (5hrs fast one) to Lembar is only 25,000 RP but I got mine via Sengiggi to the paradise party Island of
Gilli Trawangan for 150,000RP.
Sengiggiapparently the oldest and most developed tourist area in Lombok.
Met up with a Spanish girl on the bus and we found this place called Astiti for 60,000 RP - 3 USD each and what we paid for was what we got!!! need I say more...
It’s an okay town, better to get a motor bike and head out of there to the many beautiful beaches on the coast, other than that It doesn’t have much, there are some nice bars and restaurants and even some up market hotels, I decided to hit the beach on a day where all the locals were off work (Sunday)…tried in vain to keep to myself but when you’re the only white farang on the beach it’s a little hard to blend in...........
Next day I was picked up by my tour operator and got to
Bengasal Port for my small boat to Gilli T to meet
Nusa Lembongan
One of the Islands off Bali Indonesia the girls…Bengasal - Bain of everyone’s life, avoid it if you can…nasty nasty people there and they will try and get as much money out of you as they can by telling you the ticket you have for the ferry is cancelled or not here for another 5 hrs but for a small fee of 1,000 they can get you to your destination in an hour… Everything they say is all BS!!
Gilli Islands are comprised of 3 Islands, Gilli Air (quiet) Gilli Meno (also quiet) and Gilli T…all I will say on this place is it was paradise, no bikes no cars just horse and carts.. turquoise waters & loads of little party bars, chill out bars with private cinemas (little wooden hut with your own DVD player and tv….the nicest Island ever. Definitely recommend this Island to anyone going to Bali.
Met up with the sister of a Ann Hayden whom I traveled with in South America… such a small world!!!
On leaving the island we paid a little bit more to get back to Bali with out any hassle and
Perma tours were the best, 240,000 RP
The time came for
us the leave Indonesia bound for Singapore where I meet up with my buddy Damo and his mate John
All in all I loved my time in Indonesia, Island hopping and seeing other cultures.
Prices are just an indication of how cheap it is to travel Bali.
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