Blogs from Bali, Indonesia, Asia

In search of an authentic Balinese experience, I ventured to the cultural heart of Bali, Ubud, for an experience of culture and bliss. Flying from Australia to Denpasar, Bali, I have to admit I was very much overwhelmed by the density of heat, humidity, people and overall congestion around the hotspot of Kuta and the surrounding areas. While this appeals to some, it was not what I had in mind for my Balinese experience. Together, my friends and I crammed into a van as we began our two-hour drive from Kuta to Ubud. After driving past busy bustling areas of Bali’s hotspots, with myriads of rice paddies gradually taking over the view, while getting lost with the driver as us girls navigated the directions, we gladly arrived in Ubud, initially to stretch, but more importantly, this ... read more

Well after flying for 24 hrs we arrived in Bali at the Ayana resort. Exhausted but finally here. This hotel is absolute luxury, while laying by the pool they delivered us cold botles of water and fruit to cool us down. It was great staying here as we did not have to join the long line to visit the Rock bar which is perched out on the side of the cliff but instead we got ushered down the express line. We all enjoyed the warmer weather as we sipped our cocktails and enjoyed the sunset. Not wanting to leave this resort we lazed around the pool to the very last minute until check out. Up very early the next morning for our 2 1/2 hour boat trip to the Gili Islands. Gili islands has no motorised ... read more

Short 1h+ bemo/ shuttle from Kuta to Ubud, supposedly the artistic and cultural capital of Bali. Stayed at Sadru Homestay along Monkey Forest Rd, only IDR80k a night (!).... read more

There seems to be 4 names in Bali - Wayan: first born, Kedek: 2nd, Neoman: 3rd and Ketut:4th. If yopu to continue having children, God knows why, you go back to Wayan. Lol. I'm living next door to Wayan the healer. She's very famous here. She's the lady that Wayan the healer in the Julia Roberts film was based on. You can imagine how the Americans eat that up. The other day just outside near the entrance she was holding this tourists head and he was knealing with his eyes closed in some hypnotic state. I started giggling. That image there that I've just painted for you is the done thing here. It's normal. It's ABnormal if you're a non believer. Every shop, restaurant, bar, warung (local stall), spa, hotel, hostel, homestay is catered for this ... read more

We gingen in de late namiddag naar de apotheek want ik had ook van de nieuwe vriendinnen gehoord dat dehydratatiezout een must was op wereldreis. Dus bij deze zijn we voorzien van een doos Electrolyte. We keerden terug van de apotheek en kochten een fles water in de K-Markt. Op zich niks speciaal, toen ik buitenkwam stond er veel personeel van de K-Markt en was er een soort tombola bezig. Ze wilden dat ik aan het rad draaide en voor dat ik het wist verliet ik de supermarkt met een TV!! Ik had een TV gewonnen! In het begin was ik nogal argwanend omdat ik dacht dat ik bankgegevens of zo ging moeten achterlaten of een adres, of dat er plots een rekening voor mijn neus ging gepresenteerd zijn maar nee hoor! Niks van dit alles. ... read more

Another loooong journey, first 1h ferry from Banyuwangi at the easternmost tip of Java, to Gilimanuk on the westernmost tip of Bali. This was followed by a painful 4h slow bus ride through the winding and narrow roads of Bali to Denpasar. Locals of course smoke perpetually on the bus, so along with the sulphur poisoning from Ijen, I've now also inhaled bucketloads of passive cigarette smoke (Dji Sam Soe!). Final leg was another 45 min bemo ride from Denpasar, finally to Kuta. Stayed at the Waringin Homestay (nice place! though not a true homestay, really just another hotel/ guesthouse).... read more

This guy lones me a bike for a pound (these keyboards don'e have the pound symbol). I decided to cycle to this place that's up north. It's being considered for UNESCO. It's an ancient collection of temples carved into stone set in a vally of jungle. It was fantastric when I arrived but it took bloodly ages getting there. I took a friends advise and went off the beaten track. Julian, who lives next door has been here for 10 months. He showed me a hidden route. there where barely cares on the tiny road. a few scooters every now and then. It was across vast rice filed planes. famers and small villages every now and then. It was so beautiful I can't even descruibe it. I started off so snap happy. but as the journey ... read more

After a quick night on Phuket, we woke early the next morning to catch a cab to the airport for our flight to Indonesia. The airport on Phuket is fairly small and the flight we caught runs at the same time every day. As a result there was a single line of people in the airport at that hour, all heading to the same location. We waited in line, got our seats sorted, grabbed a quick breakfast sandwhich at Subway (apparently, in Thailand you arent allowed vegetables on your breakfast sandwhich, go figure..) and piled into the line for customs and departure. We knew we had overstayed our visa by three days and that we'd have to pay a small fine at the desk but we weren't prepared for the outrage the customs official displayed at ... read more

We get up the next morning and have our tasty free breakfast (egg sandwhich with local lombok coffee) and get our things together to head down to the beach. We roll up onto the beach in roughly the same place as before when someone again recognizes Niki from last year (I suppose carrying a hula hoop around does help a little). This time its a guy named Johhny, a friendly local surf teacher. We sit down and have a few drinks with him and chat. As it turns out, he's already served a couple Canadians that day and he says they might come back. Sure enough about ten minutes later these two guys wander up. Their names were Chad and Garrett and they're from Saskatoon. They've been in Kuta a couple days and spending some time ... read more

Since we had made a hasty departure from Sky Garden the previous night, we werent given the chance to make plans to meet up with Chad and Garrett the following day. We'd already decided on going down to the beach to hang out with Niki's friend Johnny and enjoy some beers in the sun and sort of hoped that we might bump into them there again. We were a little slow going that morning after consuming so many mystery green, blue and orange beverages the night before, so we had a relaxing morning hanging out with the puppies downstairs while we used the wifi and enjoyed our complimentary breakfasts. Its amazing what a little food, caffeine and puppy time will do for a hangover and soon we were back on our feet and headed to the ... read more