Blogs from Bali, Indonesia, Asia - page 225

There are two main beaches in Bali. About a 10minute walk from our hotel was Kuta Beach. This was a favorite of the bloody Austrailians. Surf boards everywhere and as you would expect, lots of locals trying to sell you just about everything. We went to the beach most days after we had finish sightseeing. On the road at the edge of the sand their was every type of fast food place you can think of. McDonalds, Pizza Hut. There was Even a hard rock cafe for crying out loud. The road to the hotel had small stalls everywhere making the pavements non existant. With the road being one way you think that it wouldn't have been a problem, however as with most place in Asia, the traffic doesnt follow the rules. You had to ... read more

80% of the Bali's population are Hindu. On our tour we went to see many different temples. This was one of the most unusal as their wasnt many actual temples and of the few that where there, you couldn't get access to most of them. The one thing about the place that I liked was the spectaular scenery. The rocks and the water was also popular with the local tourists. Maybe they are sick of all those sandy beaches and enjoy the danger of slipy seeweed covered rocks. Never asked. At one of the temples, I had to wash my face wash three times with the water from a nearby spring and put flower petals on my forhead to get access. A small donation was also required. Then I walked round the corner to find ... read more

Me and Jessica flew into Bali late on the Monday night, so Tuesday was our first real day there. We were picked up by Nyoman at 9am for the start of our whistle stop tour of the island. The first port of call was to see the Barong dance. Its a tradditional play with lots of, you guessed it dancing. Was bored stiffless and the seats were uncomfortable. The acting was terrible and the dancing was done well, but no fun to watch. The last scene was by far the best. I do however have to question the sexuality of the men in the play. The eveil demon was captured and the other characters were hitting it with sticks. They lifted its tail(or was it) it the air and started to hit it till it ... read more

Bali has the infrastructure to support thousands of tourist. But after the bombings in 2002 and 2005 that killed over 220 people, the tourists have not returned. What remains are great hotels at bargain prices, and comfort that there's always someone around who speaks a little English. From bus tickets to jewelry (that every shop owner claims to have handmade), the price that they quote you is at least double what you should actually pay. But if you can look beyond that and tune out the hollers for 'transport', 'lookie lookie in my store', and 'I give you best price', you'll notice that Balinese people are kind, peaceful souls. We started in Kuta, party central, where brand name stores illuminated the streets at night as if it were daylight, and machines sprayed fine mist to cool ... read more

I'm back Was unwell as you all know and then i was playing catch up for the rest of my time in Indonesia. I have been to Jakarta, Java and Bali in the space of a week and i have lots of blogs to type. They will be out of order, so no complaining. Me and Jessica flew into Bali on Monday(13/6) for a 4day tour of the island. We stayed in the Maxi hotel which was very comfortable. There was a swimming pool and it even had breakfast included(1st time i had that since i started) in the price. We had a driver called Nyoman, or norman as I called him all the time. He took us all over the island and I felt like a King. Bali was nice, but it was a ... read more