Blogs from Bali, Indonesia, Asia - page 263

Hi, probably for the last time. The end is nigh. I now find myself in the Indonesian island of Bali. Australia suddenly seems a long way ago, as does indeed all of my previous travelling as the Bali experience is very different indeed. I don't think I realised how different Bali would be. I imagined it to be an island paradise, white beaches, laid back locals, everyone serene. No chance. The first two days were culture shock. Granted I arrived in Denparsar, renowned for being a hustling, noisy Indonesian city. It's that and more. Cars career down narrow streets, avoiding a school of adolescent motor-cyclists. Locals on the side of the road man their market stalls, selling T-shirts, CDs, DVDs, jewellry, paintings and carvings. Most things, in this part of Bali it seems, cater for the ... read more

I made it to Bali! The flight was extremely pleasant, though my luggage was delayed a little bit. Speaking of luggage, I packed all the WRONG things. I had absolutely no way to conceptualize the temperature and humidity here while I was in England. When I packed I thought maybe 20% of my clothes would be unnecessarily warm for this climate. More like 80% wrong. Just thinking about carrying those clothes around makes me sweat. My hotel last night was pleasant, though the air conditioner didn't really work. The good news is that my hair and my skin love it. For all the moisturizer I had to slather on my skin in Europe, now I am considering lightening my load by throwing it away. After I checked into the hotel I took a walk on the ... read more

Dave and I teamed up with a really amazing couple we met at our Ubud Homestay and hired a "Transport, Transport!" for an all day tour of five major temples. Nancy and Joseph are travelling pros who sold their homes in Hawaii and are on a PERMANENT vacation. For the past two years they have been circumnavigating the globe with no plan to stop. They showed us the ropes by driving a hard bargain with our driver and insisting on "no tricks or arguments" Indonesian drivers love to veer off schedule and take tourists to shops etc. where they will receive a commission for any purchases. They also tend to 'forget' the negotiated price and ask for more money at the end of a trip... Dave and I learned this earlier....THE HARD WAY! Although rainy, the ... read more

UBUD, BALI: We are now in the cultural mecca of Bali. Ubud is the artistic center of the island and is definitely my favorite destination so far. It is a tourist town but very charming in a Bali-esque way. There are a series of streets with tons of shops but, you can walk ten minutes and be in the most gorgeous rice paddies watching the Balinese harvest the crop. Of course, everyone is always trying to sell you something and the art of bargaining is highly valuable here. Just walking down the sidewalk you are always accosted with "Transport, transport, tomorrow, tomorrow, Taxi, hello, hello, excuse me, hello, you wanna taxi, you wanna taxi? Cheap, very cheap! And this is all within a five second time span. As a retail queen, I must add that ... read more

Hello everyone! This is just a quick update to let you know we are both fine. We have had several emails to check we are okay after the earthquake that hit sumatra. We moved onto Bali on the 25th March so we did not feel anything or even hear about it until we saw it on CNN about 2 hours ago. Those poor people, this will have hit them hard at a time when they are trying to get back on their feet. But knowing the indonesians they will keep smiling and put a brave face on. No photos on this blog but we will add some soon. We have been chilling out, catching some rays but normally after about 2 hrs we are either too hot or lobster like and slink off to the shade ... read more