Bali

Asia
July 11th 2010

Published: August 1st 2010

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TravelDani

Rice paddies

I love this photo - its almost psychadelic AND taken with my crappy phone camera as my proper camera battery died

First impressions of Bali? 'F***** hate this country' is a thought that came to mind a few times on that first night! So you want me to wait 2 hours in Kuala Lumpur to check in, then pay $25 on landing in Bali, then wait a further 3 hours in Indonesian immigration? Oh and then...LOSE MY LUGGAGE?

Spent the first night wallowing in misery (on the inside - on the outside I tried to laugh and joke) thinking I would have to spend the next 6 days with no spare clothes/straighteners/wash stuff/contact lens case/contact lens solution, and getting drunk with the other hostel guests playing card games and drinking Bintang beer. When I was tipsy, I got the wonderful phonecall from the airport informing me that my luggage had turned up. There was me cussing Bali for making me wait in immigration while my luggage gets stolen on the other side. But AirAsia's system had been down so there were a fair few mishaps. That phonecall felt like the best phonecall I had ever had and I was almost faint from happiness.

The next morning I went to collect my luggage with Mark who I had met at the

'The Island' crew out in Bali

this bar was bombed in the Bali Bombings

hostel. Spent the day with Mark and a girl called Becki just chilling on Kuta beach and going for something to eat. Had my first taste of Nasi Goreng, a meal which I would go on to eat every day that I was there. It's a traditional Balinese dish consisting of fried chicken rice topped with a fried egg, vegetables and sometimes chicken satay. I also found it hard to break my habit of chicken rice eating. Its just too bloody cheap, tasty and easy! Also experienced going down ridiculously narrow lanes barely wide enough for one person on the back of a moped (these narrow lanes are in fact 2 lane streets in Bali for mopeds) I kept my knees clamped firmly on Mark's waist to say the least. That night me and some of the hostel guests went clubbing. I was hammered before we even left and when we stumbled in at 5am, I could safely say I had had a good night. We went to the bar that was bombed in the Bali bombings (Paddys) which was kind of wierd.

Needless to say I missed diving the next day (or that morning - whatever) which I

Mount Batur

second highest Volcano. Shame I didn't get a pic of Mount Agung which is the highest volcano on the island... that was spectacular

was disappointed with but oh well only myself to blame! Had to re-book it for the following day which was not ideal because all the other guys at the hostel were going round the island the following day and I wanted to go with them as that would have been a lot cheaper because in Bali you can rent a car and driver for about 400 000 Rp (about £30) for the day. I couldn't go diving any later because you're not supposed to fly within something like 48 hours of diving. So I spent the day sunbathing and topped up my tan nicely, reading a book I borrowed from the hostel's bookshelf! First time I felt truly relaxed all trip! I got an early night purely because I was feeling a bit ropey.

Next day was diving! Got picked up at 7am to go to Amed on the east coast of the island which took about 3 hours to drive there. On the way there realized just how beautiful Bali actually is! Especially the stunning backdrop of volcanic Mount Agung which is the highest peak on Bali. The scenery seriously took my breath away at some points. The

Lake Batur

dive company I went with really did take all of the work out of scuba diving - nothing like on Ko Tao - as they assembled all my gear and put me into it when we got in the water etc. The visibility under the water was much clearer than what I had experienced in Ko Tao. Saw some ribbon eels which poke out of the sand and try to eating passing things among hundreds of other amazing underwater life. There was one fish that likes to play with you, while all the other species flee if you get up close to them, these ones actually chased your hand! If only I knew the names of all the species.dve 2 was the Liberty Wreck which was teeming with marine life. Was pretty cool getting up close to a shipwreck too.

The next day was met with disappointment. I was looking forward to getting in a car with my driver and seeing Bali's main sites in a day but the driver quite shortly says you cannot see everything. He tried to make my route for me, but I was insistent that I CHOOSE WHERE I WANT TO GO lol. Got

Kuta beach

a bit heated at one point! In the end I didn't see half of what I wanted but that's understandable - Bali is bigger than I thought. I ended up seeing Mount Batur, lake Batur, went to the hot springs but decided against it as it wasn't the kind of hot spring I had in mind - it was a commercial swimming pool rather than a natural rock pool. Next stop was Ubud where I bought some paintings, some candle holders and a wooden phalus (well why not). Out of Thailand, Malaysia and Bali, I have to say Bali wins hands down for handicraft shopping. Some beautiful items for sale. I then visited the Monkey Forest in Ubud where I got attacked several times. I realized I do not like monkeys - they are unfriendly ungrateful users! Very nice forest though you can see people have worked hard to maintain it, and it was pretty cheap entry.

Final stop was sea-surrounded Tanah Lot with its SWARMS OF TOURISTS!! Absolutely ruined an otherwise beautiful site. It is one of Bali's most important temples and pays homage to the guardian spirits of the sea. Relatively expensive entry fees, plus being ordered

Arie

first night at the hostel drinking

to make a 'donation' after being doused with holy water and having bits of rice stuck to the middle of my forehead. Cheeky buggers.

The final day I just walked around Legian and ate and did a bit of shopping. Bought a gorgeous dress for the equivalent of £3 and a DVD for the equivalent of £1. After spending the remainder of my rhupiahs, I realized I had not left myself enough to get a taxi to the airport! Panic! But it's wierd how things work out because I calculated the cost of the hostel I stayed in, and discovered I had overpaid...by about 400 000 rhupiahs! Happy days!

Denpasser airport is not the greatest. In fact it's the worst airport I have been in. The atmosphere is awful, the equivalent of £3 for a poxy chocolate bar?! And I nearly missed my flight despite being at the airport 3 hours early because they didn't bother putting any comment next to my scheduled flight that it was open for check in etc. Oh yeah and they sneakily charge you an extra 130 000 Rp for leaving the country. Piss take.

My camera's battery went dead so didn't