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Published: November 18th 2008
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Pitstop
Javanese port - catching a ride to Bali I was warned to give Kuta a wide berth on the premiss that it's full of louts and drinkers...younguns looking for hedonism, fun in the sun and all that jazz without any inclination toward the culture of Bali. I did pay some heed to those comments but with only limited time remaining in Asia and with things to do such as booking flights and arranging accomodation in Singapore I opted to go to Kuta. So, I stayed on the bus that brought us on the ferry over from Indonesia. The original plan was to change buses and head to quieter climes for repose and peace of mind.
However, I never learn. When I should keep my opinions to myself after having slept for just 4 hours and been awake for 20, instead I spurted forth vitriol on the sight before me on arriving in Kuta. I bow my head in shame. What I saw in Kuta that night were people, people, people everywhere. My senses were being attacked from all sides. Music pumping from every open bar. Motorbikes, cars, pedestrians and pony traps jostling for space on the tiny roads. Every alleyway was jammed and not even the pavements were
the recluse of the walkers, used as they were by bikers. It was hell!
Kuta is not such a large place. Well, to be precise the main strip, Jalan Legian where most of the tourists converge into a seething mass is not quite big enough. Off this main road are smaller roads, the most famous of these being Poppies Lane I and II but again what traffic is not on Legian is trying to get onto it or off it, being as it is the main artery in and out of the city. After a whole day of travel and with tiredness seeping out of my eyes this was the last thing I wanted.
Common sense eventually prevailed and to bed I went. The following morning I awoke to a beautiful sun shining day and a splendid swimming pool within the courtyard of the hotel. Unfortunately, the inside part of the hotel did not equate to the outside part. While the beds were acceptable the bathrooms were not all that and while my standards had dropped since travelling Asia there was a line that I would not cross and this crossed that lline. Oh well!
Putting that
mark of destruction
where the van was parked aside I set forth onto Legian road and the first sight that caught my eye was the very sombre monument built to remember the vicitims of the 2002 Bali bombing. Right opposite is a mosaic circle built into the road to mark where the van carrying the bombs sat. The monuments listed all the names of the victims categorised under the countries they came from. It made for morbid reading. And as I was doing so I wondered how such an atrocity could be committed in such a happy hedonistic place. As with everywhere else in Asia the people were friendly, co-operative and the travellers and tourists were marvellous to be around being as they were full of life and wonder, joyous as I was to be away from home.
So again to Legian road where the traffic had come out in force once again. My plan was to surf the net, write my blogs and check out New Zealand as well as book a room in Singapore. I emerged after 2 hours weary and tired. That's another thing I learned from travelling. That I can never ever return to an office job. Sitting at a computer drains the
very spirit from me that gives me life.
On the way to the pub for a wee bite to eat I spotted a sign advertising passage to Lombok and Gili Trawangan. I booked it immediately desperate as I was to leave this seething mass for beaches, clean air and more travel.
I swore that night as I drank beer poolside at my hotel to never set foot on Legian road again. The Lanes had more to offer and to them I stuck that night. But it wasn't a heavy night for I would be leaving for Gili T early the following morning. All I had done that morning was chase my tail going back and fro on Legian road and into some of the alleways darting off the main strip.The whole exercise was exhausting for the sun was burning into me and stealing my energy.
Before I did left Kuta however I ventured to the beach to see what all the fuss was about for Kuta is also touted as a surfers paradise and you would be hard pressed to miss the hundreds of bikers shooting around Kuta with a board attached to their bikes or people
walking around with a board under their arm.
The beach in Kuta is wide and pristine but the surf not that great. It surprised me that so many people came here for that reason. I mean there were waves but only little ones. On the banks of the beach, roadside, were hawkers selling massages, food and beer. As this area provided the only shade on the beach under the palm trees this is where I sat soaking up the scene until it was time to go home for the sun was draining me of all my energy. It was damn hot!
Because Kuta is so far flung from the rest of Bali I feel like I have missed out on the true spirit of the island. I will be returning.
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Liz
non-member comment
new zealand!!!
If you are considering it, definitely go to New Zealand! It is the most incredible place I've ever been... fly into Auckland and hitchhike down to the South Island. Stop in Taupo and skydive. You can hitch in someone's car and get on the ferry from Wellington-Nelson to get to the south island as well. Then hitch down to Christchurch and over Arthur's Pass. Then down to Stewart Island (Rakiura). You will not be disappointed! Tonsai is beautiful. Very surreal. And very HOT. =)