Bali in one blog and a lot of photos

---

Ok, so this was the second to last stop of my travels and I was getting a bit sick of sight seeing, so I spent my 2 weeks in Bali mainly relaxing on the beach or at the pool, going out with friends, and learning to surf. I didn’t leave the resort town of Kuta for the whole 2 weeks. It was great.

I staying in the town of Kuta which is on the west coast of Bali and is definitely one of the most popular/touristy places I have visited so far. There are lots of clubs and restaurants. including big names like the Hard Rock cafe. It was also completely packed with Australians as its so close to Oz.

I stayed in a lovely hotel called Kedins. It was great location on the Poppies 1 road. It had free breakfast and a lovely pool. The only downside was the showers were bore water. Bore water is from the ground so it was cold, salty and every other day stank of serweage. It got a bit horrible after a week of staying there. But for £5 (or 90,000 rupia) a night I didn’t complain that much. Also don’t expect your room to be cleaned during your stay.

Aside from going out with my friends I spent some time learning to surf. Firstly I thought I didn’t need a lesson. I rented a board from a shop and spent 4 hours becoming the best knee surfer on the beach. I just couldn’t grasp the standing up part. So the next day I paid a teacher on the beach (not from an overly priced surf school) . It cost me £8 (100,000 rupia) for about a 2 hour lesson. The guy called Putra was great, he held the board for me and pushed me into the best waves, which allowed me to concentrate on getting up. After 3 attempts I was standing on the board. By the end of the lesson I was surfing without him pushing me off. It was great fun. Over the next few days I practiced lots. I still had to use the beginners board though. This is a larger “Long” board which is covered in foam, which makes it float better for better balancing and less painful on my knees. I bought some pink board shorts to help with the knee scratches, they only coast me £2 (30,000 rupia) !! After 4 months of haggling I was becoming a pro.

The nightlife is a large part to Kuta. All the main clubs are located on the Legian road. This is also where the Bali bomb memorial is located and there is still a small crater on the road where the 2nd bomb exploded. I can now see how dangerous and easy targets the clubs are. The main club Sky Garden was 4 floors high, packed most nights only had one little entrance at the front, not the safest. There were other clubs on the street but the Sky Garden was the best one, as it had about 4 different areas and a lovely roof top bar.

---

Photos

Me and Claudia
Girl I met in the hotel - she was great fun.

Me drinking the local Bintang
And a local random guy dragged into the photo

Me + surfboard
Learning to surf = great fun

Surfing
Claudia and RasmusS

Me with Luke
Outside a club, Yes he is actually standing up asleep!

They sold everything on the beach
Including Viagra

Me and the girls
My lovely friends from the hotel - Claudia and Louise

Last night out
Eating at my favourite Bamboo restaurant

Sky Garden Club
We went to every night out