First time

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En route to Bali I had a rather unpleasant encounter with a guy in the mens toilets who left no doubt in my mind that he was making indecent proposals. What is it with all the gay people suddenly!? That was three already in less than two weeks.

On the way I also had to stop in Jakarta and wait for a while to catch my connecting flight to Bali. After about 4-6 hours or something silly like that I went to check in only to find that for some reason I had bought, instead of an onward ticket to Bali, a ticket all the way back to Padang!! Aaarrgh! I was not a happy bunny and convinced that it was their fault and not mine (of course...) I had no choice but to buy another ticket at twice the price to get to Bali! There was a lot of pushing and shoving and lots more hassle mainly from some army guys before I finally got another ticket, checked in and settled down - in a very bad mood.

By the time I got to Bali I'd calmed down a little but wanted to make up for things and was ready to stick to my cheapskate ways and walk out the airport to find some cheap transport outside instead of the expensive taxis inside. I headed to Kuta and checked into a really nice and cheap (the cheapest I've heard of to date) hostel called Puri Agung (I can definately reccomend it) and spent the first evening exploring the place.

The effect of the bombs is pretty obvious with tourism still seriously down but everything is running perfectly well and there is still plenty of people around. Kuta is a tacky tourist resort with all the usual and often unpleasant attractions on offer but it truly does cater for everyone and overall I quite like it.

The first time I came through ( on the 14th of May) I spent a couple of days here and met a bisexual Irish guy called Gary in an internet cafe the first morning I was here. More gay people! Fortunately Gary was a really nice bloke and bar a little light questioning there was no funny business from him. He checked into my hotel and we hung around together for a while. He's one of those people who does well at everything and makes friends with everybody so it was good fun to hang out with him.

I've not really done much in Bali due mainly to the lack of time but I now wish that I had left time to see it all. Yes the place is touristy but it's also over oozing with amazing amounts of culture. The place is very distinct from the rest of Indonesia and the two main cultural aspects that stand out to me are the religion and art. Particularly the art. Everything around is beautifully decorated with intricate designs. The scenery, from what I've seen while being ferried around, is also beautiful. More of the usual rice terraces and small villages but the distinct religion and art here give it a certain edge.

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Photos

Fishing in style
They decorate everything and I mean everything in Bali. This was in the harbour on the way over to Lombok.

Kuta beach
Gary and me