Kuta - Indonesia's Phuket (and my nightmare)

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After an amazing relaxing 10 days on the Gili Islands we had to make our way back to Bali as we are flying to Bangkok tomorrow. The journey was typical Indonesian - busses and ferry were delayed and instead of 6 pm we arrived at around 8 pm. I regretted that we didn't choose the fastboat until we saw wild dolphins while we were on the ferry what really made my day. Once we arrived in Kuta and got stuck in a traffic jam I wished myself back to the Gilis where they don't have any cars or scooters. It was a real shock with all the traffic. Once we had left the safe surroundings of the minibus a crowd of people circelled around us like vultures around a dead animal. It was awful. I was a bit under pressure anyway as I wanted to meet Julia in the Skygarden at 9 and I didn't even know where it was. We started looking for a place to stay and just after 9 we found a clean place with a comfy bed. After a quick shower we went to the Skygarden - a massive building with 5 floors and different bars and clubs inside. We had a look around and couldn't find her so we went to a place with Internet and she had sent me a message with the confirmation that she would come. As it was just around the corner we went back and walked around and around. I saw someone who kind of reminded me of her but I was not too sure and I didn't want to talk to strangers and make a complete fool out of myself so we left at around 11 to get some food and I sent her a message to tell her that I couldn't find her and we should give it another go the next day. We then sat down in a little warung and ordered familiar dishes that we normally really liked, but unfortunartely they were not really nice at all. At around midnight we fell into bed and were asleep in no time.

Today in the morning we were woken up by the lovely sound of powertools and hammering. We sat down in front of our room for breakfast and we heard a child screaming like it would be in huge pain - but it wasn't, it was just throwing a massive temper. After knowing that no one tried to murder the child I went for a little stroll around the streets. It was horrible as every 2 meters someone tried to sell me something or offered me some kind of transport. I quickly checked online for a message from Julia and so I found out that she thought I had meant to meet up today. That really did explain why we were walking around and couldn't find her. I was even more pleased that I didn't talk to the random girl as this would have been so embarrassing.

Afterwards we set off for a walk around Kuta what was like running the gauntlet. Streetsellers, taxi drivers, massage places etc everywhere and they are so persistent and stressful. It really is a nightmare. We eventually found some bookshops and exchanged our books and now we are chilling out in the room to escape all the hawkers out there. Tonight we'll try to meet Julia again, I hope it works out this time and tomorrow we are off to Bangkok. I am so excited to be back there soon.

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