Blogs from Padangbai, Bali, Indonesia, Asia - page 2

We arrive into Bali late and jump in our taxi to Padang Bai, which is a small fishing village on the east coast of Bali. First impressions are similar to that of all non-western cities, crazy traffic and a lot of beeping horns, it’s hot and humid and the taxi provides some welcome air conditioning. The hostel is up a big flight of stairs; James and I pretty much crash when we reach our fan cooled room. In the morning we walk out onto the veranda to check out the view and it is stunning. Our first taste of Asian scenery and it does not disappoint the bluey green ocean on one side with rolling hills of tropical forest on the other. We head out to explore and quickly get lost finding ourselves walking precariously on ... read more

We return to Bali via Perama boat to follow the journey in bus infected of mosquitos towards PadangBai. PadangBai is a small fishing town in the south of Bali connecting Bali to Lombok with the main public ferry. It sits on a small bay with 2 main beaches: white Sand and Blue Lagoon. We sayed at Celagi Inn - referred by our friend Jury whom we met at Swara. Indeed the hotel is runned by a very sweet family: Made and Ilo, and there 3 kids: Poutou, Krishna and Bartez. Mostly Made and his employee Ketut have assisted us in our requests and have been very helpful. There we met a lovely french couple: Matthieu and Krystelle from Brittany and also had a nice discussion with a Japanese couple. It is so nice to be able ... read more

Wow its been a while and things have been busy so this may be quite long!!! I’m currently sat in a small ferry port on Bali which I have so far visited 3 times already, heading back to Lombok tomorrow in an attempt to cross 2 islands in the shortest time possible to reach Flores but more of that later. So Bali is interesting, very busy and full of traffic and tourists (it being peak season). But the people are lovely, the temples very sweet and religion very strong here. After Luke left me in Kula Lumpar my whole plan for Bali (having done no research) was get on the plane, read the lonely planet whilst on the plane, find someone else at Bali airport on their own and do whatever they were doing. Well this ... read more

So, Tiger Airways. I know this sounds like the start of a previous blog entry. Unfortunately, this is a new one with the same beginning. So, after Alex and Steve came to our rescue following the incident that will not be discussed, by putting us up for two weeks and spoiling us in Alex's case and mocking us, in Steve's, they topped it off by offering to drive us to the airport. Steve and I had shot a lot of nails into a lot of wood, and so it was decided that we would reach the airport via deck-almost-finished-cigars at Max Brenners. No chocolate pizzas this time but some hot chocolates and a cigar each for me and Steve, the master deckbuilders. We arrived at Melbourne airport in good time to catch our flight to Perth. ... read more

Bali is several thousands of miles and several centuries away from Australia. It is a mystical island which is deeply infused with the Hindu religion touching every aspect of Balinese life. To us, it is one of the few countries which has been able to maintain its spiritual traditions and way of life in spite of the world wide rush to modernity. We haven't been to the big tourist cities in Bali which are probably like any third world urban areas filled with cars and noise and high-rise buildings. Our ship drops anchor in Padang Bai. This is a rural part of Bali where there are as many temples as there are homes. The hillsides are covered with terraced rice paddies and tropical flora. There is currently a popular movie/book entitled "Eat, Pray, Love." The last ... read more