On The Mass Tourism Trail In Bali

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From Kuta Lombok it was only an hour by car and then 4 hours on the ferry before arriving in Padang Bai, Bali. I had a little trouble finding a reasonably priced room because August is high season and the locals try to make the most of it by putting prices right up. I settled on a basic room with breakfast for $11 a night. I met a lovely Italian girl called Cinzia at my hotel and in the evening we decided to eat at a little local warung. We both ordered fish with rice and vegetables but were very surprised when we received a plate containing two halves of a very large fish head. We came to the conclusion that maybe this warung didn't like tourists eating there. The next morning we went snorkeling at Blue Lagoon Bay which turned out to be okay but the water was a little choppy and the visibility wasn't that good. Cinzia wanted to see a black sand beach, so after lunch we took a bemo about 8kms from town to a small resort area along the coast. It didn't have a lot of beach but it was nice to play in the waves or sit in the sand while the seawater washed over us. There was something about the town or layout of Padang Bai that I didn't really enjoy so after 2 nights we decided to go by shuttle bus to Sanur.

The trip only took about an hour and after looking at rooms for a while we decided to share a room and treat ourselves to a swimming pool and hot water. Although being very touristy I quite liked Sanur because it had a very long promenade along the beach, a main street with a good choice of restaurants, and a small night market where you could try a good variety of the local food. The downside was that it didn't have anywhere great to swim. I also really enjoyed watching the locals flying there huge handmade kites from the beach, most in the shape of fish, but we also spotted an impressive octopus. We also rented a jetski for 15 minutes which was a lot of fun for me but not sure how much fun for Cinzia. So after traveling for 5 days together it was time to go our seperate ways, Cinzia to Padang Bai, and I was heading to Kuta to meet Paul, a good mate of mine from Melbourne.

I caught the minibus which took only half an hour and then checked into my hotel room that I had prebooked. Later that afternoon I met up with Paul and we had a look around Kuta and Legian before having a few drinks in the main bar area. The next day I changed hotels due to bedbugs and construction work above me during the day. We pretty much spent the next 3 days lounging on the beach all day watching the surfers and then in the evening going out for a meal and a couple of drinks. I even ended up hiring a surfboard for an hour, and although I was terrible and had no idea what I was doing, I had a lot of fun. On our last day in Kuta we took a taxi south to Padang Padang and walked along the beach to Mingin. Again it was great to watch the surfers and it was a change of scenery with cliffs overlooking the beach. We hopped back in a taxi and headed to the temple at Uluwatu where the scenery was spectacular and the monkeys stole sunglasses and hats from the tourists.

So after 5 days surrounded by hoards of tourists I decided to go more rural and show Paul Amed in eastern Bali. On the first day we went snorkeling at Jemeluk and the following day we hired a motorbike and drove along the coast snorkeling at a couple of spots along the way. After a couple of days Paul headed back to Kuta for his last 2 days in Bali while I stayed an extra day to just relax before going to Ubud. It was great to see someone from home and to catch up with all the news from Melbourne.

It took us about 3 hours to reach Ubud and I was very surprised how busy and large the town has become since I was here last, 10 years ago. The first couple of days I just had a look around town, ran some errands, and visited the monkey forest. Whilst walking along the street I ran into Elise, an Australian girl I had met in Cameron Highlands 2 and a half months earlier who was here for a short holiday with her parents. Small world. On the 3rd day I hired a motorbike and rode to Kintamani for a view of Mount Batur and Lake Batur. As usual I enjoyed just riding around the countryside as much as the tourist sites. The next day was raining so I didn't head out on the motorbike until after lunch. I was actually heading for some rice terraces in the middle of the island but after taking the wrong road and getting caught in drizzle I ended up talking to locals at a little warung(shop) for a couple of hours in a beautiful area not that far north of Ubud, before returning to my homestay in the late afternoon.

Bali may be full of tourists in certain areas but it is not that hard to find the real Bali by just riding a motorbike around. I think the island is very beautiful, the people great, and the culture rich.

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Comments

[samuel kim]

good travel
hi.. This is Sam. Leaving a note and wishing you a good travel. TAKE CARE.