Trains, Planes, and Automobiles, and New Year 1927.

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Well I was supposed to be starting my South East Asia travels again but as I had blown so much moolah in Australia and New Zealand and also suffered from the lack of mellow warm water surf there was only one solution… to head back to Bali for a couple of weeks.
So after landing in Singapore I caught the MRT into the city centre, yomped to the Malaysian Railway Station, which is very unreal as it is really like leaving one country and going into another just by stepping into the station, before catching the train to Kuala Lumpur. I stayed in KL for a couple of days and did the main sites, the Petronas Towers and the Menaras tower where I did the whole lunch in the revolving restaurant again (more extreme eating) and then caught a cheap no frills flight to my current location of Bali.
As I have already written about Bali I will probably not post anymore while I’m here but I will report on the New Year ‘festivities’ that I encountered once I got here.
So on the flight over I met this guy whose visit was his first to Indonesia and Bali in particular so I was giving him the full lowdown from my previous travels (‘yeah I know it all mate’). He then informs me that apparently the following day is the Balinese New Year’s Eve (for the New Hindu Year 1927) and that everyone would be confined to their hotel, ‘no way’ I said, ‘have you seen how many tourist there are in Kuta, plus it’s the party centre of the island, no not a chance, its just not happening’. (You know it is really great when you get it totally and utterly wrong, it sort of gives your ego the kick in the snadgers it so readily deserves every now and then). Sure enough we landed at around 9pm and the taxi I caught had to stop the other side of Kuta as the New Year’s Eve procession had blocked the centre of town which resulted me and all of my stuff yomping along the beach for a couple of miles to get to my hotel. When I got there they confirmed the fact that I was not allowed out of the place the next day which was a bit of a bugger as I had no food or water, most of the shops were closed, and they had even turned off all of the ATMs. So there I was on New Year’s Eve 1926 (I do like saying that) confined to the hotel with everyone else and also respecting the occasion by not using any lights after sunset. Apparently the whole lay low and no lights vibe is to stop any evil spirits from being enticed into your home and I for one am all for that, and all in all it was a pretty novel way to spend New Year although I will probably avoid repeating it in the future.

Oh yeah, as this trip has been about surfing I must just add that two days ago I surfed (and survived) Ulu Watu which is the most famous surf spot on this one of the most famous surf Islands in the world, admittedly it was a smaller than usual surf but I did it never the less... right I'm off to buy the t-shirt now.

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Photos

The Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur
The tallest building(s) in the world, and their shape is a reflection of the atomic structure of gasoline... which is nice.

The Menaras Tower in KL
Had lunch in the revolving restaurant and they do the best apple crumble ever.

Float for Balinese New Year 1927
One of the Balinese New Year's Eve floats with (I think) the Barong (good spirit) giving the tiger a good kicking.