Advertisement
Published: November 11th 2007
It's pretty fair to say we both like Bali. For one thing it's very, very cheap here. We thought Thailand was cheap but Bali is even cheaper.
So far on our travels we have stayed in some 'average accommodation' but in Bali we have struck lucky. We are staying in a resort (booked through a hostel website) that is almost 5 star. We have a huge air conditioned room with a decent sized bathroom and our own balcony overlooking the pool, gardens and sunset over Kuta beach. The resort is more famous locally for being a spa so we took advantage of this and had a balinese massage each... what an experience!
The Balinese people are really friendly and cannot do enough to help, unfortunately for every ten helpful people there is one that rips you off as we have found to our cost with the local taxi drivers. Still you live and learn! What is quite amusing and also annoying at times is the way you are surrounded when you arrive at the beach. It would be no exageration to say we have had at least five locals at a time around us trying to sell eveything from
surfboards to sunglasses.
We have even made a few Indonesian friends out here who have given us an insight into their lives. Its quite humbling to speak with them and realise the opportunities we have and take for granted (a waiter over here earns around 30 pounds per month). We were taken for a 'meal' one night to a Warung (street stall) where we ate hard bolied egg, chicken and noodles. I dont think the food hygiene inspectors would have liked it! We have some email addresses and hope to stay in touch with people who we spent time with.
Whilst here we visited the 'waterbom' water park, home to over 1km of water slides. We tried every one, some were a bit scary! Although it was a little expensive by Bali standards, we still had a great time.
As the title of this blog entry suggests, Bali is a surfers paradise with some world famous beaches and waves. The island is a magnet for surfers and is home to every kind of surf shop/brand there is. So where better for Vicki to try surfing? We enrolled in the Billabong surf school and took to the waves.
The instructors here are really good and within half an hour Vicki was catching waves and standing up on the board!
We didn't manage to get any photo's of us actually surfing for various reasons (mainly the security of our belongings on the beach unattended) but we hope to take some at Fiji in a few weeks time.
The nightlife here in Bali is really good and laid back. Since our detox in Singapore we have enjoyed late night drinking and partying! It would seem that Bali is now well back on its feet after the bombing in 2002, nightclubs are packed although security is tight everywhere. We both went to the nightclub that was bombed (its now rebuilt about 100 yards up the road) and had a brilliant night. The memorial to those killed is right in the heart of Kuta and still has photos and flowers nearby, to read all the names of the people killed is a very sobering moment, there were 23 English amongst them.
Before we got to Bali we were warned by some Australians to watch out for the monkeys in Bali as they will steal from you. We took this
with a pinch of salt as we have seen a lot of monkeys in Thailand, most of which will come to you for food then run away. Anyway it turns out they were right. We witnessed a girl have her earing pulled out when a money jumped on her head and then made off. After speaking with local people they suggested the monkeys were trained to do so. If you're in Bali be warned!
Later today we are leaving Bali and heading to Sydney, Australia. We are both looking forward lower humidity and less insect bites!
Paul & Vicki x
Advertisement
Tot: 0.058s; Tpl: 0.011s; cc: 7; qc: 45; dbt: 0.0339s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
sean the one jobson
non-member comment
hey dudes !!!!!
well hello again u 2 !! not much going on over here its cold but thats about it and i am the best shot this side of 96 countys ha well glad u both are having fun because its not long now till u come back to the real world so get ready 2 put them shorts back in the wardrobe and put some jumpers on any ways u take care of paul vic u no how soft he is and watch what yous are doing take care and talk soon dudes sean the dude jobson