Almost a month already on Bali, Indonesia

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Dear friends!

Sorry for not informing you for so long, but I have been doing great over here! And that is also the reason why I had no time to update you, guys!

On my way from Bangkok to Bali I made a 4 day stop at Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Me and Anete spent great time exploring the city and visiting such world famous attractions as Petronas Twin Towers, the highest twin towers in the world! I will attach the photos with a separate blog entry later on.

Here on Bali we are staying in a hotel with the whole group (almost 60 students), so our beds are made every day, fresh towels and clean floors - I will get lazy! :D We have a swimming pool, but the internet is very bad - really slow connection (if it is working at all...). So uploading something is a mission impossible, that is why it took me so long to show some pictures to you! The location of the hotel is good, in south of Bali, 3 minutes from the beach and 15 minutes from Kuta - the party place to be in Asia! Crowded with surfer dudes and chicks. I personally prefer to go to bed earlier in order to wake up at 7 and go surfing, but sometimes it is also nice to go out in Kuta with friends.

We spend our days surfing and visiting beaches around the area. And, of course, we go to university! In the evening we go to restaurants, because there are no cooking possibilities at the hotel, again, same like in Thailand, really getting used to visiting a restaurant each night! I prefer Thai food, but Indonesian is also ok, there are some similarities, of course. I miss the Thai spiciness. A few days ago we discovered a very nice Italian restaurant, don't know why, but there are really a lot of Italian places! I haven't met any Italian tourists though! This was maybe the 2nd or 3rd time since I am in Asia and ordering European food - I really like to try the local flavors! Many seafood restaurants on the beach; you can also see it on 2 of the pictures - one evening we had dinner on Jimbaran beach - grilled lobster, prawns, fish, crab and some shells. Great!

Last weekend we went to Lembongan island with a group of 17 people, rented a speedboat to bring us there, took like 40 minutes. Hotel was very basic, but the price was very good, just 4 Euros per person per night! And the location was perfect, right in front of the ocean with a private access, restaurant with good food. On Saturday we went snorkeling and drove around with scooters the whole afternoon until the sun went down. When arriving back, a fisherman living next to the hotel had already arranged fresh caught seafood dinner for 8 persons - huge grilled and hot smoked Jacket fishes, rice and nice sauces, salads and fruits. Perfect day!

Hmm, what else can I tell... Ohh, most of the students have rented a scooter, me too, because that is the fastest and cheapest way of transport here. Cars are all standing in traffic jams while we can just sneak trough them. Most of the locals have scooters as well, so streets are really busy and crowded! It is a lot of fun, I enjoy it, only during rush hours it is pretty stressful, streets are CRAZY full of scooters and cars! I am so used to driving on the left side that when I watch an American movie, I am freaking out why are those people driving on the wrong side of the street! :o Will have to adapt back to Europe in August!

The currency they use here is Rupiah, 10000 Rupiah is 0.80 Eur, so when I went to the ATM to get money for the first time, I left with 3 millions and a verrrrry full wallet! Your dinner costs approximately 100000 (hundred thousand) so have to be careful with counting the zeros each time!


Hope you know at least a little bit how I am doing now! Promise to write shortly soon again 😊
Kisses,
Ilze

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Comments

[Family Martens]

Nice to hear from you again!
Hello Ilze, We are glad that we can read again from you. Good luck on Bali and we are following you during the rest of the trip. Greetings from Bakel!