When my thirty something body told me "I'm too old for this!"

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The thing about traveling that I hate the most is getting scammed. It's one of the reasons why I've been avoiding traveling in Southeast Asia. That and because we have the same weather, same flora, same looking people, same developing country status except for Singapore, they're so near and easy to get to so I can go anytime, etc.

But I've been putting it off long enough so this year I will be traveling in Southeast Asia and in my own country. Conde Nast listed three Philippine islands in their best islands in the world list and I've never been to any of them! When people tell me they're from Germany I fully expect them to have travelled to most of the countries in Western Europe. I figured I should hold myself to the same standard. There's only ten Southeast Asian countries anyway so It shouldn't be difficult. I'm not counting East Timor yet since they're not yet a member of ASEAN and frankly there doesn't seem to be anything to see there.

First thing I did upon landing was get money from the ATM. It was fascinating to have millions in your hands to spend for just a few days! Although it really was just about $300. But still, I was a millionaire! First mistake happened in the airport. I bought a sim card with 8 gig data worth about $25 which I was later told by a local was too much. And nobody needs 8 gig of data for just one week! But I found myself posting lots of photos on Instagram because I was alone and wanted to share my experience right when I was feeling those feelings I wanted to share. Though I didn't want to post too much because I know that's annoying. So I posted one or two per day.

I was determined not to get scammed by the taxi mafia in the airport. I found the bus terminal but there was no bus yet. A taxi tout followed me to the bus terminal and waited for me to give up. No sir not this guy! Not falling for it. You can go!

Eventually the bus arrived. I didn't know exactly where to go so I just got off once it looked like we were in the city then I booked an uber. Check in time was 2pm at the hostel which was still hours away so I decided to go to church and spend time with my Indonesian brothers and sisters. I got invited to the potluck lunch as expected. Free food! Lots of food. Attending church has been a great way for me to connect with locals anywhere and eat lots of local home made dishes, for free. I got to talking to some of them and they were very friendly. I met a lady who went to the same university that I went to In Manila. And an American Indonesian from Loma Linda California who hung out with mostly Filipinos because there weren't a lot of Indonesians in his town and he looked Filipino of course. There are even similarities in our language I discovered when I read some street signs and asked my driver. Like body parts and vegetable names. Usually with only one letter difference. We are one race after all.

Getting around Bali was a lot more difficult than I expected. There was no shared public transportation. Local taxi and motorcycle drivers harassed Uber drivers as they were competition who threatened their livelihood. My uber driver told me about some violent confrontations.

I was supposed to meet this guy from couch surfing. He offered to show me around but he made some last minute excuse so I just walked around the beach and the surrounds.

I wasn't very impressed with Kuta beach. But I already knew that I wouldn't be based on the blogs that I've read and from the accounts of my friends who went. I didn't go to Bali for the beach anyway. I just wanted to see the architecture and local culture, and food. I've just recently discovered Indonesian food and it's my current favorite. Plus I've heard about the vegetarian restaurants in Ubud and that got me excited. And I wasn't disappointed! My favorite is Gado Gado. It's a vegetable salad with peanut sauce. The waves in Bali are great for surfing. They were almost as big as the waves in the surf spots in the west coast of the States only the water was warm enough for you to actually enjoy swimming in. But if you don't surf, beaches in the Philippines are much better.

I considered renting a motorcycle but it didn't seem safe given the traffic and my lack of experience in driving motorcycles. So I rented a car with a driver to take me around. It only cost about $60 for ten hours which is cheap compared to what it would cost in Manila but it was still a lot if I had no one to share it with. My driver took me to a cultural dance show but when I saw that it cost $17 I called him to take me to the next place. I'm not a fan of cultural dances and I have very high standards when it comes to dance. I just saw a show by the National Ballet of China the night before I flew to Bali and it was marvelous. Pretty much any cultural dance will be disappointing after that.

I made friends with the other travelers in my hostel and made plans with them. That brought the cost of hiring a car much lower. They haven't been able to get around much either because it was expensive to ride cabs on your own all the time. I hit it off with a Canadian and an American girl who were both traveling solo. The American girl was such a funny character and the pretty Canadian was kinda bitchy sometimes. But she's a hot blonde so I let it slide. They were the ones I traveled with the most. Then there were the European guys who were cool and very laid back but were a bit lazy and spent days doing nothing in the hostel so I mostly only got to hang out with them at night when we go to dinner and drink or party in a club.

At one point we decided the drinks in the bar were too expensive so we went to a corner store to buy drinks and brought the party to the streets. Drug dealers started approaching us and I felt uncomfortable. Malaysian girl lost her inhibitions and suggested we have drinking games. She suggested body shots and blow job shots. That shut us up. I was thinking "Really girl? We are out on the streets. As much as I'd appreciate a good head I don't want to whip it out here!" Then I realized I'm too old to be drinking out in the streets with twenty somethings where we get approached by drug dealers.

I told them I was tired and calling it a night so I couldn't join them dancing in the club 'til morning anymore. Then Malaysia said she'll come with me. The guys teased "Ya know what she wants!" We were roomates in a twelve bed hostel room. What was she thinking? Those privacy curtains in our pods can only do so much. The communal showers that also only had curtains would offer more privacy when you turn on the shower I reckoned. I still couldn't help thinking where it would be possible. She had three beers so she could not have been that drunk. I didn't say anything as I thought of a way out. I didn't think it would look good for either of us if I said no. So I lingered and then later said I'll join them in the club. Luckily the bouncer wouldn't let me in because I was wearing a tank top. So I got away.

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Photos

Tegal wangi with Sarah and Camille
We had this beach all to ourselves. It was beautiful but the waves were too big to swim in.

Comments

[Ake Och Emma]

Thanks for bringing back memories
I went to Bali in 2002 and I had a fabulous time there. Thanks for bringing back some memories. It was before we started this blog so we haven't written about that. Maybe I will some day get around to post a blog myself from that trip. /Ake

[Josevich]

Memories of Bali
It is difficult not to have fun in Bali. Seems to attract some of the most fun loving people from all over the world. Or maybe it was the atmosphere that made us that way ?