bali

this was my third visit to bali....the way i arrived was totally different from my other visits...this time i took the ferry from java....from the town of ketapan to the town of gilimanuk...it's a pretty quick ferry ride, less than an hour...i sat in a room that had a no smoking sign, but this is indonesia, where NOTHING is non smoking...within 5 minutes of me sitting in that room, i counted at least 10 men lighting up...i might as well take up smoking, for all the second hand smoke i've inhaled in this country...
the ferry arrived at gilimanuk, which is really nothing but a transit point...there is a bus station right next to the ferry station, so i headed that way, and only had to wait 1.5 hours for a bus to denpasar...of course while i was waiting, people tried to convince me to hire private transport, or to pay for the rest of the mini bus so it could leave immediately...i didn't, i'm cheap...i ended up arriving at a bus station in denpasar (the capital of the island) at 2 in the morning...not exactly the optimum time to arrive anywhere...i checked out the hotels near the bus station, but they were all full...so lucky me got to sleep at the bus station, which wasn't nearly as bad as i expected...early morning arrived, and i took a bemo to kuta, one of the best known beach towns...
kuta is crowded...very very crowded...bali has well and truly recovered from the bombings of 2002 and 2005...(it remains to be seen whether this year's bombing in jakarta will affect tourism over the rest of the country)...i arrived to find the town considerably more crowded than it was the last two times i visited...this time i had a much more difficult time finding a place to stay...i walked around to place after place after place, only to find places that were full, or WAY out of my budget range...i started to poke my head through every open gate, some were house compounds, some were temple entrances, and some were hotels...it was by doing this that i stumbled into the place i ended up staying...it was a bit dark, but i was getting desperate...and i got lucky...very very very lucky...it was cheap, and perfectly adequate...WOO HOO!!! kuta is crazy full, and each day i was there, i heard the hotel people tell lots of people that they were full...
kuta is in no way representative of indonesia...at all...it's a beach town, and a touristy one at that...on the beach there are no locals, unless you count the numerous vendors, surf instructors, massage ladies, etc...the beach is filled with tourists, in bikinis, boardies, etc...a few european men in speedos, older ladies in bikinis with skin WAY darker than can possibly be healthy...lots of backpackers...the area where people stay is filled with shops where you can buy everything you don't want...knickknacks, clothes, postcards, bus/train/plane tickets...there are official stores of various brands, like quicksilver, billabong and roxy...i bought two new bikinis, one of which i needed...the other i just couldn't say no to...there are also lots of knockoff stores...i laughed every time someone tried to tell me their wares were authentic...riiiiiiiiight...i now where authentic gurci sunglasses:)
there are LOTS of spas...i ended up treating myself to a couple foot massages, HEAVEN...it would've been very easy to spend a lot of money pampering myself...
i spent my days laying out on the beach...soaking up sun...(yes, i wore suncream AND covered my face)...occasionally cooling off in the water...the waves were good for surfing, at least it seemed that way from the number of people out there surfing...or trying to surf...or trying to learn to surf...lots of people seemed to think they could teach themselves to surf, which was entertaining for me to watch...hee hee...(i'm mean, i know, but it's funny to watch people wipe out)...watching all the people on the beach was also entertaining...some people really need to choose different beach attire...
i flew out of bali at 6 in the morning, which required getting to the airport at 4...not fun...but easy, and probably the least crowded i felt the entire time i was there!