Bali, Indonesia

Flying in Depensar you can see the waves crashing at Airport lefts and rights, an excellent prediction of some good surfing opportunities. When we finally deplaned we were checked by sniffer dogs (Indonesia is strongly anti-drugs, and simple drug smuggling can result in life imprisionment) and then enterered the line to purchase our visas, $25 for 30 days. When we got out of the airport we were met by a gaggle of taksi, as the Balinese spell it, drivers and for only $20 USD we were given a ride to Nusa Dua. Let's just say it was not the most economical ride, as we later hired a car and driver for the day for about the same amount. We finally settled on a hotel recommended by Blair Cooper, the Puri Tanjung. It was a beautiful spot with bungalows set in a beautiful garden, we however were not able haggle enough to score one of those rooms. Anyway after a swim in the pool we ate a great Indonesian meal and then headed into Kuta for the evening.

Kuta is more know for the terrorist bombing in 2002. When asking the locals around the hotel about the threat of terrorist, they are pretty non-chalant, and claim it is the "angry Muslims, who are jealous of the Balinese" who are 98% Hindu rather than the rest of Indonesia who are 98% Muslim, other than that they completely down play the threat. Kuta is similar to Faliraki, Greece and Jaco, Costa Rica, a busy beach with many hagglers, and shops. At nighttime in Kuta it's a clubbers dream, and walking along Poppies, or Legian, we were subjected to many drug solitations, paranoid of undercover cops we steered clear. The next day we rented a moto and toured around the fancy hotels of Nusa Dua, and then headed to check out the surf of Kuta Beach. Since it was low tide and it was closing out we opted to come back later and check out the ways.

The next day we headed to the temples of Uluwatu, and checked out the beautiful and all the monkeys, it was quite a sight but Dave forgot the camera so we decided to re-visit one evening for the sunset. As it turns out, we left a little late and caught the tail end of the sunset, it wasn't the most enjoyable ride as Dave was racing fast after a short detour (we went the wrong way for 5 minutes). Sometime during the first few days Steph got really badly sun burned (she maintains she was wearing sunscreen and that she doesn't burn) however the blisters and trip to the doctor for some burn cream taught her to over apply and stay out of the sun. To take a break from the sun we hired a car and driver from the Grand Mirage hotel, Widi our driver, was a few years older than us so we had a great drive to Ubud. Widi said we were much different than his usual fares, we talked to him, and Dave sat in the front, we also had him eat lunch with us, as he said usually he hangs out with the rest of the drivers like good servants. He said that usually the people sit in the back and bark orders at him, not really our style. Ubud was a great town, we checked out the monkey preserve and walked through the Balinese jungle, luckily we saw no snakes.

Bali was even cheaper than Bangkok, though the selection was limited to handy crafts and knock off stuff. We were able to bargain a lot harder there. I don't know if you'd feel bad about paying so little for something when you know the person selling it was making a pittance? The DVD's ('we were told they were real'...) were about $1 / DVD in Bali, whereas they are about $2 in Cambodia and $3 in Thailand. If you think about it... they are half the price in Bali than in Cambodia. The weird thing is you cannot bargain with DVDs really, unless you're buying a bunch (which we did) but they throw in a free one or two if you buy 10 anyways and everywhere are they seem to be the same price. (in Bali they threw in 5 free when you buy 10 so they're even cheaper!) You can get virtually any well known movie too. No ski movies anywhere unfortunately, just surf movies in Bali. I guess they're not exposed to what skiing is... or have never heard of it. The topic didn't really come up with locals. Just the fact that it is cold in Canada. We tried to educate them that Vancouver is moderate and not cold. Really nice to live in. Bali in general is very cheap, though there are very expensive parts too (Kuta shopping centre).

Dave also checked out some furniture in Bali and though it was really nice, well made and fairly inexpensive. He wasn't impressed at all in Thailand by the quality, design or prices. He thinks it would be a great business to get into, plus business trips to Bali could always be arranged. There is excellent potential for furniture importing from Bali and Dave thinks it could be something he is seriously considering doing.

The people in Bali seem very poor, however where we were, it was infested with tourism so we couldn't really get away from it. We imagine that the rest of Indonesia is also very poor too, more like the less touristy parts of Bali. On another note, the majority of people we encountered were happy despite their way of life. Food was really good there and cheap too. Later in the week we headed to Dreamland, which as it sounds, was a dreamland. White sand beaches, crystal blue water and hardly and hagglers, overall it was great way to spend a day.

Overall Bali set the bar high for the rest of our holiday, it was such an amazing and beautiful place. If you're thinking of going to Bali, you could enjoy yourself staying in big fancy resort, however we think that you would miss on the culture, the people and the food that you get when mixing with the locals. It is very interesting to hear their stories, how they live, culturaly, religiously etc...

Steph perhaps might have mentioned our "brushes with the law" in Bali, we will now give an account of the four times we met the long arm of the law. 1) We were stopped for stopping in the cross walk, which according to the cop, led him to pull us over and then he discovered (quelle surprise!) we didn't have an international license. We were told to follow him back to the police office, which we did, after about five minutes he stopped us again and said the office was "too busy" and he could make the problem go away for a few rupiat, right. 2) Dave went with Putu (the moto owner) and informed the cops of his "lost" international license, no problem again, just pay a small fee and problem solved. 3) Dave pulled over after returning from a morning surf, cop satisfied with license, and no reason given for pulling him over; just a 'routine check' trying to get some money out of a whitey. 4) Dave and Steph pulled over for "parking" on the highway, what actually happened is we were in the wrong lane and attempting to correct. All we say is, when in Bali, watch out for the coppers. The other amusing part about Bali is everyone claims to know someone who can help you out, want to go scuba diving? I know someone who can take you or I have a cousin who can take you. It's pretty funny but after awhile it wears thin. The Balinese however are legendary for their hospitality, and rightly so, they are kind and generous people.

Things not to do in Bali.

Get a bad sunburn so you can't enjoy the beaches.
Pay $20 for a taxi at the airport.
Stay at a 5 star resort, where you don't really experience Bali.
Stay in your room or just hang out at the resort for the entire time.
Drive without a License. (or get an International one before hand)
Don't buy DVD's for $1 cause it's against the law.
Don't drown in the surf.

Things not to miss out on.

The great surf. Don't stick to one spot. Move around
The excellent deals on goods in the markets. Haggle Hard!
Trip to Ubud and the monkey Forest. Don't touch the monkeys!
Renting a scooter/moto and trying to drive in the crazy traffic.
A boat trip to do some snorkling, surfing in a remote area.
Visit Uluwatu temples at Sunset
Don't go to Bali for anything less than a week.

And that is all for now folks.