I spent 6 days in the main tourist area in Bali, Kuta Beach. The reason I spent this long was to recover from my cold (I got some medicine from a pharmacist wich helped clear my chest conjestion after a few days). My days were mostly broken up, since Paul sleeps late, works (poker player on the internet) for a few hours, and so isn't usually free until the afternoon. Hence I usually spent the morning at the beach and the afternoon with paul. I spent 3 days at the first hotel, and then moved to a better and cheaper hotel close to legion Beach (Bali Coconut), which is nicer and you get hasseled less. After a very good massage the first day, the massages were bad after that and I soon gave up on them (especially the one on the beach, I was covered with sand and paying 2 different people $4/hour for a back and foot massage, both were bad, and even hurt due to the sandpaper action. Tempting as a massage on the beach sounds, skip it....) My main activity was to try to learn how to surf. So I paid this guy on the beach 200,000 rupiah ($17) for a 2 day lesson. Well My first 3 hours, I could not stand up at all. Eventually he switched to a lighter board and I managed to stand up a few times, but soon fell over each time. Probably I am just the worlds worst surfer but maybe he was the world's worst instructor. Oh well. I think I need to get a pro to teach me, unless one of my friends wants to (Jason, are you listening?) In any case, the waves were great on Kuta, and my ribs got battered, and I did get a good workout.
Kuta has lots of places to eat. The cheaper places are mostly tucked in the small side alleys, and the "expensive" places are mostly on the beach. Fresh squeezed juice was cheap and great, ranging from about 6000-15000 rupiah ($0.50-$1.25). I especially loved the bannana juice (like a milkshake!) The food had one thing in common, it was all bad. The expensive places were decent (but not great), but the cheap places were terrible. Curry was basically used to cover up the fact that the fish died last month... Oh well. Sadly I really like Indonesian food in the US (and when I cook it) and in Amsterdam.
The other thing to note is the balinese when they are not selling anything (or after they tried selling you stuff) are really friendly. There also is almost a magic to their smiles. It seems so warm and genuine. So that was nice. The hawkers also remember your name and greet you the next day, and at least the smart ones stop bugging you.
I also think Kuta might be much nicer if you stay at a swanky place, or if you stay at a very cheap place (where you meet more single travelers). As I was staying at an in between place, it had neither advantage.
Anyway, I had plans with Paul and his family to head to Ubud in the center of Bali and then to a beach up north on thursday evening for a long weekend. I was looking forward to escaping from Kuta and seeing the real bali. I also managed to score a $40 flight from Bali to Jogjakarta for the next week, so I was looking forward to that. Finally, I planned on visiting Lombok (the next Island over from Bali in Indonesia) but I was not sure yet how I was going to get there, since information about Lombok is hard to get on Bali (they don't want you to leave Bali...)
