30th July 2012 Bali - Exchange Rate 15,000rups = 1 pound (roughly!)
Our flight arrives on time in Bali, around 7.30p.m. We haven't been told (or didn't read anywhere) that you need to pay $25us per person to enter. We try to get some cash out of ATM but neither of our cards would work. They will accept visa, but they charge us an extra 3%! Nevermind, we are in, with our 30 day visa, we would have liked longer, apparently we can apply to extend it for another 30 days,(at a cost probably!) so we will see how we go.
We are staying at the Sumudra Homestay in Kuta. Kuta is the main town, which is quite close to the airport. We are very happy with our room (I think we paid 24 pound for the night). It is new and is run by a really nice and friendly family, and is about a 5 minute walk from the beach.
Kuta is really busy, bikes everywhere and people selling there goods, it reminds us a lot of India. We have a walk up the road to get a drink and are suprised to see that a lot of places are closing,(it's around 10.30). We manage to get a drink in a nice bar and the prices reflect this. Everyone has told us how cheap Bali is, well my bacardi and coke cost around 5 pound! Well pissed off!!
The next morning we just have a wonder and get our bearings. The beach is okay, but there are not many sunbeds on it. We were expecting it to have lots of shacks along it, instead you get lots of very expensive hotels.
The roads are dirty and the pavements are a death trap, really uneven with massive bits missing here and there! You daren't take your eyes off where you are putting your feet!
We have a really good lunch in a restaurant near by. It is really tasty and costs around.... now this is the interesting thing, my meal was 62,000rps and Matt's was 58,000 the thing is they add 21% tax!!
The family that run the Sumudra are great. They live within the grounds which they are very proud of, Ketut the owner shows us around and his wife seems to sit all day making little baskets out of leaves for their 'offerings'!
We start to plan our next move to Ubud. The description in the Lonely planet say's 'Perched on the gentle slopes leading to the central mountains.... It's not suprising that many people come to Ubud for a day or 2 and stay longer drawn to it's rich culture."
We hire a car with driver for the day, so we can see some of the sights en-route to Ubud, we stop off at a few temples and have lunch overlooking a volcano and lake, it is very beautiful, unlike our expensive 100,000rps luke warm buffet lunch! (We think the drivers must get a free lunch, if they take their passengers here!)
The scenery is lovely, rice paddy fields, mountains, monkeys in the road, pot-holes, crazy drivers, litter - not at all like the brochures you see!
Ubud..... the next story!
