Bali in Korean means hurry so it’s kind of funny that Bali,
Indonesia is a slow paced kind of place! It has been a nice change and I’m
slowly but surely adjusting to this pace. There is still part of me that thinks
I’ve only got a few days left and will have to return to work but I don’t… I’m
totally free. I have no schedule, no duties, no 9-5 business going on at all in
my present situation, a girl could definitely get used to this!
I left Korea on a late flight bound for Kuala Lumpur where I
had a 5-hour layover. 5 hours of staring at my computer screen begging the time
to go faster! At 9:30am I boarded a flight to Denpasar, Bali. I had to get a
visa on arrival and had prepared myself for a long wait but securing the visa
was a matter of putting my money on the counter and taking the slicker to the
customs agent who stuck it in my passport and waved me through! Waiting in the
No Goods to Declare line was a whole other story. It was muggy and busy and a
bit pointless. After that it was off to Kuta and Poppies Lane II to meet up
with the girls.
Kuta is insane. It’s a total party town. Most of the people
there were surfers up from Australia and very pushy locals attempting to sell
us their wares. The 5 of us couldn’t wait to head somewhere less inhabited and
in your face. The beach is less than pleasant with large amounts of garbage
washing up on shore when the tide goes out. Not to mention a local coming up
every 4 minutes to try and sell everything from sarongs, messages and surf
lessons. It wasn’t a relaxing or an inspiring place so up to Ubud we went. Ubud
is where the love in Eat, Pray, Love took place and there were plenty of people
looking for the answers on how to love themselves. I have a feeling it was
easier to do this before the book came out!
The 5 of us however did not travel to Ubud to find ourselves;
in fact I think we are trying to lose ourselves a bit while on this trip! We
went for the monkeys! Ubud is home to The Monkey Forest Sanctuary, a lush
forest, home to temples, ancient trees and hundreds of pretty cheeky
long-tailed Balinese macaques. It was a breathtaking place like a scene
out of Indiana Jones. We all escaped the forest without having a run-in
with any of the locals but witnessed others who weren’t quite as lucky. All of
us did have some close calls but it’s hard to blame the little guys I mean I’d
get grumpy too if people were sticking camera’s in my face all day!
While Ubud was nice it was a bit above our budget so we
arranged for a car to drive us to the east coast area known as Amed. The drive
was stunning. Rice terraces made up most of the landscape with impossibly green
mountains rising into the clouds behind them. The roads were narrow and winding
but drivers here seem to have a good head on their shoulders!
We are now at the Sama Sama Bungalows across the road from a
black sand beach lounging in a bit of luxury! Despite being above our budget at
$6 a person this place is pretty worth it! I have a feeling that it would cost
much much more elsewhere!
We snorkelled the US warship Liberty which was sunk in WWII
today and it was brilliant! Very eerie but amazing nonetheless! My favourite
part was definitely getting caught up in a large school of circling Jack Fish!
Magic!
Tomorrow we're off to Lombok!
We are not in a location that will be affected by the Japanese
earthquake.
