first backpacking trip

So we arrived in Bali!!  Yay for BAli!  It was crazy getting here though.  The airport in Padang looked like a
ghetto version of an airport from the 70s.  Even the printers that printed off your ticket were like the first
printers ever invented.  like the ones following the type writer where you rip off the dotted sides.  Not to
mention the lady not even so much as looking at\
our passports, security not making us take out our liquids from our bag etc.  For such a popular tourist destinat
ion it amazes me the shitty airport bali has as well.  Anyways after looking around a good hour for a quality cheap
hotel we finally found one at the hotel arena. Well let me tell you if i was coming straight from CAnada I| would
be disgusted and probably not stay here but seeing as we were third worlding it in Samatra this little shit hole reall
y looked appealing!  The whole vibe here was so refreshing after staying in a muslim city where everyone stared
at us all the time.  Our first night here we met WilliaM a guy from Holland and his friend from the U.K gram. 
We went for dinner at a place called Havana's and I dont know if it was because I havent had a decent meal in like
a month but it was the best tasting burrito I have ever tasted.  I literally inhaled it.  Although because I eat so
little these days after like half I was full!  But I gorged and finished the whole thing!  Bc we were so tired we
turned in after that.  The next day we got off to a late start due to the time difference.  We basically just hung
out at Kuta Beach and watched everyone surf. Since we had been doing so much travelling and sight seeing we decided
to just lay on the beach.  Well let me tell you I have never seen so many good looking ppl in next to nothing
in my life.  Everyone here looks amazing in their swimsuits and they are all golden goddesses and gods! Stacey and I
feel like the frumpy pale Canadians.  After a day of people watching and applying after sun to our torched skin we
went looking around at some of the shops here.  You can get the best knock off stuff I've seen and its pretty much
like Mexico in that you barter for everything.  Stacey doesnt like the bartering, but for some reason I do I guess
nothing makes me happier than feeling like I'm getting a deal lol.  After that we went for a $12 hot stone massage
with aromatherapy.  It was great the only thing that sucked is the chick kept heating the rocks up too hot and they were
really rough on my skin. Which really sucked cause we had the worst sunburns ever and it felt like she was taking
the first layer off our skin.  I should have told her to stop but I figured since I paid a whole two dollars more
for the hot stones I would just bare it.  Well big mistake the next day when the sun so much as barely touched our
skin it stung.  i havent wrote in a couple days so this will be long.  Stacey and I decided to try surfing. 
I got my lessons from a guy named Reef, seems appropriate.  Although he was a crappy teacher he was really nice and
even though I told him I had a bf was flirting with me all day.  Which was funny cause he was about the size of a
short 15 yr old. We first started out in the beach where he showed me how to get my stance.  Well I Could barely do
it on land and hes like lets go to the water which is why i didnt think he was that good of a teacher plus his
english was only half way decent.  either way i gave it my best and i could only do it on my knees at best.  i told
reef i would pioneer knee surfing but bc his english sucked he just nodded and smiled to humour me.  After a day of
trying to stand up in the water going to the sand and practising my stance I still couldnt get it.  So reef said he would
show me his magic trick.  so that got me all excited, then his magic trick turned out to be slapping my feet which
eventually started to get higher to my legs then when i realized he would probably start going for my but i had to
remind him i have a bf.  So when i couldnt stand on the medium board i was demoted to the big fat banana board. 
for those who know about surfing this is means you suck and you have to look like an idiot trying to surf on this
huge board.  Now I couldnt figure out if it was my lack of balance or if my arms were just too weak to push my body
weight up considering i can barely do a single push up.  STacey didnt go in the water because the salt water killed
her eyes.  I told her she should go atleast once of twice and the bitch gets it her first time.  i figure cause she
is a snow boarder.  she didnt even take lessons!  so i was really jealous.  im sure had her eyes not bothered her
she would have rocked that board all day long.  after a day of failing surfing we strolled around kuta shopping.
the next day we went to ubud.  There we went to these rice fields that go from the ground up kind of like pyramids.
a really neat thing to see since they are usually just flat fields like other crops.  we had lunch on the rice
field terrace which gave a beautiful view of the fields.  you could just sit right on the balcony and look out.  I
mean you have to try the rice when your right next to a rice field. i was expecting it to be amazing and to tell
you the truth i wouldnt be surprised if it was uncle bens.  next we went to the monkey forest which was cool but it
started to rain so all the monkeys pretty much disappeared. but before it rained stacey went to go sit by one of
them ( im convinced she is crazy going up to every creature she sees here and close i might add)  and the
monkey ends up grabbing her boob twice! it was the funniest thing i've ever seen! definately surprised her.  i told it
there is no milk in there hahah.  we got drenched but it was so beautiful it reminded me of the movie ferngully.
the tree trunks looked like a bunch of wire twisted together reaching for the sky.  and there were lots of streams
running between big black rocks.  the sad thing though is when you looked down onto it there was a lot of litter
which im starting to notice the balinese really dont care about their environment. so after that i went to an
internet cafe cause i could have sworn when i read this book eat pray love that the two characters lived in this
town we were in and it turns out they did!  so after tracking down the first one wayan i was very disappointed when
she pretty much brushed me and stacey off and told us to come back another time. by the brand new car in the drive
way im sure she is not roughing it anymore.  we actually wanted to try some traditional balinese healing which is
what she does.  but nope she wouldnt see us.  and now she has a team work on you. where in the book she is portrayed
as this humble lady who goes without to help others.  definately not the case anymore.  so we thought we would
try our luck with ketut my favourite character in the book.  so after asking some locals we finally found him.
we were told he was tired and he couldnt read anyone's palms today but our driver lied and said we were leaving
tomorrow and came from canada so he said he would see us after all!  i wAS SO Excited sitting there i could barely
handle it.  the guy that was waiting ahead of us kept telling us how lucky we were cause there were tons of ppl
turned away.  so finally it was our turn and im listening very attentively as he reads stacey's palm. 
so far he is everything i thought he would be a sweet charming old man.  and he even had on a canada tshirt!  then
its my turn and my smile quickly turned into a frown as he literally gave me the exact same speel he gave stacey
and we were sitting right in front of eachother!!! then charged us 25 us dollars each for like ten mins!  and he
had been doing this all day! so you can imagine especially for bali how much this guy is raking in.  but i was so
disappointed cause in the book it said he was so good.  but i guess hollywood and money got to him.  supposedly
they were filming for the movie eat pray love recently.  julia roberts is playing the lead character and when you
go into wayans store you can see a pic of her in there and of elizabeth gilbert the author.  so for the rest of the
day i stewed over the fact those two disappointed me so much.  when we got back we shopped and spent a small
in the markets on the way to our hotel.  all the vendors spotted us with our bags and we suddenly were a hot
target.  all the way to the hotel they call at you.  look here cheap cheap.  nice deal for nice girls etc.  but the
worst had to be the rice fields.  as soon as we got out of the car it was like fruit flies on fruit. they were all
over us! i had one guy like nose to nose with me trying to get me to buy something practically shoving it in my
face.  today we bought hired a guy to drive us to dreamland, padang padang sp ? and uluwatu sp?  dream land was
pretty much a surfers paradice.  the waves were soooooooo strong tho.  even scarey.  i tried to take my boogie
board out there (like the only one on one) and got shoved back to shore the second i made my way less than a meter 
in and got a vagina full of sand from it!  sorry but true.  after a few attempts at this i got too scared cause the
waves were getting stronger and stronger.  again beautiful beach but they litter.  i mean who would litter dream
land?  after that we went to padang padang which was a really nice beach.  white sand clear water.  and a little
more gentler waves.  we could actually swim in this one!  there were more surfers here tho way out in teh water. 
that would freak me out cause we met this guy who told us where they all were was where octopus's are eek! never.
but they were really far out.  i would die of exhaustion just swimming out.  so i just stook to my water aerobics
lol.  after that we went to uluwatu.  which was another hindu temple.  they make you wear sarongs with a scarf
around your waste before entering and women arent allowed in during their periods (dont know why)  the only thing
that sucked tho is stacey's camera crapped out at the last beach.  and that was really bad cause our last stop was
definatly worth the pics.  it was a temple on a very high rocky cliff out looking the ocean.  you could look down
and see the turquious water crashing against the rocks and see the sun setting.  one of the best scenic spots i've
seen.  after that we watched a kecak dance.  which is 70 guys making this sound that sounds like checkaka over and
over again all in sync with eachother and moving in sync as well.  then they form a circle and these other ppl
play characters who dance out old legends in the centre to the music of those 70 men.  but the costumes the charact
ers wear are so decoritive and colourful. their hats are made of gold and are decorated with flowers insence etc.
the dresses are bright and colourful and they womens faces are painted heavilly in makeup.  it was definatly a
great cultural experience.  then we came back with our driver to kuta.  i always feel bad though when we hire a
driver cause for 10-15 dollars each this guy spends the whole day driving us where ever we want to go and basically
waits for us till were ready for us to go.  i feel like were viewed as spoiled rich girls.  if this text looks funny its bc i have to copy and paste from a notebook application on stacey's laptop.  anyways one more thing i wanted to add is that bali is full of the most beautiful ppl i have ever seen.  if anyone has a complex about their body i wouldnt come cause im definately the fat girl on the beach and yes i know im not that big but really there are so many beautiful men and women here its like your surrounded by models with heavenly bodies and faces.