The flight from Darwin to Bali was short, but the transition was the greatest so far. I was finally going to leave 'white' culture and start seeing something... not necessarily radically different, but different nonetheless. I had heard lots of bad stories about Indonesia that had me on guard as I got off the plane.
Cat's family had moved to Bali the year before, and as kind, warm, inviting people they had offered to host me and were thankfully there to pick me up at the airport. In short order they picked me up and whisked me out to their guesthouse. Bali was definitely a different place and a different culture.
I had already been warned about the traffic, but found it less insane than I had been led to believe. There are no real lanes or rules, but it works - as a giant sprawling organism it moves forward in spurts and gasps, wild sprints as motorcycles push through gaps left by larger vehicles. The structure I think of as a wat was in full evidence here; tall narrow tiers in front of temples, gates, houses. Narrow streets, shrines, everything flew past me in a blur.
It took me a day or two to shake off the culture shock; the first day I walked down to the Circle K (they're here too) still on my guard, still being overly careful. In the following days I've found the people to be warm and caring, if a little focused on the money, and the weather and environment to be hot and tropical. Bali is definitely a vacation hotspot, a welcome break from the hurley-burley of traveling.
