Category: Indonesia

I would like to make it clear that I’m not trying to claim that the Indonesian’s have developed a fantastic Time Machine hidden in a phone booth that can zoom us to any place or time in history, but where else in the world can you complain when you pay 40c for a bottle of coke (which is in a glass bottle, and requires a bottle opener to open) as it is to expensive. Bali is amazing, and not what I was expecting at all (pffft… Lonely Planet Guide… You SUCK!!).

Last night we were invited to a “special school function” by Jimi Hendrix himself. Apparently some of the local school kids had put together a show of local Balanise dancing and Kung Fu. We were offered a lift by Jimi and were told that there was no cost (which obviously made us VERY suspicious). At anyrate, fearing for our lives we agreed… but weighing up the pros and cons we realised that there was little chance of anything happening as we knew that other westerners would be attending and also the fact that Jimi was pretty well known around town – he is the barber, taxi driver and music club teacher; fortunately we accepted the offer – we had a great time watching the four and five year olds perform. I hope that the photos (when we get a chance to upload them) do the evening justice, so far the highlight of the trip!

I decided to follow my big brother Miks lead and get a hair cut the following morning,… how many people can say they got their hair cut by the one and only Jimi Hendrix!

At 11.00AM our lift arrived and we headed towards Ubud, the trendy arts district of Bali (a bit like Daylesford or Montville). Thr trip took about 5 hours via the famous Bali volcanic hotsprings (*yawn*), waterfall, water temple and monkey forrest (which was soooooo cool). Philippa won’t let me get a pet monkey ;(

Off to McDonalds, umm, I mean Singapore tommorow. Looking forward to the Gin Sling and will try not to get arrested for ashing in public 😛 Miss you all heaps and can’t wait for my first bloody email (you slackers)!!

So we have gotten a little streetwiser since our last blog. A little wiser at identifying scams and at engaging in the art of barginning. We hit Kuta art market with a new fury bargining, haggling and walking away with our 2 dollar T-shirts.

We have learnt a new phrase which seems to stop people from hasseling us, not because our Bahasa is great but because they kill themselves laughing – Tidak, Terima Kasih, which literally means “No, thank you”. We seem to be the laughing stock of the market, which we don’t mind, we’d rather be clowns than prey! We were doing so well until we went to post a present home for our nephew and it hit home that we should have bought him something a little smaller (I will not disclose what we bought because it is in the mail), the postage cost four times what the present cost!!! Another lesson learnt, when buying presents to send home keep them small!!

Yesterday we packed our bags and boarded a bus to Lovina (via many craft shops, temples and apparently a volcano which we couldn’t see because it was fogged in). It was a really interesting day learning about the impact the Hinduism has on the Balinese everyday lives, from the way they build their houses to the way they conduct business.

Lovina is a sleepy little town – and apparently we are pretty sleepy too! After getting caught in a tropical down-pour this morning we decided the day was against us and went back to bed for three hours! We have a very fancy garden view room in a very fancy resort for USD$17, because it is the low season at the moment. Our resort is right on the beach, however the beach is a bit off putting because it has black volcanic sand and doesn’t appear as inviting as our Australian beaches. It is beautiful here though, it is much more tropical than the southern part of the island, with surrounding hills, banana trees, coconut trees and rice fields everywhere. Loving it!! The pace is a lot different here than Kuta and Matt and I are soaking it up!

Love you all (sorry if we haven’t replied to your emails, we are having trouble opening g-mail at some of the internet cafes). Will post soon – promise the next one will be from Matt! And photos coming soon also, probably when we hit Singapore in a couple of days with faster internet connections 🙂

Phew…Kuta…what can we say???

In 48 hours we have been the major prize winner of a hotel giveaway and then had it declined because we are not over 28; we have walked km’s of dusty roads looking for an air conditioned shopping centre; we have paid US$35 for a manicure and peticure for both of us (they saw us coming); and have paid at least double what we should have for all of the souvineers that we have bought – and we’re loving it! Well it took us a little while to recover when we realised how much we had been ripped off by….we just had to get it all into perspective again! We have been offered drugs and sex more times than you can count on all our fingers and toes combined…

Kuta beach isn’t much to write home about, Matt has taken some photos that only Tom would appreciate (artistically speaking of course). The $14 dollar a night hotel is comfortable and the complimentary “American Breakfast” sometimes comes as we ordered it and tastes, um…..um…okay. But we’re having the time of our lives!!!!

Last night we stumbled past Poppies and the name sounded familiar…some famous restraunt…then Matt realised the reason it was so familiar is that we had read about it in the travel warnings before we left home 🙂 seasoned travellers we are, going to all the places that we shouldn’t go. It is very quiet over here at the moment, which makes us a little sad for the Balanese who primarily rely on Tourism for their income. That’s why we don’t mind being ripped off so much.

We’re heading up north in a couple of days to see the country side and the northern, quieter, dutch built resorts…the pictures look amazing!

Love you all and am really enjoying reading your comments.