So long Western world, hello Bali!

Selamat sore,

I hope the holiday season is treating everyone well. I'm spared from the craziness here in Bali (Hinduism is the dominant religion here) and I don't mind at all! So what's been going on with me...

My travel day was long and uneventful except that I was forced into buying an onward ticket from Indonesia or JetStar would not check me in. So I am leaving from Jakarta on January 4, unless I change it. So, 3 hours to Melbourne, 2 hour layover, and 5 hours to Bali later I arrived. I was glad I'd picked up a Lonely Planet and knew that there was an official taxi window with set prices at the Bali airport as "official" drivers tried to charge me double before I found the window. Since I arrived late at night, I had called and reserved a room in touristy Kuta. I only spent one day in Kuta and that was plenty for me. Everyone wants to sell you transport, sarongs, dresses, massage, etc. It is like that other places, but they are not as pushy as in Kuta. The beaches are not so nice this time of year- lots of trash and dead fish washing up. It does look like a good place to learn to surf, but I opted for wandering about. There are loads of tourists in Kuta though- definitely a hotspot for Western visitors.

After my day and 2 nights in Kuta I took a shuttle to Sanur on the East Coast and hopped on a boat 12 km off the coast to a small island called Nusa Lembogan. What a terrific decision! The island has only 7000 people on it and since it is the off season it is pretty quiet. I met an English and an Australian girl on the boat and we stayed together at this really nice hotel overlooking the ocean. It is definitely the nicest place I have stayed thus far (Jody, it reminded me of Pelican Eyes). I spent 3 days in Lembogan. The first we wandered up the beach. The second I walked to Mushroom Bay and then down to the village of Lembogan. Then I booked scuba diving for the following day and did a quick refresh in the pool. Later we hung out by our Infiniti pool and watched the daylight fade. My dives the next day (there were 2 of them) were fantastic! The first spot we saw loads of colorful fish and coral. The second was my first drift dive and we were lucky to see a miniature seahorse as well as the giant sunfish, the Mola Mola (totally out of season) plus more coral, fish, etc. A Spanish couple I met on the boat joined our crew (we hung with a Finnish couple staying at Ware Ware with us) for the evening. The next day I headed back to Sanur on the public boat and Hollie, the English girl, and I went to Ubud.

Ubud is the cultural area of Bali located in the center. It is surrounded by hills and rice fields and is lovely. I went to the Monkey Forrest the first day and saw loads of grey monkeys. They are very used to people feeding them so a baby grabbed my leg hoping for some food and scared me silly (to the amusement of the other tourists nearby). I then went for a walk through rice fields to a few artisan villages and got lost for awhile (literally) in the fields. Yesterday Hollie and I chartered a car and driver to take us around. We saw the Elephant Cave and Temple and then Temple of the Rock (really visually stunning). We also stopped at an painters' enclave, batik weaving shop, bone carver, and a coffee plantation. All very interesting. Later we went up to Kintamani and had some great views of the volcano Batur and nearby Lake Batur. On the way back we stopped at rice terraces. Quite a great day! Today Hollie headed off to the Gili Islands and I stayed. I had a $5 one hour massage and tonight I am going to see one of the tradidional Balinese dances.

Bali is amazingly inexpensive. Although some rooms don't come with flushing toilets (you have to pour water down them) or hot water (but it is warm enough that it isn't an issue). The people are very friendly and always smile at you (and then often give the ubiquitous inquiry "Transport?"). Hinduism is quite visible with offerings in front of every doorway three times a day. I'm trying to pick up some Indonesian words and phrases. I haven't needed them thus far but I likely will in Java.

I guess that is it for now. I think tomorrow I will start making my way East to Lombok- the next island over. Miss you! Keep me updated.

St