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Taxi, Transport, Massage, Hello Looking!!!!!!!!!!
We left Australia on Saturday 7th June and three flights later we arrived in Bali. Yes thats right three flights! Because of the ticket we had there was no direct route from Cairns to Bali and so we went to Darwin where we got off the plane for an hour. Then back on the same plane to Singapore. A couple of hours in Singapore airport and then the third flight to Bali. It wasn't as bad as it sounds and Tony was pleased as we got a meal on each flight and free drinks!
So we have been in Bali for 10 days, the first 4 we spent in the manic resort of Kuta where we have returned to on our final 2.
What can I say about Kuta, it's loud, hectic and hot! There are lots of people around and lots more who want your money!
On the plus side it is a very interesting place to be and there is always something going on. The beach is lovely and there are some really good restaurants which are cheap cheap.
We spent the first few days looking around and enjoying the hotel pool. After 4 days we got a bus to a town about 20 miles inland called Ubud.
Ubud was a lot quieter and more like a traditional Indonesian town. We had a lovely bungalow set in amongst a forest where every morning we were served breakfast on our terrace. Whilst in Ubud we really enjoyed the slower pace and fine dining (something we have missed since leaving home).
We also got to see a traditional Indonesian dance in one of the temples and visited the monkey forest where there are about 350 monkeys roaming around jumping on tourists heads and things. Luckily we didn't take any bananas so were safe from attack.
We also went to the market to try our hand at haggling. I am not very good at this anyway but Tony told me to be strong and not pay more than the price I had in mind before. When I went to buy a top Tony left me all alone and I fell for the womans sad look and when she said 'you make me lucky' i ended up paying nearly double what I had wanted to. Of course Tony proceeded to tell me I was 'had' and laughed at my poor attempts!
On Sunday we headed back to Kuta, but having pre-paid for our bus we were a little concerned that it wouldn't turn up. We waited for about 20 minutes constantly deflecting offers for transport, when a bus pulled up. Now it wasn't the one we had come on and the driver said we didn't have his tickets but would take us as a favour. Doesn't sound good does it! We told him that we had no more money to pay but he said thats Okay come with me. We were then loaded onto another bigger bus and the first driver gave us a ticket and said here you are I will help you out as there are no more buses. We got on the bus and were waiting to be asked for money but were not. We were safely dropped in Kuta with no extra charge.
Now I know that it definately wasn't our bus and it is rare here for people to do something for nothing, so I summised that the first bus driver must have forgotten or not picked up some passengers (which would explain the ticket he gave us) and didn't want to go to the depot without a full bus so picked up us on the way.
Whatever happened we made it back and it didn't cost us any extra to what we had already paid. This is one lesson and we will not pay for a return again.
So back in Kuta I decided to give my Hawaiian surf lessons a go and hired a surf board on the beach. Tony decided against it as he was worried that without an instructor to tow him he would get stuck and he sat on the beach.
Now the surf here was a little bit higher than where we had our lesson in Hawaii and I was quickly swallowed up by a wave. So I went a bit further into shore and managed to stand up a couple of times, however it was fairly shallow and every time I fell off I landed (very hard) on the sand. After 40 minutes of dunkings I had a surf rash on my elbows and knees and a very sore butt.
It wasn't much fun for Tony either as he was offered a massage, a kite, a drink, a bow and arrow, a sarong, some sungalsses, a fake rolex, a temporary tatoo, an ice lolly, some fresh pineapple, another massage.
For our final night in Bali we went for a traditional Indonesian experience and went to the Hard Rock Cafe! (I will say that we have actually both tried most of the Indonesian dishes since we have been here and so deserved a nice american burger!) Once inside we could have been anywhere in the world, except that two courses and drinks were about twenty pounds!
So today is our final day in Bali and we are off to Singapore tonight. It has been interesting but I certainly won't miss being beeped at every two seconds by taxi drivers!
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