Profile
Blog
Photos
Videos
Well I wasnt woken up by anyone last night, and I didn't wake up till 9:30am after a really good sleep! Having had a shower and dossed around sorting my stuff and packing my bag back up, I checked my flight times before intending to get some breakfast. I thought I was flying at 3:30pm, but when I looked at my itinerary I was given a shock to say the least when I realised it was actually leaving at 12:15pm! By this time I was 10:20am, so got reception to get me a taxi ASAP and legged it down stairs. By 10:30am I was on my way to the airport, and to my relief the driver told me you only have to be checked in 1 hour before departure.
Panic over I checked all my stuff in and was at the departure lounge with plenty of time, after having had some breakfast.
(the rest of this I am writing on the 16th so it'll be pretty brief).
The flight to Bali was fine, we were about 40 minutes delayed taking off, and just sat on the runway waiting, but otherwise it was all good.
I got through the airport pretty quickly, and met Saksia out the front of the building, who had come down in the taxi too to pick me up! It was amazing to see a friendly face as soon as I arrived, and just meant I didn't have to think about anything.
If I thought Singapore was hot and humid when I arrived then I obviously had another thing coming when walking out the airport in Bali - it was both hotter and more humid, you were sweating instantly.
The taxi from the airport to the hostel took about 1 and a half hours, despite not being that far at all. To say it was an eye opener would be a severe understatement, probably as I have never been to Asia before. The roads here are absolutely completely mental, especially in Kuta at rush hour..I was witnessing the worst from the start it turned out. They are mainly narrow little streets with everything from chickens to kids running in the road, and more scooters than you could shake a stick out. I was struggling to keep my jaw shut half the time as people drove down pavements and weeved in and out tucks and cars!
Having had a really good catch up with Saskia we arrived at 'Villa Serenity' in Canggu, where they have been staying since they arrived in Bali. It was about an hour before dark, but I was so keen for a surf. I dumped my stuff in my room, said hellos to Georgie and then went for a quick surf with Saskia. The beach was literally a 1/2 minute walk down to the end of the road, but the surf at that one was pretty average. It breaks over a rock reef about 200m off the beach so it's a fair paddle, and then it's not really got much shape or power. However apparently Echo beach which is the next one north is a lot better.
I simply could not believe how warm the ocean is here, it is actually just like the saying 'getting into a warm bath'. Whats just as weird is when you get out and it's dark, it's still really hot and not even the breeze has a chill. What wasn't so great was all the crap on the beach. I had been warned about the plastic waste, but I was shocked. The high tide line was just littered with every type of plastic you can imagine, plus all sorts of organic waste like broken up coconuts. Also the water was very brown and you couldn't even see you hand 2 inches under the water due to the sediment. Apparently 2 days before there was no rubbish at all and the water was cleaner, but they had a huge amount of rain, and all the creeks washed all the rubbish out into the sea.
Having got back to the hostel and got showered I had Balinese Chicken cherry for dinner which was incredible, and only $2! Another thing which is crazy is the currency...10,000 Rupiah to Australian $1?!
After dinner I was sat talking to Saskia, Georgie and some others who were staying there, over a couple of beers. It turned out it was one of their last nights, and it went from casual beers to playing a drinking game whilst drinking this home brew stuff the locals make which is like vodka (but rougher). Long story short we all got absolutely blind drunk and apparently all finished about 2am, what a first night!
(Photo - Left to right; George, Georgie and Saskia post drinking game).
- comments