Bali

1st October 2008

We're currently in Bali the cultural center of Indonesia, life has been good, we're tied up to the Marina in benoa harbour and are finally getting a chance to sit still and relax! Hinduism is the largest practicing religion on the island and it really shows. With temples on every corner and offerings lining the streets it makes for a really colourful setting.

The marina is a ten minute taxi ride from the town of Kuta and bali's most touristy area...an absolutely crazy place to be after the peaceful islands of Lombok and Sumbawa. Legian Street is the central area for shopping and boy is there a lot of shopping to be done here! For $20 dollars you could fill a suitcase with clothes and housewares and still have change left over.

We took a side trip up to the artisan town of Ubud up in the hills and for the first time in years we spent a night off the boat. Our hotel was slap bang in the middle of town but we still had great views of the surrounding rice paddy fields and a beautiful pool to chill out in. Again we shopped till we dropped finding the best prices in the local market and then checked out the monkey Jungle at the end of the main street. We hired a driver to take us up to the volcano where we had lunch overlooking it's crater and of course more beautiful paddy fields. The driver insisted that we stopped at a couple of temples and it was well worth it with beautiful carved rock figurines and more importantly the chance to see Jimmy wearing a skirt!

It's something you can't say about many countries in the world but we can honestly say that we haven't met an unfriendly person since arriving in Indonesia and Bali is no exception. Smiling faces greet us everywhere we go and even though they're hard bargainers, buying an item of clothing can take 30 minutes to get to a price you can both agree on, you still come away with a feeling that their having as much fun as you! So it's hard to believe that in 2001 something happened here to rock the foundations of every ones lives when the Sari club on kuta's main street was bombed and over 200 people were killed causing complete devastation.
In August 2001 I celebrated my 21st birthday in the Sari club and to see now what locally is called 'ground zero' is extremely moving knowing it could so easily have been us. Across the street a beautiful memorial has been erected with the names of all those that lost their lives and is particularly moving. Tourism was hit hard at the time but things are starting to get back to the way it was, locals stop us in the street to let us know how happy they are that we're here and not to worry as it will never happen again...strong words!

We've loved our time here in Bali and my recommendations are:
~ Having as many cheap massages as possible.
~ Hiring your own moped so you can avoid expensive taxi fees.
~ A trip to Ubud for more shopping.
~ Getting out into the countryside for the amazing views.
~ And most importantly trying all the great food that's on offer!