Day #1 Arrival
October 16th
I started packing at 10am. I had to be at the airport at noon so I better hurried.Finally on board I got the seat in the middle row. My neighbor was from Malaysia and he went back home from his vacation in Taiwan. We had 4 hours during which I realized the roots of all the strange asian habits which streamed in my mind day and night. To be more specific, I found out why some Asians have long finger nails on their small fingers. It is a bit uncomfortable for me to see, given what stuff (picking nose) they use it for. The wise Malaysian told me it is because your small finger has to reach your 'distal interphalangeal joint' of their ring finger for a good luck, however it is mostly impossible so people try to make it up by growing the long nail. He himself told me it is a really stupid tradition as he was laughing out loud.
Besides that he also explained me the ideology of Taoism. I can tell you when I was going out of the flight to transfer I felt so enlightened because it all made sense. Finally! So thank you, stranger!
At the Kuala Lumpur Int'l Airport there were so many whites, especially blonds. So suprising seeing masses of them after 2 months of being the only blond head in the subway. I was guessing all of them Americans, not only they were loud and excited but there were so many types: Beaus, Hippies, Athletes (oh yes, athletes), Men with opened shirts nearly showing off their belly button, rustic backpackers, families, groupies, sweet couples on honeymoon, etc.
I landed in Denpasar at 11:30pm on Tuesday. Adrian, my host, picked me up there. In fact he rescued me from all the taxi-drivers offering me rides to the city who were eagerly waiting when you step into the zone of the arrival hall. Considering their facial expressions I was confused what kind of ride they actually mean.
Day #2 Jimbaran Beach
October 17th
We both weren't that tired to sleep yet so we dropped my baggage at my temporary home and went on a ride into the night life. It was nearly after 1:00am when a passenger on another scooter riding alongside leaned over the gap between us and torn my cross-body hand bag off of me. While riding. They had to tune up their engine because when I blinked they were behind the corner. The police blamed us for insufficient defense so that I took the record and went furiously out. At 4:30am in the morning we washed that night off with a bottle of vodka. As the last thing I sent email to the scuba dive center that I cancel my course which I should have paid 2,5 hours later. Stupidly, I did not take all the money out of the hand bag, so it was all gone together with my credit cards, Gopro camera, keys and my old cell phone. I had this whole plan for 3 weeks already. It should have been flawless.
I slept till noon. I recalled what's all stolen and that made me sad again. I found my last 250USD in rear pocket of my backpack to exchange in the city. With nothing to buy brunch or a ticket I went to find the nearest exchange office. It was like discovering Neverland. With nearly 3 million IDR in my passport case I went straight to Starbucks. I started counting the damage, blocking cards online, calling my parents. I felt really down because it was like I admited it to myself. It really happend. It is not a bad dream anymore, it is officially in the broadcast.
Urgently searching for relax I went to Jimbaran Beach (Pantai Jimbaran) where I hung out for a while. I counted out I had around 600k IDR as daily budget but still didn't know the prices there in Bali so I tried to keep my day more than low-cost. Simply said after having biscuits for lunch I allowed myself to buy a coconut for dinner.
Day #3 Garuda Wisnu Kencana Cultural Park
October 18th
New day, new start. It was my first day in Bali, of course, I did not want to spoil the whole trip because of a robbery. I will save the money again in a month, that's how low-cost I went there. I decided to rent a scooter and go wherever. It is a general fact that in Bali, nobody cares who rides the scooter unless you cause an accident. I saw 12-year-old girls jumping in 3 on that machine and going carelessly into the traffic. After not even an hour when I headed up to Uluwatu I bumped into a police officer. Yes, I did not have my driver's license because it was also stolen and I left the police record at home. So after a long conversation I paid the police officer my daily budget money and he put it directly into his pocket and led me go.
In Garuda Wisnu Kencana Cultural Park I found peace of mind. I was sitting for the whole hour in front of Wisnu statue thinking about what all happend and if I should better just spend the rest of my trip on a beach and wait for the departure. I felt down again, I didn't want to go back home for extra money because it took time and I planned the trip accordingly to my daily budget. Well, I did not count on being caught by a policeman while the little kids on scooters are happily passing by. One Czech living in Bali told me he has never been caught in 6 years living there. Yet he still does not have a driver's license.
I got up again and continued my tour around the park. I found a place out of the tourists reach and I found that behind the walls of the calm and clean touristic area there's only rubbish and constructions. If that's how a cultural park should look like I had rather stayed in a freaking hotel resort.
Was it me or was there something wrong with southern Bali? I really needed to boost my hopes up so I turned back homeward to Kedonganan Beach (Pantai Kedonganan). On the way I stopped home to take extra money for some food. I decided to spend this money all on dinner. I went into Seaside Cafe restaurant and paid the cheapest luxurious multiple-course meal. It was mussels in tomato sauce for 99k IDR. They served me with unlimited rice and dessert afterwards. I ate as much as I could. It was well deserved. The main purpose of going in there was that I could get the access on their wifi so that when I was passing by this place or at the beach I could log in since then anytime.
When my host came to the beach to pick me up we took a ride to Seminyak, the most popular tourist destination. It is a place full of hotel resorts, nightlife and roadside shops with souvenirs, rattan bags, hats and flip-flops. Even though it is just 40 minutes by scooter it felt like escaping to the realm of eternal vacation. If you try to delete all the elements of tourism, there's nothing left in this area.
Day #4 Pantai Pandawa and Dreamland
October 19th
Adrian has shown me a traditonal Balinese cousine this noon! We went to a restaurant close to his place to grab a plate overflowing with fried seafood rice. It was the most delicious lunch I had and it cost around 18k IDR. After that we said goodbye and while he was busy working I took a trip to Pandawa Beach (Pantai Pandawa) where I met a soccer team from Jakarta. Those guys made my day as three of them asked me to marry them and were so sad when they found out my host is a male. Their chances dropped rapidly, they thought. Anyway I was laughing. We exchanged some contacts (mostly with the players who spoke English) and I went on my second destination - Dreamland beach. This beach, as I heard, is like discovering real paradise. It is a small beach which is framed by a wooden patio walk and shops and restaurants. I bargained one oriental overall for 90k IDR. With my new-found treasure I came back to the beach silently thinking about the purpose of my life while watching the colorful sunset. When I arrived home, late as always, my host took me to Kuta Beach for an ice-cream! Well deserved for both of us.
Day #5 Kuta Beach and nighlife in Seminyak
October 20th
Today was a sad day as I told my host goodbye and moved to another host located in Uluwatu. Bryan was a successful yoga teacher enthusiastic about Europe. He says he will find his wife in Europe. Fingers crossed, mate! I had a pleasure to meet his funny brother who made me feel comfortable at the first moment. He set the friendly environment easily. We had a talk about the legalization of gay marriage and general discrimination in Indonesia. The yoga teacher took me to a tradicional cuisine humble restaurant called Warung Muslim Arta Yasa. It was a dark but cosy and authentic place. You could choose whatever you wanted - full plate for 25k IDR. Still cheaper than 2 chicken wings in KFC. Unfortunatelly my host was pretty busy so I went solo to Kuta Beach shopping district. Mostly windowshopping I was enjoying the sun shining on my back and keeping me warm. What I was not enjoying was the men hanging around there and yelling at you offering either rides (that was the better case) or a hook up. I found the most beautiful black long dress I was searching for maybe 2 years. The lady offered 350k IDR for it. I told her it is too much for me so what about 70k IDR. She started laughing and went on bargaining with me. Everytime she told me her offer, she added "for good luck". I still knew it is high but she kept saying this price is for good luck. Well, by that time I did not really believe in a good luck anymore regarding the first 3 days here. So I went on pulling the price down. Our final deal was 175k IDR on which we settled. Both of us were satisfied. I got the dress and the nice lady her 175k IDR. It looked she was happy. I have some funny bargaining story here along with my tips. As I gained a shopping mood I also bought a home made key chain for 15k IDR (usually for 30k IDR). That satisfied my needs pretty much.
When I think about Balinese local food it is nowhere to find. Something similar to the restaurant with fried rice, a full meal, not fruits and vegetables or crackers. I haven't found any already although I tried really hard. I ended up at KFC where I bought the two chicken wings as I mentioned above. The menu was not any different from the american one and the clerks looked bored the same. It was my most boring experience in Bali that I really had to go to KFC to fulfill my stomach. There are McDonalds and Burger Kings everywhere.
In the evening we made it to La Favela, an outstanding night club where I wanted to spend the rest of my life not getting old a bit. It is a bit expensive but it is worth it. The athmosphere, opened interior and people dancing all over the place. The club has its own vista spot on a bridges at the 2nd floor. The best place to hang out. The DJ played the best hits he could and although I enjoyed dancing for an hour passionately I had to stop and rest for a while and found myself in a Chinese room. It was decorated with chinese souvenirs and carpets with chinese figures. Suddenly you felt like in a secret chinese chamber in warm evening. Everything has slown down and as I slid in an armchair I wanted to snooze.
Day #6
October 21st
I woke up at 9:00am and took a look at my host sleeping on his king bed. He was so short and looked like a kid up there. When he woke up I found he's a bit sulky. Then I recalled. He tried to kiss me last night, unsuccessfully, and since then he haven't spoken much. Even though he took me out for banana pancakes as breakfast and apologized I better continued on my own after that. It was a really delicous pancake though. Apology accepted. I went to Uluwatu Temple afterwards. This place is located on a cliff in western Uluwatu. You have to spare more than 15 minutes for this Hindu temple with ocean vistas. It is more like a park attached to the temple which makes it a jungle journey along the cliff accompanied by lazy monkeys, not lazy enough to stop following you when you fish in a plastic bag. I took a walk around the temple and took some pictures, overall it took me an hour. No rush. Outside of the gates, the parking lot is surrounded by little souvenir shops and grocer's. You can buy a coffee or a ice-cold bottled water. Uluwatu Temple cost me 30k IDR for visit but I think it was worth it. Simply, I would go again.
In the afternoon I met my first host, Adrian, to share my previous day's experience. To celebrate our acquaintance he took me to the pancake place. Yes, again this place. It is probably the only pancake place in south Bali because it is so well-known here as 'the pancake place'. In an attempt not to ruin his excitement I kept quiet. I knew that this place is worth being visited for the second time anyway. And I was true. I tried another kind of pancake! It was the Red Velvet Pancake with Cream Cheese for 25k IDR. So delicious! The place is called Funny Pancakes 'n Coffee so check it out if you head to Bali or already are there.
When I counted down the rest of my money I found out I had quite a lot still regardless what happend on the first day! I could still throw a party and have still enough to live on. Anyway I was already on my way to the airport. Silently saying goodbye to my stolen hand bag and czech ID card and all that, Adrian took me swiftly through the dark and suspicious Kuta neighborhood, becuase we were late again. I came back home safely after all.
Extra hints
Some hints I realized about Bali are that people many times carry their little doggies wherever they go. The dogs in carriers have better haircut than me and they are well cared and fed. On the other hand, in the dark southern Bali turns into a place full of abandoned big dogs who lie by the road or frolic on the silent driveways. Their unsecure looks and puffy nipples gives you the impression those are dogs you don't want to cuddle with. During the daylight there are just cats with puffy nipples and a horde of chickens.
Nevertheless, Kuta Beach was my biggest dissapointment. It is located in the heart of Kuta, in front of Hard Rock Hotel and Sheraton resort for better clarification. There was no a way to the water without stepping on garbage. First it looked like little rocks and shells but when I took a closer look I found out the horrifying and disgusting truth. How can people like this beach? And play with a ball there? Aren't they afraid to step on a sharp dirty plastic cup brought there out of nowhere? Check out my photos. The only reason why the Kuta Beach is so popoular is in my opinion because there are many stalls at the entries. Women selling clothes and ice-creams or cold beverages (water for cca 15k IDR/ 0,3l bottle). Men offering surf rent (150k IDR for 2 hours) or lessons, occasionally temporary tattoos. It is still not enough for me to like the beach in the daytime, in comparison to this the night walk along the beach is a gem. Especially if you have your bae by your side.