Bali

Bali is beautiful.

As soon as I arrived Marvin had a flower necklace over my neck and off we went into the crazy traffic. Not even in Bangkok did I experience young girls about 11 years old knocking on our windows with a baby at her side. I'd seen it happen many times in movies, but it was sad to just ignore.

Tina, Marvin's Mum, has been here for 7 years as an interior designer and they have just moved into a new villa which she designed. Wow. It is amazing. The kind you see in magazines and think.. if only...

One thing about Bali is the currency is incredibly confusing. So many 0's. 1USD is 1000 Rupiah. So I took out 1 million Rupiah on my first night to the island - it sounded a lot cooler than it actually turned out to be. I was also warned quite early on about Bali Belly. Be careful what you eat.

On our first night Marvin and I went to W where we met some of his French friends. After that we went to Mint and then we got back to the villa.

http://www.starwoodhotels.com/whotels/property/overview/index.html?propertyID=3221
http://www.indomint.com/home.php

On Sunday Marvin picked up three friends he went to school with in Thailand when he was 14. They're all Thai but speak perfect English which is good. Sadly, their idea of a week in Bali is different to my own, which means I've been slightly lonely. I've also come to realise they're not my UWC boys or Cayman old friends. They're just guys commenting on hot chicks and really interested in shroomng.

Sunday we went to a beach at Kuta.

I still hold to it that the beaches in Cayman are better. The sand is yellow, whereas this sand because of the volcanos is grey with sparkles. The waves are too rough for leisurely swimming (okay, if you like to surf they would be good) and every 10 minutes a vendor tries to sell you coconut milk... a kite.. a bracelet... it's not as peaceful. You also have to pay for a beach chair, and depending on if you're a tourist or not you have the potential to be extremely rip-offed. But there was sun. That, at least, there was.

Afterwards we went to a pool party called Splash at Cocoon. It happens every Sunday and was a great vibe and venue. Many beautiful girls, a bubble machine and a live DJ- pretty perfect Sunday.

http://cocoon-beach.com/cocoon-extras/cocoon-gallery/splash-party/

Now, there are a lot of Australians in Bali. The ones I met on Sunday night were all incredibly friendly, if not loud and drunkenly. They also all seem to have sleeves of tattoos. Of meaningless things. Maybe it's the trend in Australia... We went out after that but I was salt-ified and far too tired to enjoy myself.

On Monday we went to Ubud. The guys rented motorbikes and I went on the back of Marvin's. There and back we must have done about 80k. For the first time on a motorbike, it was exhausting. Though some parts were sooo beautiful, rice paddies for miles on end.

The monkeys were used to tourists feeding them bananas. However I was too frightened to actually let them crawl up my body and take one from my hand. I still got to get really close to them and see the babies with their mothers. The area itself was beautiful, an old temple with a rapid river going through it.
Once we got home Tina was lovely to us and made us a delicious dinner of pasta and salad.

http://www.monkeyforestubud.com

Yesterday I went to Seminyak on my own. I walked through the stores and drooled on the beautiful boho clothes by local designers. Sadly the prices here are far too expensive to make it worth buying anything. Instead I indulged in some banana pancakes, the food, at least, is cheap. I went to the beach for a few hours and enjoyed the sun. That night I went with the guys to a restaurant called Rumours for dinner and watched them play pool - again, a bit lonely.

This morning I took another excursion on my own. I went to two temples. I was at a major disadvantageous as my cab driver didn't speak much English and I don't understand Hindu temples. I didn't have lovely Mint to explain it all to me.

http://wikitravel.org/en/Tanah_Lot

Tanah Lot was about a 45 minute drive and worth the drive. It was beautiful, a rock surrounded by water with a temple on top. We couldn't actually go into the temple but that's fine. I gave an offering and was blessed with a hibiscus-like flower, water drizzle and rice on my forehead. I'm telling you- between Budhism in Thailand, Hinduism in Bali and Catholicism in Budapeszt - I've become quite the religious goer.

It was quite funny when I was there 3 school kids asked to take a photo with me. I looked nothing special, but of course, I agreed.

After I went to Taman Ayun Royal Temple. It was less impressive and I felt a bit cheated by my cab driver for taking me there as it took only 20 minutes to walk around.. but oh well.  It would have meant a lot more if I had someone to explain it all to me. At least now I can read about it and then say I went there.

http://www.balistarisland.com/Bali-Interesting-Place/Taman-Ayun-Temple.htm

Now I'm just back in the AC watching in the distant yard a painter make wall art for the bedrooms. He is incredible.

Tomorrow I will join the boys once again. We are waking up early and taking an hour boat to another island where the diving is meant to be good and staying the night there so we can dive the next morning as well. I am very excited and will talk all about it.
Friday night we will go out. Saturday we will go and get some sensational Jimbaran Seafood... and we shall see what else!