Bali
I finally made it somewhere 'different'. Bali explodes on your senses in an exotic, vibrant and pungent experience. I arrived late at night meaning I did not get to see the island as a whole before entering. Never mind. Our processing through customs was painless although a little over complicated, with numerous forms and stamp waving officials.
Once through and formally visitors of Indonesia, I caught a taxi to a recommended home stay with a couple of random British guys I met while queuing for customs. The tax ride was my first real look at Bali and, although it was about 2 am, the view I got was not what I had expected.
The roads, even in the main town of Kuta, were narrow, crowded and rough. The buildings crowded together in a chaotic jumble, plastered with every sign, in every language, imaginable.
Upon arrival we were introduced to one of the local 'brands' of beers, Bintang, which is a complete rip off of Heineken. My brief research had indicated that Kuta wasn't really the place to be if you wanted to experience Bali and its people so I decided to head north to Ubud. As soon as I mentioned it a man was called round to drive me there. I knew it wasn't going to be the most efficient way to travel but felt bad about saying I didn't need his services, him having come by especially. I later learned he lived next door. So he drove me the hour long trip to Ubud and stopped at a Silver smiths, once again making me feel I should purchase something. By the time he stopped at the wood carver I had started to get hard and wasn't about to spend money. The trip ended up costing about 135,000 (which seemed a lot and probably was... but worked out at about NZ$25).
As soon as I arrived in Ubud I was approached by a man offering a room. It's not like we pulled up at a central bus station or anything, we just pulled over at the side of a busy town street and I jumped out. These guys have really got it, and most things they do (excluding sewerage), down to a fine art.
After my arrival I went to the market in search of some local treads so I wouldn't look so much like a tourist, now I have some funky clothes that look (and keep me feeling) cool. I even had a game of chess with some local masters, sitting on the edge of the road. I lost, a little embarrassingly, although he did have three other guys shouting out instructions in Balinese.
Once it was dark I went to see a traditional dance which is more like a religious drama performed with a few dancers and about 100 men chanting and waving their hands around. During the event different entities and deities enter the ring of men and perform the story round the fire. There were Hindu princesses, evil kings and crazy monkeys all working together to tell a rather wild tale. After the dance was finished (almost a an hour of continuous chanting) the area was cleared and a pile of coconut husks doused and set on fire. A young man (presumably in a trance or on drugs) danced into the area dressed in a wicker horse costume. He pranced around a bit and then jumped into the fire kicking the burning husks about. Men rushed in, raked the fire back together and the process was repeated.
Today (Saturday), I hired a bike for the day and cycled around in an unorganized search for a river valley that was meant to be quite beautiful. Some where near where I wanted to go I was hailed by a guy trying to sell me a drink that I really needed. I stopped and soon we are talking and few more guys join us. We eat and drink and slowly work out things between us (yes, there is a language barrier here, but it's kind of fun). They took me to a river where we saw some caves and ancient temples and then swum. I was a bit hesitant as the rivers don't look that sanitary. I kept my head above the water. Now I am killing time while my camera recharges so I can visit the monkey forest.
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One night I met a couple from Germany, Sebastian and Rebecca, at a bar near to Ubud. We talked and drank Arak for a while, it was a good time. The next day I met them both again at the Bamboo bar by the socer field. Sebasian was planning to make a trip out to Gili Tranganman and asked if I would like to join. A couple of days later we met up again to make the trip to Padangbai, the exit port for the ferry to Lombok, some 40km to the west.
After one night in Padangbai and an early morning fishing trip out into the ocean, we were off. The four hour ferry ride was hot and rather boring. A good game of chess (very popular here) and the rest of my book (stupid white men) and we were pulling into the harbour, only a short way up the river. Disembarking turned out to be a bit of a drama, as a exiting truck was not able to start and thus the ramp blocked. We managed to squeeze out, just. From the port we made the ride over the mountain for a small beach village. This is where the boats leave from the reach the three Gili islands. We had to wait about for a bit until there was a full boat load. Soon where were there, arrived on the largest (and noisiest) island. There are no motorbikes, cars or anything like that, just horse carts and bicycles.
The island offers snorkeling, diving and partying (they sell weed oand mushrooms over the counter here). One day I rented a mountain bike and went around the island and to the west coast to see the sunset. Bali was sillouteted in the distance. The mighty peak of the primary volcano rising through the cloud. Today I made a walk up to the highest hill (just a small rise really), past the mosque and through some cropping land where they grow corn and goats.