We landed in Bali Wednesday night and checked into a hostel called Captain Goose. C Goose is a quick walk’s distance between the Beachwalk (kuta beach and giant malls) and the main club/ bar area- like Bali Times Square with lights and screens etc. Guidebooks tend to say you will either love Kuta, or hate it. I don’t believe the world is that black and white and there were some really neat parts as well as things that made me gag in my mouth a little.
Really neat parts:
-everyone here is insanely friendly. Whether they are trying to sell you stuff or not, they go out of their way to smile, bow, ask about your general well-being, and offer to help in whatever way they can.
-the oceaaaaaaaaan. Touristy as heck but lil waves perfect for swimming, surfing, and radiantly blue and sparkly.
-food. Tons of vegetarian options because Hinduism is the most prominent religion in Bali. Delicious, spicy, super cheap, ridiculous amounts of fresh fruit and fantastic flavors and smells. We eat at local places called “Warung” which literally means cheap. Sometimes it will be “Warung Nasi” (cheap rice shop) or “Warung Ayam” (cheap chicken shop).
-incense constantly burning in shrines and offerings around the city. Mixes sweetly with the grunge of motorbike fumes, dog pee, cigarettes, rotting mangoes
-architecture. The city is dotted with gorgeous stone carvings and temples with intricate roofs, gates, and pillars.
-easy to navigate/ semi-walkable, bustling streets
Things that made me gag in my mouth a little:
–children tugging on shirt “me hungry” “please miss give me money please miss I am hungry”
-tourism. I completely understand that I am also here on a tourist visa and I am in no way distinguishing myself from this industry, however 80% of Bali’s economy relies on tourism and Kuta is the pinnacle (this word looks like pineapple). There are white people. Everywhere. And typically smaller, bright Balinese faces waiting for direction on how to serve. If they aren’t waiting, they are forcefully trying to sell sunglasses or rent you a motorbike in exchange for your passport- this seems like the worst idea ever to me as passport fraud is extremely prevalent. Depending on where you are from, your passport can sell for hundreds of dollars (US) on the black market.
Tourists are from all over the world, but Aussies tend to run the show as one round trip ticket is about 200 US and they can last in Bali for about two weeks on a couple Aussie bucks no prob.
Other typical tourists include:
-models (female and male). Often tan babes that only eat fruit and take pictures in front of every building.
-backpackers: “we like to do yoga on the beach” “I came to Indonesia because of the deep spiritual energy” “Yeah I don’t really remember what I did last night, but I mean I woke up in my hostel bed” “You know mate, kuta is like the little cousin of Southern Thailand” “yeah, but have you even been to Vietnam” “wait how many months are you traveling?” “How many countries have you been to?”
-occasionally families on vacation that tend to bring their kids to Asia and then buy them snorkel gear and Starbucks or Dunkin Donuts
-old couples that are just happy the kids are out and trying to go to paradise without breaking the bank. These people are most likely to get ripped off because they probably take taxis everywhere and aren’t tech savvy enough to have Grab or Gojek (indo versions of Uber that allow you to pay in cash and are usually a fraction of the price of a taxi or hired driver).
Of course, the cheapest option is renting your own motorbike for around $4-5 US per day, but accidents are frequent and can be extremely messy esp. due to an island wide shortage of helmets. People also drive on the left side of the road, and while I have to say the streets of South America felt a little more reckless, Bali isn’t safe by US standards whatsoever (e.g. what are seatbelts? Use your horn to indicate you are passing someone. Turn signals? Never heard of her. Inner city streets are approx side enough for two people with long arms to hold hands. Drunk driving is not uncommon. Don’t hit that dog- side note: not sure if I’ve seen one stray that doesn’t have giant, swinging testicles still attached.)
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Carm and I also experienced some gnarly jetlag the first two nights as our 2-day travel schedule was a little rough on the ole circadians, so we were not incredibly productive. We did, however, have a lovely time wandering the city, smacking flies off of each other’s back, meeting adorable vendors and very polite waiters, SWIMMING in the cleansing waters of the Indian Ocean (this term might not be PC anymore I apologize if not, I think it depends on where you are in the world), drinking fruit juice, and soaking in the incredible smells, sights, and sensations of a completely different and exciting culture.
P.s. so not ready to stop speaking Spanish so Carm and I still use it infrequently, esp. when we are trying to have private conversations
P.p.s. One month is not enough time to learn Bahasa especially because English is even more common than Indonesian languages. Regardless the vocab is really easy to pick up and sentence structure is simple. So if you say a couple words: Saya suka kucing putih (I like white cats), the message usually gets across
Civet named Simone who eats coffee beans and poops out naturally decaffeinated remains to make my cup of luwak coffee. Luwak is spendy ($$) but only contains .5% caffeine and is very smooth and earthy and niiice to sip especially with this view
