Bali, Bali, Bali

Bali, Bali, Bali

First landing in Bali was a complete culture shock. After spening a month in the mild if not cool temperatures in New Zealand and landing in 90 degree weather with high humidity was a BIG change. Once you get past customs there are tons of people trying to sell you taxi rides, rooms, souveneirs, food, you name it. The first city most people go to in Bali is Kuta, where tourism started on the island.

Just getting to Kuta in the taxi was a trip. For anyone who has not been to an Asian country to see the driving, it is unlike anything else I had seen before. Traffic is this free flowing river where cars and motorbikes will weave in and out of each other with inches of separation. I'm not even sure why they bother painting lines on the road since they really mean nothing.

Once in Kuta, the craziness just continues. Super crowded and narrow streets that have an abundence of vendors trying to get your money. You quickly learn that your best bet is to just ignore everyone and continue on your way. The beach on Kuta was even more of a disappointment. There was a 5 foot solid line of trash that lined the beach. After spending just a couple hours there I knew I had to move on and made plans to go to Ubud, the cultural capital of Bali.

Once in Ubud things got better, but there was still the constant buzz of traffic and people trying to sell you things. The good thing was that there was a lot more activities to do in the area that didn't involve drinking or sitting on a trash filled beach. It is cool getting out of the city and walking among the rice fields. I also hired a driver for a day and got to see an ancient temple and go and ride elephants!

I found all the culture here to be amazing. Most of the buildings were very ornate and had intricate stone carvings on them. The Balinese are constantly preparing little offerings with rice and flowers and putting them on the street. I went to music/dance show which had some awesome music with a band of about 15 people playing all kinds of percussion, bells and flutes. The dancers were quite intricate with their performance and it was enchanting to watch.

However, after a few days in Ubud I was still overwhelmed by the tourist culture in Bali. I heard from mutliple people that the Gili islands were THE place to go in Bali so I made plans to make it out there and see what all the buzz was about. More to come on the Gilis in the next post...