1/14 - Bali, Indonesia Entry #1

We're in Kuta, on the Indonesian island of Bali. I haven't had a chance to update the weblog as much as I had wanted so far, but not to worry! I've been keeping detailed notes on my experiences in a notebook. I should note that it's an unnerving sensation to be on the clock while using the internet. It always takes me a while to get used to it, when I find myself without my own laptop and internet connection. My anxiety at being charged by the minute leads to a sense of urgency, making it difficult to concentrate on blogging, which happens to be a completely unfounded feeling considering how inexpensive this place is. Indonesia is truly cheap, and I have to admit that I like the feeling of carrying around over a million Rupiah. Aubrie and I just ordered two ice teas and a mango lassi and it came to 8000 Rupiah, about 90 cents US. Our room at the Kedin's Inn II (far superior to Kedin's Inn I of course) is costing us 85,000 per night, which ends up being about $4.75 each. When I load some photos on here (hopefully soon) you'll get a better sense of what good value this is. It's a place of about twenty rooms surrounding a pool area thick with lush tropical plants and trees. Would easily go for over a hundred a night elsewhere, except for the fact that the bathroom is completely out of phase with the rest of the place, looking more like something out of the hostel in Hong Kong that we just came from. More on that will come hopefully within minutes (possibly a couple of days) when I put in a couple of retrospective posts devoted to the brief but invigorating Hong Kong experience. The hotel also includes a free breakfast, which, although meager, is rather tasty. I've had the Banana Jafle two mornings in a row now and plan to have it the rest of the time. It's basically bread fried in butter with slimy bananas in the middle. A butter and banana sandwich, I suppose.

If I had to make one complaint, it might be that food portions are not so huge in general. But this is no problem because one can order two entrees for the price of an eighth of an entree in New York. Today I had a delicious lunch of chicken satay (chicken on sticks with peanut sauce) and nasi kampur, which is basically rice and whatever they have around (tofu, chicken, onions, tomatoes, tempe), all fried up together in a really great sauce, though it was a bit on the spicy side. It all came to about 18,000 Rp. I trust you're familiar with the math at this point so I won't convert it to US Dollars. If you for some reason want to covert it with algebra, based on a previous conversion, the equation would be: X = (18000 * .90) / 8000. I make no claims as to the exact exchange rate involved here....

There are very few Americans here. In fact, I haven't seen a single one on the island. This I pretty much expected, but it's interesting to note. It's all Australians and Europeans, with some Japanese thrown in.

We were discussing this morning whether or not we should extend our stay here. The staff seem to be perfectly happy without any projected check-out date from us, as well as no money paid in advance. This is in keeping with their general habit of steering clear of us at all times. So, it's open-ended, and I like the freedom of that. The only thing is that we have a flight to catch in Jakarta, going to Singapore, on the morning of the 25th. So, adding nights here means sacrificing nights in Yogyakarta or Jakarta. The flight can be changed, but I don't know if we're up to dealing with the knock-on effect that would have to all other plans potentially.

In any case, it's very cheap here, there's plenty to eat, and the hotel is relaxing and comfortable, so it's going to be hard to strap on our packs and head out into the baking hot sun to find our way to Java. This will most likely happen, however, on the 17th or 18th. The problem is that we've had trouble getting information about the timing of the trains on Java. Basically, the trip out of here will involve a bus to Gilimanuk in west Bali, then a ferry across to Ketapang in Java, all of which will probably take three or four hours. At Ketapang, we need to catch a train to Surabaya. We know that there are trains that do this route, but we have no idea what time they leave, so it may mean that we get stranded in Ketapang for a night enroute. I asked a woman at a travel agency down the street about train schedules and she said "it's very difficult, try in Denpasar." Fair enough, I guess. It looks like it'll be an adventure. A hot, sweaty, frustrating one most likely, but how can I complain?

So, a few extra notes on the Kuta experience before I head off to check out the sunset from the beach:

Kuta, as some of you might know, is the tourist/party/surfer-central of Bali, and so, as you might expect, it's crowded with tourists, littered with tacky clothing and copied DVD stores, and generally busy and fairly un-authentic. Or would that be in-authentic? No hyphen as well, probably. But back to the point...somehow, despite these things, the island has such a nice feeling to it, and the people even as they try to sell you things are so friendly, that I don't feel an intense need to rush out of here. I'm not sure what it is, but I'm already planning my trip back to this island.

It's fantastically hot here, as some of you might also be aware of. I can't imagine what places away from the ocean are going to feel like. But, surprisingly, only a few mosquitoes here and there. This is very good news.

This also happens to be my first time south of the Equator. I had some delicious port wine and gruyere cheese on the flight down in celebration of the fact.

There's a small green anole who seems to live behind the mirror in our room, coming out every once in a while to move around the wall. The lizard is actually brown, but Aubrie informs me that its proper name is "green anole" and that it has the ability to change color, so labelling it brown would be inaccurate.

I love being around tropical plants and trees- it renews my wonder at the world and gives me energy.

Will be coming back to you very soon with reviews of both of our Cathay Pacific flights so far, as well as a Hong Kong recap, with in-depth reporting on the First Class Lounge in Chek Lap Kok airport! Until then...