![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Gerbie on tour 40
Jul. 3rd, 2001 12:58 pmBali
It took a while, thanks to the passport problems (political consequences seem inevitable to me), but finally I did manage to arrive in Bali. With all respect for Australia, I did manage to spent a long time there in the end and enjoyed it, I have to say that I am happy to spend time in a country with some culture. And plenty of it, different ones even to make it even better.
Bali is a relatively small island, but incredibly full. On the map one can find several small places and villages, but in reality they have all grown toegether and are interconnected. But on the other hand the diversity makes it very interesting. Everything close together. Hindu's and moslims, tourists and locals, beaches and mountains, volcanoes and rice fields, lakes and plenty of see off course.
Unfortunately the end of both my time and my money is very near, two extra weeks spent in Perth didn't help either, so everything on Bali had to be fast. I made the choice to go around the island fast, get a bit of an impression of it all, as I do hope to see a bit of Java as well, before I leave the country again. wo islands to visit, to get an idea of a country consisting of thousands of isles. And even then you still get asked the same question about how you like the country over and over again, a simple positive answer is the only possibililty I guess.
I am very happy though to be back in a country with cheap and interesting public transport. They are called bemo's over here, in other countries I travelled with them under different names, but the principle is the same: get a (mini)bus as full as possible and then drive as fast as you can from one village to the next one. And full means full. Three adults to every two seats, next to that the chickens and ducks under the benches, children on laps, baskets full of banana's and vegetables in the corridor and a few passengers hanging outside at the dooropening, in the meantime keeping an eye on the roof that is fully packed as well, making sure everything reaches its final destination.
Kuta is the tourist center of Bali. Close to the airport and full of Aussies. Nice to be for a day tops, but I've already seen similar places in the Dominican Republic, Mexico and other comparable countries, the difference is very slim. Ubud, in the interior was much more interesting. I got a chunk of culture there, visiting a local dance show, besides that I rented a push bike and saw the surroundings, including cock fights and temples in Monkey Forest, a forest that deservedly uses that name.
Padangbai and Lovina beach were some nice quiet places on the coast, in both cases good enough to spend a free afternoon, realising that the journey itself was more interesting than its destination. My tendency to choose travelling over visiting beaches could obviously have something to do with that.
Denpasar, the only real city on the island, is being avoided by nearly all tourists. I have to admit there isn't much to see and do there, but somehow I do enjoy being in chaotic cities like this one. Traffic coming from all different directions, permanent marketstalls blocking the pavements and enough happening to just wander around for hours, without any route, inevitably ending up losing my senseof direction and suddenly realising I am in the edges of the extreme poor part of town, where roads are just tracks, where buildings that wouldn't deserve the name shack in most rich countries, are houses for whole families and where a single white traveller draws plenty of attention.
A huge improvement in comparison to Australie is the food over here. Not only is it extremely cheap, apart from that it is very good and healthy as well. Without realising it I ended up chosing something different every day, spoilt for choice as I am with the extended menu of the local cuisine. And pineapple pancakes for breakfast should be obligatory everywhere from now on!
Unfortunately I also reached the conclusion that travelling in a country where I don't know the language isn't very easy at all. I do survive, obviously, but find it very difficult to communicate using the 4 words I picked up along the way. With most locals outside the tourist area's just about reaching the same number of words in English, conversation has to be very limited. This is probably a main reason that Asia is not nearly as high on my list as Latin America.
On Bali I also saw Erik. For those of you who are not from Goor, which will be anybody reading the english version of this newsletter, Erik is a friend from my hometown who decided two years ago that he wanted a change of lifestyle, so he left his country behind and moved to his favorite holiday destination. He introduced me to the Dutch expats in Kuta, of which I'd rather not say anything here, considering his and my own security. We also celebrated a foreign version of our hometowns local fiesta, which was exactly the weekend I was there, so we decided that we didn't have to miss out completely and joined the party, though it was thousands of kilometers away. Next to that he showed me a beautiful part of the island, driving me around on his motorbike, the peninsula Bukit. It was good to see an old friend again, and obviously it was good for both of us to speak our local dialect again, it's been a while.
Okay, that's it for this time, next time it'll be about Java. The Netherlands are getting closer and closer. Only 5 hours away now, I've gained 7 back already.
Until next time again,
Gerben
It took a while, thanks to the passport problems (political consequences seem inevitable to me), but finally I did manage to arrive in Bali. With all respect for Australia, I did manage to spent a long time there in the end and enjoyed it, I have to say that I am happy to spend time in a country with some culture. And plenty of it, different ones even to make it even better.
Bali is a relatively small island, but incredibly full. On the map one can find several small places and villages, but in reality they have all grown toegether and are interconnected. But on the other hand the diversity makes it very interesting. Everything close together. Hindu's and moslims, tourists and locals, beaches and mountains, volcanoes and rice fields, lakes and plenty of see off course.
Unfortunately the end of both my time and my money is very near, two extra weeks spent in Perth didn't help either, so everything on Bali had to be fast. I made the choice to go around the island fast, get a bit of an impression of it all, as I do hope to see a bit of Java as well, before I leave the country again. wo islands to visit, to get an idea of a country consisting of thousands of isles. And even then you still get asked the same question about how you like the country over and over again, a simple positive answer is the only possibililty I guess.
I am very happy though to be back in a country with cheap and interesting public transport. They are called bemo's over here, in other countries I travelled with them under different names, but the principle is the same: get a (mini)bus as full as possible and then drive as fast as you can from one village to the next one. And full means full. Three adults to every two seats, next to that the chickens and ducks under the benches, children on laps, baskets full of banana's and vegetables in the corridor and a few passengers hanging outside at the dooropening, in the meantime keeping an eye on the roof that is fully packed as well, making sure everything reaches its final destination.
Kuta is the tourist center of Bali. Close to the airport and full of Aussies. Nice to be for a day tops, but I've already seen similar places in the Dominican Republic, Mexico and other comparable countries, the difference is very slim. Ubud, in the interior was much more interesting. I got a chunk of culture there, visiting a local dance show, besides that I rented a push bike and saw the surroundings, including cock fights and temples in Monkey Forest, a forest that deservedly uses that name.
Padangbai and Lovina beach were some nice quiet places on the coast, in both cases good enough to spend a free afternoon, realising that the journey itself was more interesting than its destination. My tendency to choose travelling over visiting beaches could obviously have something to do with that.
Denpasar, the only real city on the island, is being avoided by nearly all tourists. I have to admit there isn't much to see and do there, but somehow I do enjoy being in chaotic cities like this one. Traffic coming from all different directions, permanent marketstalls blocking the pavements and enough happening to just wander around for hours, without any route, inevitably ending up losing my senseof direction and suddenly realising I am in the edges of the extreme poor part of town, where roads are just tracks, where buildings that wouldn't deserve the name shack in most rich countries, are houses for whole families and where a single white traveller draws plenty of attention.
A huge improvement in comparison to Australie is the food over here. Not only is it extremely cheap, apart from that it is very good and healthy as well. Without realising it I ended up chosing something different every day, spoilt for choice as I am with the extended menu of the local cuisine. And pineapple pancakes for breakfast should be obligatory everywhere from now on!
Unfortunately I also reached the conclusion that travelling in a country where I don't know the language isn't very easy at all. I do survive, obviously, but find it very difficult to communicate using the 4 words I picked up along the way. With most locals outside the tourist area's just about reaching the same number of words in English, conversation has to be very limited. This is probably a main reason that Asia is not nearly as high on my list as Latin America.
On Bali I also saw Erik. For those of you who are not from Goor, which will be anybody reading the english version of this newsletter, Erik is a friend from my hometown who decided two years ago that he wanted a change of lifestyle, so he left his country behind and moved to his favorite holiday destination. He introduced me to the Dutch expats in Kuta, of which I'd rather not say anything here, considering his and my own security. We also celebrated a foreign version of our hometowns local fiesta, which was exactly the weekend I was there, so we decided that we didn't have to miss out completely and joined the party, though it was thousands of kilometers away. Next to that he showed me a beautiful part of the island, driving me around on his motorbike, the peninsula Bukit. It was good to see an old friend again, and obviously it was good for both of us to speak our local dialect again, it's been a while.
Okay, that's it for this time, next time it'll be about Java. The Netherlands are getting closer and closer. Only 5 hours away now, I've gained 7 back already.
Until next time again,
Gerben
