5 days in Southern Bali

It has been forever since I posted something on this blog......over a year.. Shame, shame shame...

This will have to be quick. Here is a recap of what we have been up to in Bali.. Pictures to come later when I have more time.

Wow! Bali is everything it is said to be...... amazingly friendly people, stunning beaches lined with palm trees, fantastic food, shitloads of young Aussie tourists roaming about, everybody and their dog trying to sell you something or give you a lift somewhere or drag you into their store selling the same junk everyone else is.

Depending on where you go in southern Bali, you can have the most relaxed, chilled-out time watching the sunset from the beach as you listen to the waves gently crash in front of you and feel the cool breeze on your face...... to being aggressively overloaded on all the senses.....car fumes, traffic noise, 5 people a minute trying to get your attention to sell you something and oppressive heat all blasting down on you as you try to manage your way along a crowed street without stepping through a gaping hole in the sidewalk or on a rabid dog sleeping on the street.

Our trip has been a good mixture of both. Yuki rocked with picking out the tour from a Japanese travel agent and got us 6 nights at a 4 star, swankster beach resort in the quieter place of southern Bali. Far more space and luxury than we needed, but it is nice to be truly pampered once in a while.
Days have generally followed the following pattern:
-up early for 2 hours of yoga.
-fill our faces with fresh fruit at breakfast
-walk 200 meters to the beach and rent a surfboard....try not to get killed or look like too much of an ass.
-fend off friendly, but relentless peddlers of goods and services while trying to relax on the beach.


Some highlights of our trip over the first 5 days have been

-People: Balinese people are just so damn happy!! Always smiling, and eager to find out where you are from and what your plans are here in Bali. People at the hotel are happy to stop what they are doing to have a chat about whatever comes to mind. Small talk, get some travel advice, find out about the culture. Although they are working long hours it is at a very slow and relaxed pace.

-Crashing an AA party- Yuki and I ordered a couple of beers in a crowded bar full of seasoned traveler and I tried to strike up a conversation with the dude at the next table. He didn't really seem interested in talking much. Later everyone went up stairs and left Yuki and I there with our tall, frosty beers. We then saw a posting that on that night it was the local AA meeting and all the people we were drinking around were recovering alcoholics waiting to go upstairs to start their meeting.

-Balinese religion / culture: Every building has a small shine...the local people make small bamboo offerings to it throughout the day. There are loads of statues of Hindu gods on the corner of every building. Our hotel must have 50 of them. People pick fresh flowers and put them on the statues every morning. People here live their lives with their beliefs always in their minds....it is really apart of their lives in every way.

-SPA.....for Yuki anyways..... 5 hours of Spa treatment for 10,000yen. Ayuvedic treatment, hot stone massage, Essential oil bath.....all sorts of womenly pampering. I spend the day walking around polluted streets fending off dogs and street merchants.

These first 5 days have been about getting our bearings and kicking back and relaxing on the beach....doing yoga and surfing. Next we are off to the spiritual center of Ubud, up in the mountains. Hope to do some trekking in the mountains and rice fields and see some dances and cultural shows while we are there...