Anyone arriving in Bali with preconceptions of a tropical paradise where exotic locals in sarongs serenely offer you coconuts on the beach might be thrown off when first entering the island. Rather than being greeted by sparkling white beaches, you are greeted by glowing neon Planet Hollywood signs and billboards with the alluring promise of "all you can drink all night pool parties" (which although might not fall under the definition of a tropical paradise has its own appeal in the right setting!). However, the mystical culture of Bali still shows up wherever you look, usually framed by a more contemporary cultural item, such as stalls selling hats emblazoned with "jiggy-jig massage" (we think the term speaks for itself...) while a young woman makes offerings to the gods in the little shrine right outside.
We arrived to Bali from Kuala Lumpur late in the night and had little idea of where to go. We trusted Lonely Planet, got a taxi to Poppies Lane 1 and got a cheap, but great value room in Kedin's Inn (including a swimming pool and breakfast for 10 dollars!).
Unfortunately, we both caught the second most common disease after "Bali belly", which was a rather disgusting eye-infection that spreads like wild fire (it is so common that pharmacies ran out of eye drops!) and makes you look at feel like a zombie. One speculation on how we got it is from some of the Swedish teenagers hanging out at the pool nursing their hangovers from the previous night's foam party, with suspiciously red eyes.
However, having recovered from eye-pus disgustedness, we decided to join the army of incompetent surfers on Kuta beach and be bashed by some waves ourselves. We chose a local surf school (
http://www.surfschoolbali.com/) run by some very charismatic Balinese twins with strangely Australian accents. Jon struggled a bit to oil his rusty surf skills acquired in Brazil about 10 years ago (and maybe struggled even more to swim out through the choppy waves), but eventually popped up on the board. In Dahlia's case, about 20 desperate flailing attempts at standing actually culminated in feet-on-board contact, but the shock of actually managing threw her right off the board. However, eventually she managed to catch some white water and smaller waves, though where the larger swells are concerned, she is definately still in over her head (pun intended)!
We ended our Bali adventure with a temple visit on the southern tip of Bali, with majestic views over the ocean, and a very entertaining ensemble of monkeys (who were definitely less afraid of us than we of them). The visit was also accompanied by a very dramatic fire dance to which a male choir dressed in sarongs and flowers behind their ears chanted a very infectious tune. We also decided to indulge in a very decadent 3 hour spa session (which as being dusty backpackers, we enjoyed to its fullest!) that consisted of delights such as full-body massage, a flower bath, and a facial. So, in case you want to experience the spirit of Bali apart from foam parties and gallons of Bintang beer, it still is very much alive.
