Country number 104!!! I think it is a right of passage for most young Aussies to go to Bali in indonesia and despite not actually being an Aussie, I did grow up there. I guess it’s the equivalent of young English people going to Ibiza.

During the time I was back in London, I worked out which countries I wanted to go to and the places I wanted to see in the time that I had. On that list was Bali so here I am at Bali airport having spent a few days in a place I feel i should have visited as a 20 year old.

From my previous posts you will see that my flight out of Hong Kong was delayed and by the time I got to Bali it was after 3am. I had been travelling for over 24 hours and I was shattered. By the time I got to bed it was after 5am and I had lots that I wanted to see and do so I needed to be up and out before 9am.

Denpasar Markets
Anyone who has read my previous blog entries knows that I love visiting local markets (not tourist markets) as they give you a good idea about the people and how they live. Bali was no exception to that rule and I saw lots of fruit, vegetables and meat products. Unfortunately I was a little late getting to the markets so I missed the majority of it.

A vendor in Denpasar Market

Bali Arts Festival
Had a look at the site of the Bali Arts Festival and managed to watch a local cultural group. Since this was during the day, it wasn’t too crowded. I am told that evenings are packed with visitors. I also managed to have a look around the main stage area and the smaller surrounding stages.

Main stage at Bali Arts Festival

Bali Museum
I was a little disappointed with Bali museum. I was told that there were prehistoric artefacts however the “prehistoric” artefacts I was shown were from the 18th century. That didn’t impress me at all. In hindsight I guess most visitors don’t go to Bali to check out the museums though.

Ubud
Took a drive out to Ubud through the countryside and paddy fields and stopped at a few craft places on the way. Saw some silver jewellery being made (last time I saw that was in Myanmar), a couple of art galleries and some batik. I particularly like one of the batik pieces but didn’t buy it because I thought it was too expensive and I was sure that I would find it elsewhere. As it happened I never saw it again. Oh well. Somethings are not meant to be.

Making Batik in Ubud

One of the things that hit me about Ubud was the number of white women, aged 40 plus, who were out riding bicycles and the number of advertisements I saw for meditation and yoga classes. The producers of “Eat, Pray, Love” have a lot to answer for. If you are a 40 plus female reading this and thinking of looking for enlightenment in Bali rest assured that you will not be alone.

Kuta Beach
No trip to Bali would be complete without a trip to Kuta Beach and Legian so I went for a wander around, got harassed by touts and people in roadside stalls. All pretty normal stuff for Asia. It has to be said that the touts of Bali would be no match for those of Thailand, India, or Egypt so wandering around is fairly painless.

Kuta Beach

The 2002 Bali Bombing Memorial
A terrorist bombing happened in Bali back in 2002 and over 200 people from around the world were killed in a nightclub bombing. Until 2002, Bali was seen as the peaceful party island and as such the bombings made global headlines. Even now at least one court case is still happening as they find and charge those responsible.

In the centre of Legian a memorial to those killed in the bombings has been build on the site of one of the bombed nightclubs. It’s a stark reminder of the horrors that occurred 10 years ago.

Thoughts
I wasn’t sure what I would think of Bali but I must be getting soft since I actually liked it. Don’t think I would want to stay there for a week or two as I would get bored but all in all it isn’t a bad place to spend a few days.