After almost a month solo travelling in Malaysia, and this time it was really solo – The whole time travelling up til then I met people who tagged along with me in a little group. We travelled together and hung out. Sometimes only for 1 or 2 days, but still. It means that often, when travelling solo, you’re not really solo… But my time in Malaysia, apart from on the Perhentian Islands, was different, so when I met Jer who wanted to travel together it was nice to have a companion again.
After a chilled couple of nights in Kota Bharu, I got an overland coach back to KL and Met Jer back at Sunshine hostel. We went to a party that night, but not before booking our flight to Bali for the next day. How exciting! Most of my travelling up to this point had been pretty straight-forward, following roads and train lines overland. I don’t really know what sparked my desire to hop on a plane to Indonesia, but I think it was a desire to see a different culture – Bali has a distinct religion and culture, based on a fusion between Hinduism and Buddhism (to put it simply) and they call it Agama Hindu Dharma.
We arrived in Bali the next day and made our way to Kuta on a bus. We checked into Bali Waringin Homestay and learned quickly that money for accommodation goes very far in Bali! One of the few places I stayed with a pool and banana pancake breakfast included for about £5 a night!
For our first full day in Bali we headed down to Kuta beach. The town of Kuta was not really what I was expecting from Bali… It’s very commercial and touristy, basically full of Australian holiday-makers and surfers, since the main beach at Kuta has good ‘beginner’ waves. There wasn’t much of the Balinese culture I was so eager to experience, although we did note all the small offerings on the footpaths or on top of the ATMs!
We found a cheap BBQ buffet for tea and ended the night in the party district (if you can’t beat it, join it!) But sadly the night ended with me losing my purse 😦
We decided to leave Kuta sooner rather than later and heard that Ubud is supposed to be the ‘cultural capital’ of Bali and decided to give it a try…
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