Arrival at the Island of the Gods

I probably should have started this blogging process a while ago so that I would remember all the amazing details of my first two weeks here but I've been enjoying myself thoroughly the whole time, and I'm lazy.

We arrived in Bali on the afternoon of Sunday October 26th after having travelled for 25 hours, 32 if you include me leaving Philadelphia around 4 pm on Friday the 24th and getting in a van with a huge family from Afghanistan that looked like they were either starting a luggage business or singlehandedly supporting one. A comfortable bed was all I really had in mind as we flew over the Indian Ocean from Taipei to Bali on the final leg of our flight, and then the island started to come into view and instantly I was re-energized. The landing strip for the airport juts out into the ocean off of a beach in the south of the island like a hand reaching out to catch you as you fall from the sky after what seemed like a lifetime prison sentence flying coach.

We had "transport" waiting for us at the airport which was a nice convenience. We both got suckered by the porters at the airport who so kindly grab your bags for you, one for each person, and then make you feel terrible when you don't pay each one of them what is probably a preposterous amount of money (I say probably because at this point you have no idea what the relative cost of any service in the country is) to carry your bag about 10 feet to the money changing windows.

Our hotel brought a nice change of pace as you finally get a taste for the almost overwhelming friendliness of most of the locals and the overall relaxed nature of the island. Once we dropped our bags in our room, and marveled at the fact that our toilet and shower were outside, a liberating experience if you've never tried, we did the only thing we could do...got in the pool and ordered a beer. After working hard at relaxing we threw some dry clothes on and hopped a cab to the nicest Australian beach Bali has to offer, Kuta Beach. Kuta is for all intents and purposes Australia's Cancun or Abiza, take your pick. But before I paint too negative of a picture in your mind just remember that on the 15 minute drive from our hotel you have no doubt in your mind that you are in a 3rd world country. Driving by rice paddies with local farmers guiding their cows or archaic looking machines (right/above) around the little flooded plots of land to help break up the soil. Tiny "Warung's" or food stalls along the sides of the road. People whizzing by you on their moto's, honking as if to say everything with just one word; I'm passing, I'm behind you, I'm around this corner, get out of the way dog, get out of the way human, MOVE BUDDY, hello friend, whoops my finger slipped.

We got to Kuta in the middle of a parade as hoard of locals, tourists, and expats lined the street in what for myself and Dan having just moved to the country was a somewhat overwhelming experience. Not that the parade was bad because it wasn't, it was great, but Kuta is not the first place you want to lay eyes on in Bali if you are coming here to live. If you're just visiting then maybe as it's the westerner's party area complete with bars and clubs lining the streets, tourist trap restaurants like Looter's and the Hard Rock Cafe, and of course the ubiquitous Circle K. We walked down to a pretty crowded beach where hawkers were trying to convince us that we need to buy a bow and arrow from them to kill the mosquitoes, others were positive we were on the market for sunglasses even if we looked the other way the second they approached us with box open or dive headfirst into the sand like ostriches, or that we absolutely must get a massage from the most likely 80 year old lady that at first tried to sell us what looked like pieces of string trying to pose as bracelets.

We continued down the beach and walked through a small food festival with booths lining the sidewalk. At that point we realize that we had arrived during the final day of the first annual "Asia Beach Games" and that all of the hoopla there was not an every day occurence...PHEW...but seriously, there was no way in hell we were going to live in Kuta. We stopped along the beach to watch our first professional surf competition as the sun set in the background, now this I can get used to.

After an action packed walk we stopped for dinner, drank some beer, and processed our first experience in Bali. So far it wasn't what we expected, but then again my mental picture of paradise is beautiful women fanning me off with a giant leaves while feeding me grapes.

That night we went out with a new friend of ours from our hotel, James from Australia, and met his best friend Eddie (picture on the right), a local Balinese who would later be the catalyst for some pretty amazing experiences in our first couple weeks.

--We didn't take any pictures during our first couple days here. The pictures through the blog are others from the past two weeks. I felt it would be unfair not to share some of the sights of Bali as well. Many better pictures and great stories to come.