Bali, part II

Sunday night/Monday morning:

So Monday rolls around but 8am is very early to get up, especially when you were up until 5am the previous night hanging out by the beach. In Ocean City it is very difficult to walk on the beach at night because it is patrolled by cops trying to stop teens from misbehaving. It was a real pleasure to just sit on the chairs and hang out. There were a few mishaps not worth getting into, but overall Sunday evening was a blast. We took cabs into Kuta and went to a few bars downtown. We were on the road with a memorial where the bombing was which was a bit humbling/disheartening. After two bars, three friends and I got a bit bored so we went to a convenience store, picked up a few beers, and just went to the beach to hang out.

We later returned to the hotel, went to the pool and later to the beach.

Monday I woke up, ate some food, and started to figure out what I wanted to do the rest of the week. We had the option of staying at the resort for a conference discount rate of $85/night, but I wanted to see more areas of Bali. Originally Lindi and I had plans to travel around together, but we never actually got around to planning things, and as I tried talking to her Saturday and Sunday she didn't seem very enthusiastic about traveling around. People seemed to be pairing off, and it honestly felt like high school again. So, despite my anxiety, I did something totally different. I decided to go traveling by myself with no plan. Normally when I travel somewhere I comb through the travel book to see what there is to do, then plan accordingly. While I read a little bit about Bali, I just packed up my bag, picked a random city on a map and told my cab driver to take me there.

I choose a city called Ubud, which is in the center part of Bali about 2 hours north of Nusa Dua. I had the cab driver stop in Celuk which is a gold and silver making jewelry village known for it's 20-24k gold. I of course love jewelry, so I had the cab driver stop in a few stores. Unfortunately what I thought would be good prices for jewelry turned out to be quite expensive. Plus the designs of the gold rings were not what I was expecting. I loved the feeling of the 22k gold on my finger, but I just didn't fall in love with the jewelry, nor did I think a 22k ring with an amethyst was worth $200+ dollars.

After Celuk the cab driver dropped me off at a random hotel in Ubud. I brought my bags in and asked how much for one night. The guy there, named Putu, responded 300,000 rupiah, which is about $33/night US. This was a lot less than the $85/night in the resort! It had a beautiful back yard with a pool in the back. I saw a couple sitting and eating so I just asked them if it was a nice place to stay. They said yes and that I should definitely stay there. So I checked in.

When I came back outside, the couple (from Germany) said they were going to a burial ground of Raj, one of Bali's more famous kings. They were going on a moped, but following Putu there. He had room on the back of his moped, so they invited me to join, so I did! Talk about an adventure. I had never been on a moped before, and I felt very safe. I don't think I'd ever try driving one, but Bali is much safer than Italy or China.

MORE LATER!