RRRrrrrrrr you Indian???

We were super excited to get to Bali because of all the wonderful things we've heard about it. I think those wonderful things people were saying must have been another Bali. Few words could describe what Kuta, Bali is like. Let me try a couple...busy, hectic, sidewalks used for motorbikes, vulgar men, aggressive women, and almost all people here play a mean game of rip of the tourists.

We got in late at night and had to walk a while with our packs to find a room, it seemed like everything was full. This was the first time we had this problem and it was a bit frustrating. We finally found a room and met a couple of Canadians staying a few doors down. We started chatting and soon enough we figured out that not only had I finally found 2 Canadians, we also had 2 mutual friends! Makes Canada seem so small considering we were on the other side of the world. We went out for drinks and what we thought would be a night of dancing, but the club we went to seemed like a daycare so we took advantage of the free drinks and few dances, including what looked like a couple of chip n' dales dancers gone wrong, and called it quits.

We hit Kuta beach the next morning. The waves were amazing and we couldn't wait to get out there to try surfing the next day! When I say Kuta is busy and hectic that's not only the streets, but the beaches too. It was hard to lay on the beach without someone coming up to you every 5 minutes trying to sell you something and/or making vulgar noises and comments to 2 girls laying in the sun. We decided to go shopping instead, and after I got royally ripped off and my blood started to boil, I called it quits on that too. We had begun to search for tickets out of Kuta and to the Gili islands already, since clearly we weren't having a relaxing time in Bali. Prices ranged by about 300,000Rp($33)from booth to booth (also a common trend when trying to shop) and finally we managed to secure us some tickets to paradise.

We went for some great local Indonesian dinner. at a restaurant we returned to over and over, and out for some dancing again, but this time a rolled ankle was the cause of an early night. (I knew the biofreeze would come in handy!)

The next day we roamed around the busy streets and ended up hiring a car, with the 2 Canadians Darren and Auria, to experience a different Bali. A great decision to lessen the sour taste that Kuta left in my mouth. We went to a small, semi busy, beach with beautiful water and a few monkeys! We followed this up with a visit to a temple with lots of monkeys. We were told to remove all jewelry and to hold on to our belongings because these monkeys....are kleptos, they hold your stuff ransom for foos. We were enjoying the great views and a beautiful sunset when one of the monkeys dug it's HUGE teeth into Darrens unopened water bottle for a little drink. Monkeys gotta drink too :)

We left Kuta early the next morning. I don't really say this about places, but if I never return to Kuta I would not be upset....

Next stop - Gili Islands (Paradise)