Kuta Beach, Bali

Asia...wow. Love this place but it definitely takes some getting used to. After the six hour flight I stepped off that plane and was so out of my element. Arriving in Bali at midnight, I got a taxi to Kuta Beach because that was the place I had heard from other travellers come up the most, what I didn't realize was how hectic it was. I got to the area where I planned to stay and there were scooters whizzing by everywhere, fireworks going off, people hustling you to buy things or get a ride on their moped. I looked down the street where all the Losmans or cheap places were supposed to be and it was just a dark alley along the street. I finally found any place (and not a very nice one) to stay and was able to calm down a bit. I woke up the next morning still fully immersed in my culture shock ready to take things on in the daylight. Bali is a really unique place. While the vast majority of Indonesia is Muslim, Bali is over 90% Hindu which is very evident in the architecture and monuments found here. Almost every shop has a small palm leaf dish with flowers and bits of food as an religious offering. Kuta Beach, however, is a bit different than the rest of Bali in that it is the tourism hub for Australians which also brings a lot of tacky souvenir shops and people trying to sell you everything. The surf is good in Kuta, there are still places to escape to western society, and there are plenty of things to do here so I decided it was a good place to chill and get used to Indo. Let me describe a day in the life at Kuta: get up at seven and have a full breakfast for $1.50, surf all morning, eat lunch for also very cheap, get a $5 hour long massage, go surfing in the afternoon, eat dinner maybe have a few beers. Not too bad. I have made friends with some Indonesian surf instructors and have been tagging along with them to all the best and cheap places to eat. Most of them are from Sumatra and moved to Kuta after the Tsunami hit in 2004. They call Indonesia the land where Mamas always crying because if its not one natural disaster its another. Even right now in the news A tsunami hit the islands off of Sumatra and there is a volcano erupting in Java. Along those lines I also visited the memorial about a half kilometer away from where I am staying where in 2002 (and 2005) there was a bombing in a nightclub here. Its amazing how popular this place is though because despite this its as popular as its ever been. Alright enough downer talk because Bali overall has very happy people who are very welcoming (cliche statement but true, except for the store hustlers). Today I finally mustered up the courage to rent a scooter and go explore the island a bit. This is not for the faint of heart. Driving here is crazy where lanes, street lights and common sense are thrown out the window. It is kind of an andrenaline rush at first, but gets tiring having to constantly always be aware of everything. I had to keep $5 cop bribe money in my pocket because I didn't have an international license, $2 is the standard rate but I wanted to be safe. Setting out I decided to go to the coastal temple Tanah Alot. Taking directions from the guy I rented the bike from got me very lost, but it ended up being really cool exploring random backroads in the countryside filled with rice paddies and volcanoes. That was one of those moments where I just smiled about how different a situation I am in from just two months ago and it made me smile. Finally,after 3 hours I finally felt my way to the right place. Tannah Alot was cool, its a temple carved inot the side of a seaside cliff. Unfortunately there is also a maze of "Kuta" souvenir shops you have to walk through before getting to the temple and combined with the crowds of people kinda takes away the spirituality of the place. Wish I could post pictures, but I lost my cord that connects my camera to the computer and can't get one until probably Singapore. Tomorrow I think I am moving and taking a boat to Lambok in route to the Gili Islands and possibly a three day trek to the top of the Ranjin Volcano crater, but my plans are still pretty lose. I had to buy a guide book and reading it is making me possibly rethink my itinerary. Will post soon when I can.