Bali! We have arrived...

Hey hey there,

Hope all's well in good ol' England, and hope it's a little cooler there...! We spent a (lovely) day flying yesterday, from Cairns, which was alright but nothing spectacular, to Darwin, which was very hot - yes we are qualified to say we've seen it, as we stepped outside the airport for all of about 7 minutes...! We had a stopover there of about 5 hours, and didn't really want to spend much money, so had a delightful time hanging around the airport. Only an hour delayed leaving to Bali, as they couldn't start one of the engines (I think Jetstar is a bit like Ryanair or Easyjet), but the bonus was that we did get a free meal on the flight. Delicious, but, as always, not enough.

So we landed yesterday, and had a bit of a culture shock as it was about 1am our time, and we were used to easy Australia! But we managed to find a lovely guy called Sultan on the Poppies 1 Road, who helped us find a cheap hotel. (He worked in a tourist office, which was still open at 11pm, he wasn't a random off the street!) So we are staying in a very friendly place for a total of 10 US dollars a night for the 3 of us, with a huge double bed, another big single bed, and an adequate fan for the heat, plus our own bathroom. Such a hard life! It even includes an egg and tomato toastie with tea or coffee in the morning, loving this...

So Bali... well we are staying in Kuta, instead of grey Denpasar. It is wonderful - a maze of alleyways with people selling all sorts of things, and the most gorgeous clothes. Reminds me a little of the medinas in Morocco. The locals are so friendly! (and small) - things are thankfully very cheap here. We can eat a tuna steak with vegetables for a pound, or a fresh juice for 27p which was huge)... and for a little more money you get a lot.

The beach here is the main focus, with lots of people on it, and enjoying the water, as it gets very humid and hot during the day. There are a lot of people hassling us to buy stuff, but they do it in such a nice way, it doesn't feel too bad. They are incredibly friendly and helpful. We walked around Kuta today a little, and bought a dress or two (for all of 4.5 USD), and also saw the memorial to the Bali bombings in 2002, which were around this area. Very sobering, and a fitting monument to all who died. Lots of English names up on the board.

We gave up walking around and headed for the beach, where I had a 2 hr private surfing lesson for 12USD - for a little more I could've got a free massage, a date and soft drinks, but I passed that up. He, Rizzle (his friends were called Tiger and Oraz), was a fantastic teacher and managed to get me standing up on the board on my 3rd attempt. Far better than the lesson I had in the Outer Banks in the US when I was younger. What can I say? I am now a pro. Surfing on the board all the way in, managing to change its direction, even got an injury. (Unfortunately it wasn't gushing blood, so not very impressive, just clonked myself on the back of the head with the board like a slight retard)...

So we are all a little full now after our veggie curries and tuna steaks, but just wanted to say that we arrived safely and are very content here. Luckily it is also very safe (as long as you're not male, single and stupidly drunk) which is more relaxing that South America, however we are aware that we are at most risk when we think we are the safest - so we're not letting our guard down. However, the atmosphere here is wonderful, and I think we've talked to most of the population in Bali already!

The roads are VERY narrow, barely letting a small car through, and add in 2 million scooters to the 4 million humans, lots of pedestrians and the odd horse, and life becomes very entertaining! We were walking down a narrow alley last night finding a hotel, when 3 scooters came roaring towards us... we shrieked and jumped out of the way, only for the guy in front to say, laughing, 'Don't worry, take your time'... and for the 3rd guy to say 'I'm going to kill you!' Luckily he was joking (or so we like to believe)... we did meet him again today and he was lovely, - the phrases they have picked up here are hilarious. Reminds me a lot of Morocco - again, 'Charlies Angels!', 'Looking is free', 'Hello darling', 'Hello treacle'... plus all the footie talk.

Anyway, we are heading into the middle of Bali tomorrow (all of about 45km away), to see some monkeys and do some 'culture', before swinging onto the north coast, and then down to do the Liberty ship wreck in Tulamben on the East Coast, which is also in some people's top 10 dive sites globally. Two dives there coast 45 USD - a fraction of the price in Australia. We will then head to Padangbai to maybe dive there, before heading over to the island of Lombok (to Senggigi) and then the Gilli islands, before flying to Singapore on the 15th. Internet is pretty hard to find in some places, so may not be able to check in as much, but at the moment my UK mobile (07877 421 666) is working, so in emergencies feel free to call it. As much as I'd love to hear from you in non-emergencies, it costs me a fortune to receive calls and messages!

Anyway, better dash and find a fan, but love to all, from us all,
Alice xxx