Saturday, August 20, 2011

Selamat Datang di Bali

After only a quick 24 hours in Kuta, Bali, I feel qualified to say that, Kuta is krazy! True to all the guidebooks and stories, this is "where the party is".  The beach is beautiful, and
the live acoustic set at the hotel bar last night was awesome.  But, the road upon road of cheap tourist crap-bars-KFC-hotels-McDonald's-Polo stores(???) just didn't feel… authentic to me.  Of course, that's totally ethnocentric of me, and tourism is Kuta's culture.  I guess I'm just eager for a little more... tradition, a little less Starbucks.

Beautiful sand, sky & surf on Kuta Beach

This evening I relocated to Ubud.  Having now driven from Kuta to Ubud, I no longer think that the driving in Kuwait is crazy.  The driving in Kuta is krazy!  All the way through to about Batubulan actually, the traffic is unreal.  My driver assured me there are very few accidents, which is good fortune for all the scooters and motorbikes on the road.  But in Ubud, it's peaceful.  The only traffic going on outside my room is the cricket & frog chorus.  While I'm hoping the mosquito nets surrounding the beds don't mean there's going to be heavy mosquito traffic tonight, it's quaint nonetheless.  I'm surrounded by rice fields, no golden arches in sight.  Apparently there's a traditional batik class I can take on Monday.

I did spot these 2 today.  Don't know what they're advertising, but they're cute and I like their message.


2 comments:

Margo Yacheshyn said...

I love the image! I look forward to reading more, Ange.

Journaling Life said...

Let us know how the batik workshop went. June has told me about Ubud and it sounds nicer than Kuta, by far. And I can now say I know what you mean about traffic in Asia - at least S. E. Asia! You get a special badge of honor the first time you cross a street as a pedestrian. Don't hestitate and don't look back!