Bali’s not the worst place I’ve visited but certainly not the best either. The marketing team must take tips from Apple to have it billed as Paradise Island. The most notable thing about Bali is the money grubbers (even lower than money grabbers), everyone wants your money with terrible customer service and wanting to rip you off. Signs everywhere proudly proclaim “no uber, no grab, no taxi” ie you have no chance of getting quoted a fair price in advance and are st the mercy of the thousands of people shouting “transport, transport” at you as you pass. However they are preferable to the Ones offering massage who seem to be every 5 yards in Kuta. What surprised and sickened me was the age of some girls outside a massage parlour when I walked down a dark back street, I doubt they could have been 16.
The trip started and finished in Kuta which is basically the Australian equivalent of Benidorm/Tenerife etc. I’m sure younger people would love be it actually as there’s a decent beach and scantily clad women everywhere but I’m way too old for it’s delights. It’s actually the place the Bali bombing was and the image above is of the memorial. I actually didn’t realise that when I took the photo as you can’t get too close. I only discovered this when reading up on the horrific attack. I have no more photos of Kuta as my phone died. I was using it, went for a shower and on my return it was totally dead. I spent all afternoon as a motorbike passenger trying to get it fixed in Denpasar, I then accepted defeat and spent hours that evening going back and buying a new one which took hours to set up as I think the wifi in the shop was run using elastic bands.
I realised how much the modern traveller relies on a phone when I didn’t have one. I had no bookings, hotel, trips, flights out etc so I couldn’t make any plans. I didn’t even know the time as I don’t have a watch. I’m from the generation that grew up without phones so it’s not like I’ve always had them but it was a bit of a shock how much I relied on it and realused I couldn’t make any further plans without one as I couldn’t even find an Internet cafe.
