A cold Bintang as the sun gets lower on Legian

Bali used to be every Australian’s dream of an exotic foreign holiday and it was the place many people, including Julie, made as their first overseas trip.  I had done many conferences in Bali over the years but we had never gone together so when the holiday gods of Thailand gave us another four day weekend we jumped at the chance to explore this legendary fly and flop destination.

The island of Bali is only about four hours flight from Bangkok and is a far cry from the rest of Indonesia.  First of all, the people living in Bali are predominantly Hindu while Indonesia is the largest Islamic country in the world.  But more relevantly, the people of Bali rely very heavily on tourism and probably 80-90% of those tourists are Australians.  So there is a strong bond between Bali and Australia, never tested so much as the 2002 Bali bombings where both countries lost so many and so much.

This was the hottest time of the year in Bangkok with temperatures touching 40 degrees and humidity at killer levels.  We thought Bali might give us some relief but that didn’t really happen, at least during the day when we fried no matter what we were doing.  The evenings were a bit cooler and we enjoyed beautiful dinners in outdoor restaurants overlooking the surf and watching the people pass by.

The locals enjoying Legian Beach

We stayed at Legian beach on the west side of the island, known for good waves to the surfers and a bit quieter than chaotic Kuta.  Our hotel was on the beach which gave us easy access to sand and surf along with a long string of beach bars and restaurants to choose from. 

And our favourite activity in these places, tried and tested many times over, is to hire a couple of comfy lounge chairs and a big umbrella and then get served on all day long. At Legian Beach the chairs and umbrella cost about $3 per day and the benefit is that we can regulate the sun, we swim when we like, we get people coming to us to sell things all day (a few too many annoying touts but there is the ice cream man and the beer man) and we can watch the surfers and swimmers and other traffic up and down the big wide beach.

The Brother Bar - our hang out spot on the beach

The peanut salesman with his unique transport system

Indonesia has had a lot of issues over the years and they’ve been making good progress at addressing them with the exception of their weak currency.  There are about 9,600 Indonesian Rupiah to the Australian dollar which is conveniently rounded up to 10,000.  This causes all sorts of problems when buying things and the savvy Balinese – there are many of them – are happy to take advantage of your confusion.

Kuta is the main tourist town of Bali, close to the airport and the main centre for all shopping and tourist activities.  In the old days Kuta was virtually the only place to go and had a very young crowd with a surfing and carefree reputation.  Kuta is much bigger now with large upscale resorts, stores with international brands and endless streets of tourist shops, massage places, sports bars showing AFL footie, western food restaurants and an endless stream of touts trying to sell you anything and everything.

The crowded beaches of Kuta on Sunday when the locals come out

The touts on the streets and on the beach are something we don’t miss in Thailand where in most cases they don’t exist.  In Bali they are part of life and really not a problem if they are willing to take no for an answer.  Their sales patter is boringly repetitious, “Where you from? Oh, g’day mate.  Sydney or Melbourne?  First time to Bali? Come into my shop, very cheap.”  On and on.  My favourite was the very aggressive “Come on, you have money!”  The items for sale are always the same although for novelty we did get offered Viagra (Julie was very quick to answer that one!).

A picture says a thousand words

But Bali is more than long beaches and cold beer.  It has a fascinating range of attractions across the island so one day we hired a car and bravely attacked the narrow and crowded roads.  Well, it was a car of sorts.  We wanted cheap and air conditioning and, well, long story, we ended up with a guy’s personal car that he rented to us, a two door bashed up clapped out Suzuki Jimmy. 

Considering its modest size the island is actually quite mountainous with the highest peak over 3,100 metres.  Armed with our rattling Jimmy we had two targets for the day, the former artist colony turned tourist magnet called Ubud and what is commonly referred to as the Kintamani volcano. 

The colourful open market of Ubud

The drive from the Kuta area took us up the east coast and then inland along narrow two lane roads through healthy green rice fields and palm trees, small villages with modest living standards and winding turns eventually leading to Ubud.  Ubud might be the cultural centre of Bali, and it certainly has an endless stream of art galleries and artist workshops along the road, but its popularity as a day excursion away from the sunburn of the beaches has left it over-run and over-done. 

Hear no evil and see no evil looking for their mate

We enjoyed the Sacred Monkey Forest Sanctuary more than we expected (after all, we do monkeys in spades in Thailand) with its beautiful huge trees and cute Balinese Macaques and we hit the Ubud Palace and the local markets.  But time was short and Jimmy was impatient so after lunch we headed up the hill towards the volcanoes. 

Blocking the view of the magnificent rice terraces of Tegallalang

Along the way we passed through Tegallalang, a small mountain village which is famous for views of the rice terraces carved in the steep mountainside.  Here the farmers of Bali are at their most industrious, building large terraces into the steep mountain to maximize their crops in this rich fertile land.  We enjoyed the views and Julie enjoyed the shopping before moving further up the mountain.

Jimmy didn't always agree with us but he cut a mighty figure

But Jimmy didn’t always agree with our plans and he fought hard against some of the steeper climbs.  Eventually, after a few arguments we managed to persevere and reached the volcano rim (where we had to pay 25,000 Rupiahs for ‘entering the area’) and had magnificent views of the volcanic cone and the blue lake in the middle of the huge rim. 

After a quick visit to the large Hindu temple in the town of Kintamani, and almost gatecrashing a local very elaborate Hindu wedding, we headed back down the winding road, rewarding Jimmy for his hard work with an easy cruise downhill.  Driving on these narrow roads is not easy – crazy motorbikes swarm around you like bees and have a complete neglect of any basic driving courtesies.  That’s why I love it and Julie hates it!

A scooter reallly doesn't limit your carrying capacity

Our last stop on the way to the airport was to the memorial commemorating the bombing in 2002 where over 200 people lost their lives – a reminder that even in sun-soaked Bali nothing is free. 

The memorial in Kuta honouring the 202 people killed in the 2002 Bali bombings

Bali is an outstanding destination, rich and rewarding in many more ways than just beach, sun and beer.  It has a fascinating culture, warm and friendly people and many sites to see beyond the traditional Aussie holiday.  The visit has refreshed our memory to how Bali used to be when we were young but also reminded us that there is much more on offer.