I haven't been using the internet much lately so I forgot to post an update from a few days ago. I wrote this on August 25th.
One week in Bali
I'm currently siting on the plane back to Singapore for my second 19 hour layover in the country. However, this time I'm going to try to make it to Malaysia for the day which would be the 20th country I've been to. The Malaysian border is only a 30 minute drive from the Singapore airport so it's not too big of a deal, as long as I can catch the bus there and back. After my 19 hour layover, I have a 2 hour flight to Phuket, Thailand and then a 3 hour layover, then another 1 hour flight to Koh Samui and then a 1 hour boat ride to my final destination of my trip, Koh Phagnan. My 21st birthday is on Sunday and I'm planning on doing a couple of scuba dives and see what the night brings.
My week in Bali was almost the polar opposite of my 2 weeks in the Philippines. Where I was staying in Bali felt more like I was in Australia with a bunch of Indonesian people around. The town I stayed in was extremely modern and full of organic, vegan, gluten free type food places and fancy boutiques with t-shirts for $50. In the Philippines, I couldn't even find anywhere to buy clothes that didn't look donated. I definitely had a good time in Bali, although it was a lot more chill than the Philippines. Most days I just hung around the neighborhood, bought some cool cheap pants and ate overpriced but good food.
2 days ago I rented a scooter with a friend from my hostel and we drove around to some less-touristy parts of the island. One of the weirdest experiences I had on my trip happened on this motorbike ride. We were driving in the non-touristy area and a man pulled up next to us telling us that he was a policeman and to pull over, so we did. He asked Nate, my friend driving, if he had an international driver's license which he doesn't. The man then said that he had to pay a ticket of 300,000 rupiah which is about $30. Nate asked to see his police badge and he showed us a laminated piece of paper ID card. My friend was unsure that this man was legit so he asked to take us to the police station and he'll pay the ticket there. The man refused to take us to the police station, saying the ticket would cost 500,000 there. After arguing for a few minutes about the police station, the man just drove away. He obviously was a conman trying to get money out of us. I've never experienced anything like this before but I'm glad my friend was so adamant about going to the police station because I'm not sure what I would have done if I was alone.
I tried driving a 2 wheeled motorized vehicle for the first time in my life on this day and only crashed once into a soft pile of dirt in the middle of nowhere. We started the day by walking around some rice terraces near the middle of the island which were really cool but touristy. We then made our way to a waterfall and stopped for lunch at a local eatery on the way. We didn't see any tourists for a good hour. A man sitting at the restaurant suggested that we visit an ancient village that was on our way to the fall so we did, and we came across some large old temples with nobody else around. It was nice to get a break from the tourists, and this is where I practiced driving the scooter around an empty grassy field. We then made our way to the waterfall which was pretty cool, but ran into a good amount of people on our way in and out.
On my first day here I actually got to see some friends I made in Greece 2 summers ago who live in Bali with their 1 year old daughter. It was nice to catch up and meet their adorable baby.
My favorite part of Bali was my hostel and the environment we had. Everybody was so friendly there, literally everyone staying at the hostel became friends and we all went out one night and had a great time. I made some good friends from San Diego who are semi-professional surfers and we hung out a lot. I also took a surfing lesson from a local and I stood up every time! I've tried surfing twice in the past in San Francisco and couldn't stand up but now I know how to do it correctly so I'm going to try again at home.
Overall, I had a great time in Bali, but I'm not sure if I would go out of my way to go back again. The Philippines was more my scene regarding landscape, locals, and prices. Now I'm off to the party island in Thailand for some scuba diving and a party in the jungle.
One week in Bali
I'm currently siting on the plane back to Singapore for my second 19 hour layover in the country. However, this time I'm going to try to make it to Malaysia for the day which would be the 20th country I've been to. The Malaysian border is only a 30 minute drive from the Singapore airport so it's not too big of a deal, as long as I can catch the bus there and back. After my 19 hour layover, I have a 2 hour flight to Phuket, Thailand and then a 3 hour layover, then another 1 hour flight to Koh Samui and then a 1 hour boat ride to my final destination of my trip, Koh Phagnan. My 21st birthday is on Sunday and I'm planning on doing a couple of scuba dives and see what the night brings.
My week in Bali was almost the polar opposite of my 2 weeks in the Philippines. Where I was staying in Bali felt more like I was in Australia with a bunch of Indonesian people around. The town I stayed in was extremely modern and full of organic, vegan, gluten free type food places and fancy boutiques with t-shirts for $50. In the Philippines, I couldn't even find anywhere to buy clothes that didn't look donated. I definitely had a good time in Bali, although it was a lot more chill than the Philippines. Most days I just hung around the neighborhood, bought some cool cheap pants and ate overpriced but good food.
2 days ago I rented a scooter with a friend from my hostel and we drove around to some less-touristy parts of the island. One of the weirdest experiences I had on my trip happened on this motorbike ride. We were driving in the non-touristy area and a man pulled up next to us telling us that he was a policeman and to pull over, so we did. He asked Nate, my friend driving, if he had an international driver's license which he doesn't. The man then said that he had to pay a ticket of 300,000 rupiah which is about $30. Nate asked to see his police badge and he showed us a laminated piece of paper ID card. My friend was unsure that this man was legit so he asked to take us to the police station and he'll pay the ticket there. The man refused to take us to the police station, saying the ticket would cost 500,000 there. After arguing for a few minutes about the police station, the man just drove away. He obviously was a conman trying to get money out of us. I've never experienced anything like this before but I'm glad my friend was so adamant about going to the police station because I'm not sure what I would have done if I was alone.
I tried driving a 2 wheeled motorized vehicle for the first time in my life on this day and only crashed once into a soft pile of dirt in the middle of nowhere. We started the day by walking around some rice terraces near the middle of the island which were really cool but touristy. We then made our way to a waterfall and stopped for lunch at a local eatery on the way. We didn't see any tourists for a good hour. A man sitting at the restaurant suggested that we visit an ancient village that was on our way to the fall so we did, and we came across some large old temples with nobody else around. It was nice to get a break from the tourists, and this is where I practiced driving the scooter around an empty grassy field. We then made our way to the waterfall which was pretty cool, but ran into a good amount of people on our way in and out.
On my first day here I actually got to see some friends I made in Greece 2 summers ago who live in Bali with their 1 year old daughter. It was nice to catch up and meet their adorable baby.
My favorite part of Bali was my hostel and the environment we had. Everybody was so friendly there, literally everyone staying at the hostel became friends and we all went out one night and had a great time. I made some good friends from San Diego who are semi-professional surfers and we hung out a lot. I also took a surfing lesson from a local and I stood up every time! I've tried surfing twice in the past in San Francisco and couldn't stand up but now I know how to do it correctly so I'm going to try again at home.
Overall, I had a great time in Bali, but I'm not sure if I would go out of my way to go back again. The Philippines was more my scene regarding landscape, locals, and prices. Now I'm off to the party island in Thailand for some scuba diving and a party in the jungle.