Well, back on the 'orse then, as they say.
We arrived in Bali on Monday after a 24 hours of planes and airports.
It both is and isn't what I expected. It's every bit a tacky as you
would expect from an over-developed holiday resort but in many ways
that's quite reassuring. There will never be a world shortage of
tshirts with profanities written on them. On the other hand, I had the
same feelings on arrival I wrote about 5 years ago when I landed in
India for the first time: isolated, tired and like I'd landed on
another planet. The difference this time of course is that I'm not on
my own and those feeling dispersed quite quickly.
The jet lag is pretty bad. The plan for the first night was to get
wrecked due to it being my birthday. Unfortunately after a couple of
beers I could barely avoid slumping my head on the table. I hit my bed
only to wake up at 2 in the morning. Got a few more hours sleep later
but was still zonked in the morning.
Bali is cheap. I mean if you really want to pay £100 plus for a room
there are some international chains who will gladly take your money
off you're hands. Hotel and living costs are probably £15-20 a day per
person. And that's for a good room. You could do it much cheaper if
you wanted too. This is apparently the off season. It's hot, sunny,
dry and full of people. I shudder to think what high season is like.
Definitely in backpacker territory here. Everyone wants to speak to
you; the street hawkers shout at you relentlessly as you walk past
(no, I don't want a flight to Aceh - it's a war zone); lone tourists
try to start up a conversation with you (yes, you have been to more
countries than me and no, I don't care) and then there are the ladies
of the night who stare at you continuously and without blinking
(because it would just be rude for them to start the conversation and
besides, it's your job to buy the drinks). One waitress even had the
cheek to ask for a tip (the food was overpriced and we're on a budget).
Met a writer called Brian Thacker Tuesday night. Amazon describe his
book as a smutty but amusing travelogue. He gatecrashed our table
apparently looking for material for his new book, so I told him my
story of the poo throwers of Delhi. He seemed reasonably impressed.
Rich
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