Alright, I have to admit this but I’ve been stuck in Kuta since I got here and I don’t even like the place. The 1st day here I looked around, decided the heat was too much and the place a tourist trap. In addition I came down with a head cold (don’t ask me how, I have no idea).
I had to plan my next few weeks: did I head off to the Gili islands or move on to Oz? In the end I decided Oz. I was fed up with the heat & humidity here and looked forward to the dry heat of the outback. All my energies went into tracking down an overland route from Darwin to Perth, arranging that and bringing my flight from Bali to Perth forward. Unfortunately the flight only goes two days per week and when I realised this I had missed one by half a day.
In the days before my flight (1am Thurs) I’ve stuck it in Kuta. Transport is such a pain from here that I would have spent as long getting anywhere as being there, plus the humidity made it unattractive. Bali doesn’t ring my bell and it a shame I couldn’t have gone straight from Bromo to Oz, or maybe Gili. In Sumatra and Java I found some of the nicest and most helpful locals on the trip, but in Bali they became pushy and reminded me of Cambodia, the other country I left earlier than planned.
I’m not keen on Bali, but I feel sorry for the locals as I feel sorry for all the Indonesians connected with tourism. The Bali bomb did huge damage to the tourist industry and continues to do so. Western governments don’t help as the UK Foreign office along with others recommends their nationals not to travel to this country (but its still OK to visit New York and Madrid). I even had to battle with my insurance company to cover me for my visit here as they initially refused to (the contract said nothing about FO advice being relevant and I pointed this out).
Hopefully I can put some photos up when I get to Darwin.