Bali...The land of beaches where you can't swim

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  Bali, Bali, Indonesia
Saturday, May 17, 2008

There
are so many preconceptions when it comes to Bali Amazing beaches,
parties, sunsets, shopping, decadent food, Hinduism and temples.
Indonesia is the biggest archipelago in the world with over 15, 000
islands made by volcanoes. It seems there are world class disasters
here every year. It's hard to classify that many islands and
cultures as one country, that's why there have been so many dictators
in Indonesia's history, unity through the old iron fist. They
recently lost East Timor to independence and are likely to lose more
as they stride towards democratization. Indonesia is mostly Muslim,
the largest Muslim nation in the world and has the 4th
largest population in the world.





However, the people of Bali aren't
Muslim. They are a distinctly different culture than the people of
Java, Indonesia's second largest island and most populated. Java has
Jakarta, dubbed the "Big Durian" and most of the country's
history. Sumatra is the biggest island, but the most devastated by
the Boxing Day Tsunami that usually gets associated with Thailand.
Indonesia lost over 220,000 lives, Thailand around 5395 with another
2000 missing, but some were of European decent so the media deemed
them worthy and thus Thailand got the most coverage. See Chomsky for
American media coverage of atrocities committed against worthy versus
unworthy victims. I recently remembered how I will be Canadian when
I travel in Indochina due to our abhorrent past foreign interventions
in the area.

1

We bombed Laos hard, over 580,344 missions dropping 2
million tons of bombs costing the US taxpayer $2.2 million a day. I
guess we ran out of targets in Vietnam so we ventured into
neighboring Laos and Cambodia. These bombs were such crap that 30%
didn't explode so the country is littered in unexploded
ordinance(UXO). I look forward to the numerous amputee beggars
caused by our wonderful deeds. Not looking forward to being Canadian
as I generally despise our ignorant, holier than thou neighbors to
the north, a few notable exceptions of course(They all wear Canada
flags on their backpacks so not to be identified as American).





Back to Indonesia, the land of
natural disasters. We were sorely disappointed with the beaches in
Bali, but it more than delivered in other areas. Crappy beaches(by
world's best standards that often get associated with Bali), yes hard
to believe, but true. Most beaches in Bali are not made for
swimming. The water is too shallow, or too much surf or dead coral
reefs. The sunsets are spectacular, the shopping is probably the
best in the world for what they have. I would like to decorate my
whole house with this crap, I mean you can buy amazing tile and sinks
to do bathrooms, pillows, cushions, fabrics, truly endless. The
restaurants are probably the best value in the world. You can eat
amazingly fresh fish, chicken and steak dinners for around 5 dollars
a plate. I guess there is a good party scene, but Ana and I are a
couple and don't feel like wasting our money on overpriced drinks.

2

Most surfers you meet have about a 20 word vocabulary, have forgotten
how to read, but I guess they are at one with the waves so their
souls are ready to be saved(sorry Allah).





50% of Indonesians live on 2
dollars a day. There economy hit the skids in the late 1990's, the
Kuta bombings in Bali killed tourism in 2002 and 2005(go Allah!!!)
and the recent disasters have crippled local areas. One school went
from 350 students to 38, generations have been lost. This brings me
to the annoyances of Indonesia and Bali. Fucking people trying to
"help" you everywhere. They lie and are so full of shit, it
doesn't phase me much, I'm used to these tourist games and I never
get taken, but it can wear on you. Every street Hawker tries to get
you to buy something as the phrase, "transport" follows you into
your dreams. Apparently, everyone in Indonesia is available for
hire. It's so unfortunate because you always have to have your
guard up, its hard to be friendly with the locals since they are
always trying to get something off you.






The main Beach area in Bali is a
maze of restaurants, shops, hotels, bars and clubs. Everything you
need is at your fingertips. It is a place to spoil yourself, relax
on the beach, catch the sunset over some fresh fish and have a few
drinks. It was a nice change from China. Ana and I rented a
Bungalow near the beach with a great swimming pool, only 16 dollars a
night. We try to spend 30 dollars a day or less, this is easy in
beach areas where the beach is free. We spent the next 5 days
between the beach and our pool, enjoying music and the alcohol from
duty free. The skies in Bali are so blue and the environment
encourages reading and reflection.






It was nice to take a break from
traveling and to just relax. That was our intended plan for Bali,
relaxing in the sun and eating acceptable food.

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