Ballin' in Bali

Landing in Bali felt good for a number of reasons. 

1. Bright blue sky.

2. Beach visible from the runway.

3. Checked my bank balance to find I had literally millions of their local currency stashed in there. 

So we thought we were absolute ballers until we worked out that there's sixteen thousand rupiah to every one pound. Both insane and upsetting. 

I have mixed feelings about Bali. By day it's beautiful with its stunning beaches and idyllic waterfront restaurants but by night it's like something out of the Inbetweeners Movie. Known as the 'Aussie Malia', it's been completely destroyed by drunken 18-30s on lads-on-tour type holidays. The locals play on this stupidity by selling obscene souvenirs and making vulgar gestures to every tourist that walks by. It's sad because that's obviously what they think we'll respond to. 

Luckily we met with two boys we know from University and spent the first couple of days with them. We tried to go out on two occasions but both times ended up back in our hostel room to play drinking games there. Our pre-drinks session turned into pre, during and post-drinks because it was far more fun than forcing ourselves into the shitty bars on the strip. And this is coming from four Southampton graduates who spent three years going out in Jesters, a club that was voted third worst in the UK until the first and second shut down! Anyway, there was more than enough to entertain us back at the hostel; we had a pack of cards, Icelandic vodka and Wretham's pop socks to laugh at. It's been ages since we've played our old uni versions of Ring of Fire and Spoons etc. so it was good to reminisce. 

And our hostel room was rather nice too! Anything would have felt like the Ritz in comparison to the last place but this really was good. For only £7 a night we had a big twin room and got free breakfast every morning. They even offered to bring it to you in bed if you fancied it. It's close enough to the bars and the beach but far enough away from the road to give you a glimpse of real Balinese culture. Bali's a Hindu country and their homes are decorated beautifully with statues and windchimes, and the daily offerings of flowers, rice and incense which they place outside for good luck. 

If you have the money to spend there's also some pretty amazing larger hotels here. When we wanted a break from the beach we wangled our way into three different five star places along the beach front to use their pools. Having only been here a week we obviously don't have that 'poor forlorn traveller' look about us just yet so managed to convince the security guards that we were guests there. We have no idea when we'll experience a touch of luxury like that again so we definitely made the most of it!

In the morning we're hopping on a fast boat across to Gili Trawangan, better known as Gili T. Almost everyone we've met has said that it's been their favourite place in Asia so we're really looking forward to it. Let's hope it lives up to the hype!