Bali forever!

Bali is great! Bali is full of variety. Bali is a glimpse of Paradise! Bali absolutely deserves the worldwide fame it is entitled to. However it's really surprising to notice that what it's mainly famous for is not the best part of it, namely Kuta!

Anyway, I'm too lazy for the full story, so here is a must do/"mustn't do". (disclaimer: all this is just based on my humble own experience)... Let's keep the best for the end and start with the (few) mustn't do:

The South West coast (Kuta, Seminyak, etc...). It's like Cancun for the American springbreakers, except you replace Mexico with Bali, American students with Aussie ones and pesos with rupiah. In a nutshell: beaches packed with tourists, seafront covered with MacDonald's, nightclubs, etc... In a word: you won't find authentic Bali there. Great waves, though: we enjoyed bodysurfing for one or two hours before taking off to KL on the way back.

Bali being on a volcanic hotspot, there are of course a lot of craters here and there. One of them happens to be particularly impressive. According to our guide, GunungBatur is the largest crater in the world (17 km diameter, he said). It was erected hundreds years ago. But then 1962 a second eruption provoked a second crater to appear inside the initial crater. We climbed this inner crater, and from the top, at 1,800m above sea level, the view is just breathtaking. One can walk the whole tour on the crest of the volcano. Needless to mention the perfect 360 degrees view. We could stare at the lake and villages laying inside the outer crater, as well as at the Agung volcano some miles away and the long lavas trail leaking from the inner crater. Just perfect. OK, if it seems so perfect, then why did I mention about Gunung Batur in the "mustn't do" list?? But then, I have to admit that part of the pleasure has been spoiled by the "GunungBatur Gangsters"... A few local inhabitants decided to bar all the slopes to the volcano and despoil the tourists passing through. If you don't pay, it's easy, they beat you, and I am not sugar coating it! Don't give me wrong, it's not that I am not ready to participate and help developing this very remote and rural area. But thing is, they steal 80 USD from every tourist. 80 USD! In one day those guys make the money it takes 6 month to the farmer next door to make! And it really looks like it's not shared at all among the Batur community... I can't help but just hate being screwed like that! Of course, no way I could pay that amount. So after 1 hour bargaining, I cut down the price by 8. And to finish with a positive thought: the trek was a real delight. My advise if you wanna climb a volcano in Bali: forget about Batur and drive 20 more miles to reach Gunung Agung which is supposed to be more wild although as beautiful!

Well, even after a few minutes brainstorming, those are the only mustn't do I could come up with! On the must side:

Ubud, its artist galleries, its Hindu temples and just the atmosphere in those tiny streets. Balinese people are really friendly. At some point you wonder if it's just for marketing purpose, but after having some talks we couldn't identify any ulterior motive. It is natural for Balinese to be smiling. At least I want to believe it...

The North coast (dark volcano sand). The Liberty wreck is really worth some dives! It is just incredible how dense the underwater wildlife is down there! Anywhere you look at there will be some weird colorful specimen... It's like making 10 dives in one! We took some underwater pictures. Soon to be on this blog. Beyond that, we felt like the North coast is much closer to the traditional life. It hasn't been spoiled by tourism and easy made dollars, yet...

Driving in Bali is a truly intense experience, especially at night! First, there are very few signs to find your way. Buying a detailed map is really worth the money! Plus, the road are really narrow! At some point we ended up being lost in a very remote area, and the road became no larger than a bike path... Also, it reminded me of Senegal in Africa were the inhabitants settle along the roads. You can drive half a hour and still feel like you are in the same village, a huge village. But actually this is not a village: there are at best two rows of houses and then the jungle... People live on the road. At night time you can see barbecues setup on the sides of the road, people actually sitting on the sides of the roads, etc... On top of that, add a crowd of motorcycles and you as a driver get really nervous!!!

The mountains, and the wonderful rice plantation landscapes. Even better than in the National Geographic. You got to stop by a little town and stare at the vista while tasting some unusual fruits you never had before.

I am in love with Bali and I plan on discovering the Island further anytime soon. To be continued...