Got Air Asia flight to Bali in the AM. They cut down on the legroom on flightd to pay for hot air hostesses it seems! All grand, except for irritating Jack Wills public school types in our ears the whole way. Got into Indonesia fine - phew. Our airport transfer we arranged failed to turn up - boo - but when we got to the hotel they'd given us a free upgrade so we didn't grumble.
Bali is really pretty, there are temples and statues in sarongs everywhere you look and amazing artists painting and making wood carvings. Nik saw a basketball court surrounded by graves. Our hotel is the Mastapa Garden Hotel, and is on Jl Legian, one of the main streets in Kuta. Kuta is like the Majorca of Bali but is a decent starting point and perfect for chilling out for a couple of days. We have a two storey cottage suite at the hotel which looks out over the pool and tropical garden which has birds and koi carp in it. The hotel is next to a tattoo shop. Nik is trying to control himself.
Spent the first say sleeping the flight off mainly, but Nik found time while Hannah was unconscious to go and buy a pair of sunglasses and a t shirt and some 'peeled' bread (crustless) with nutella. There are hawkers everywhere in the street trying to sell you stuff or make you go on a motorbike. In fact, on our first evening out, lots of men with beards tried to sell us hashish, but my favourite moment was when a man offered Nik Viagra. (Nik innocently thought he'd offered him some crack, but no).
For the first evening, we enjoyed some beers a la balcony before going for a walk down to Kuta and along Kuta Beach Road (that's once the thunder and lightning stopped). For a first night treat, we had pizza in a rather swanky beach front bar and amazing cocktails which they stir with chunks of coconut or tree or something. The cocktails were so cold that there was actual steam coming off them. Also, the pizza restaurant was ace because there was a man singing Elvis covers in a thick Indonesian accent.
After dinner, we headed to a cool sports bar for a few local brews - Bintang beer is £1 in bars here. NICE. The bar was frequented by aforementioned Jack Wills girls, but they were topped by the trashed public school kids who were throwing themselves about. Our favourite was a tall blonde who was a total mess, but man with no hips, fat friend and man with pyjamas on were also firm faves. All in all, there are a lot of drunk blondes here. There was also a gang of cool Asians who were like the Animaneax's. One of them wanted to be Nik's friend, but this was only because he felt bad for accidentally kicking him. Despite all this, Eikon (the bar) was preferable to the bar down the road where Nik was offered 'a nice lady to take home'.