Balling in Bali - June 12th -

We left Singapore for Bali on June 12th and arrived late that night.  Bali is probably the world's biggest surf mecca with some of the best surf in the world.  Ranging from mellow beach breaks to kamikaze suicidal reef breaks, it has waves for everyone.  We hope to score some good waves without losing any limbs or taking any lashings on the reef.

We stayed in Kuta for our first two nights in Bali, which is a bustling network of narrow lanes and alleys lined with losmen (no not overly promiscuous men, but cheap hotels) and vendors hawking all kinds of souvenirs. Everything is pretty cheap and decent rooms near the beach are around $10/night.  It's even cheaper the further away you venture from Kuta.  

Walking the streets in Kuta makes you fear for your life at times as there are hundreds of people flying past you down the narrow alleys on scooters.  Your best friend often times becomes the alley wall as you end up hugging it to avoid being run over by a wreckless balinesian.  Scooters are the main form of transportation and I've seen some interesting combinations of people and animals riding together.  I've seen as many as 4 people on a scooter, but have heard as many as 5 can fit on one together.  I even saw 3 people and a lab sized dog riding together.  It's truely amazing the balancing acts they can pull off. 

Kuta was our basecamp for a few days until we figured out the best way to make it to the surf breaks.  As I am writing this, I have heard the same Indonesian Idol song over 4 times and the music is pretty terrible.  Very slow and depressing.  Anyway, while we were in Kuta we met a Swedish guy named Petter who has been in Bali for a little over a month.  He was looking to split a bemo (local transport) up to a small town with a left-handed point break called Medewi since none of nearby breaks were working.

Jed and I thought about renting scooters and driving up to Medewi, but were happy on our decision to hire a driver when we saw an Indonesian that had been killed in a scooter accident.  Sad and scary.  

We've spent the past few days in Medewi, which has been much more laid back and even cheaper than Kuta.  Medewi is easily the longest left I've ever seen with rides over 600 yards.  I timed one guy who had a 50 second ride.  No joke!  Waves are a pretty good size, around head and a half and are expected to get up to double over head tomorrow.  It's a pretty mellow break, but can get crowded.  It's sharp rocky bottom required us to buy booties to walk out to the point.  We figure this will be a good investment since almost all of the breaks are on sharp reef.  

So far, Bali has been great.  The Balinese are very friendly, helpful, and always smiling.  Best of all, the scenery is amazing and the cost of living is ridiculously cheap.  Yesterday I ate 3 great meals, had a few beers, and a 1 hour massage for a grand total of $13.  Our room is probably the nicest in the area and is right on the beach for $7/night.  

Of all the languages in southeast Asia, Indonesian is supposed to be the easiest so we've attempted to learn what we can while we're here.  Most of the Balinese in the surf or touristy areas speak pretty good English so that has made things easier.  

One thing I forgot to mention is a story about Jed when we were back in Kuta.  One night after watching the US vs. England football game, we were walking back to our room and Jed was accosted by an ugly woman with a large adam's apple and big hands, AKA, a lady-boy.  Jed being the gentleman that he is politely declined the lady-boy's offers for "her" services.  But, when the lady-boy upped her sales pitch by petting Jed (in a way that our parents warned us about as children), he ran away with the highest pitched scream I've ever heard from a male, which made me wonder who the true lady-boy was that night. 

We are planning to spend the next day or so in Medewi and will probably head back to Kuta when the swell drops.  I will try and upload pictures when I back to Kuta because the uploads take too long.