The Fantastic Four Reunited
Kuta, 28th February 2002
Our first night's sleep in Bali wasn't that great. It was a really
hot night and the air-conditioning was pretty poor. There were also
stray dogs barking all night. When a crow started calling and the
light was streaming through the window, we thought we might as well
get up. By about 8am we'd rinsed off and got ourselves sorted, so we
headed out to look for the girls.
We headed back down the alley and onto Poppies 2. The street had
completely changed from yesterday night! The empty, grey street had
turned into a packed and bustling street full of colourful wares &
signs. The street was buzzing with tourists, shouting vendors and
roaring mopeds.
We didn't want to buy anything yet, because our first aim was to
find the girls. As we walked down the street we could see the scene
in all its glory. The road was lined with countless stalls, packed
with all means of colourful clothes, bright jewellery, copied CDs,
wooden souvenirs, assorted fabric and many more goods. However, the
main aspect of the streets of Kuta, are the local people.
"You want T-shirt?", "You like watch?", "You want massage?",
"Special for you, only 2 dollar!", "No worry, just
looking?","Transport? You want transport?",
We were constantly pressured and asked if we wanted this, that or
the other. People will shout at you from across the road, they will
follow you down the road, asking questions and making offers. If you
hesitate for a second, that's it, they won't leave you alone. In
fact, they often don't give up until the 8th or 9th attempt. A firm
"No thank you" isn't enough until they've tried countless times.
Everyone on the street tries to sell you something, don't show even
a flicker of interest if you aren't prepared to be bombarded with
everything they're selling.
Another thing we had to watch for was the incessant honking of car
and moped horns. They use their horns for everything. A harsh HONK
can mean "Watch out I'm coming through!" or "Watch out I'm turning
left" and of course, taxis do it to get your attention. If you don't
immediately shake your head, they will stop expecting you to climb
in.
When faced with stubborn street vendors, only a repeated `no' will
do. A maybe later doesn't work, because if you walk by again, they
WILL remember your face.
Pushing through the streets and the sellers, we were having no luck
finding the girls' hotel. I'd been told it was on a side street,
opposite the Suka Beach Inn, but after walking down Poppies 2 three
times, and trying most allies, we still couldn't find them. As the
heat was starting to get to us we decided to take a break to have
some breakfast.
One of the things I'm really looking forward to in Asia, is trying
all of the different foods. I'm always going on about tasting the
local cuisine, but where did we end up for our first Indonesian
meal? You've guessed it...McDonalds. We couldn't find any of the
famous Indonesian 'warungs' or street-side stalls in Kuta. There
were a few Indonesian style 'cafes', but they were empty & dingy, so
we didn't trust them. In the end, we had to trust our fist meal to
the Golden Arches. But that was an experience anyway!
The McDonalds in Kuta (there are a few branches) are manned by a
large team of very cheery Balinese folk dressed in bright red,
Hawaiian shirts. They're really friendly & helpful. They really want
to help to choose a meal. Then, if it's not ready in 60 seconds, you
get a free ice-cream! Also, the McDonalds in Bali have a really good
regional menu. They have the standard burgers, fries and chicken
nuggets, but they also have more 'Indonesian' style stuff. An
example if 'Bur Yam', based on 'Babur Ayam', which a chicken & rice
porridge things. It may be the McDonalds version of local cuisine,
but it's still different!
Back to the point, I had a meal called Pan Yam, or something
similar. It was a piece of spicy, battered chicken and a 'patty' of
plain rice. Nothing amazing, but quite nice!
Back on the road, we stopped to buy a bottle of water. Amazingly
cheap at only 2500Rp (20p) for 1.5 litres! Perfect when you have to
stay hydrated, but can't drink the local water.
We asked a few locals where the hotel was, but to no avail. I then
wrote the hotel name down on a piece of paper. By 10am, we'd got a
little closer and narrowed down our search zone. However, we still
couldn't find it. So we decided to get a taxi there, they might rip
us off, but at least we'd get there. Note that 'being ripped off' in
Bali, means overpaying by about 2 pounds.
We quickly found a taxi driver who said he knew where it was and
would charge us the 'special rate' (yeah right) of 20,000Rp (1 pound
30). As it was prepaid, he couldn't run up the meter by driving
around in circles.
After a twisting drive around the city, because of the one-way
streets, we soon spotted the sign for the 'Suka Beach Inn' and next
to it, the 'Hotel Bali Duta Wissata', where the girls are! Terimah
Kasih (thank you) Mr Taxi Driver!
We jumped out of the cab and headed towards room 16. But on the way,
we were stopped by an Indonesian guy in a yellow T-shirt with big
eyes who had just jumped off a moped. He started talking to us and
asking us our names, our jobs and all the usual stuff they ask just
before bringing out their collection of wares. However, when we told
him we were meeting friends and walked away, he said goodbye and
didn't try to sell anything! Maybe I misjudged him!
We knocked on their door and it opened slowly. Em poked her face
timidly around the door and smiled. She put here finger to her lips
and hushed. Looking into the darkness of the room we could see Nat,
still in bed.
Nat looked up as we snuck into the room. It was a small, basic,
square room. There were two comfortable looking, but messed up beds.
The white, tiled floor was littered with stuff and the red set of
shelves between the beds was crammed with various bits and bobs. We
couldn't make much else out, because it was so dark. However, when
Em flipped the light on, we could see the room clearly. The room,
although basic, was actually very nice and cosy. The mess on the
floor was actually the girls' stuff and it would have been a lovely,
tidy room if their stuff wasn't everywhere!
We spent the next hour or so catching up on things we'd missed while
we'd been apart. You know what I've been up to from my diary
entries. Hopefully Em or Nat will write about their experiences
soon.
In a nutshell, for the first few days, they'd had a really bad time,
but now they were enjoying themselves. Nat had got over her food
poisoning and was having fun haggling over souvenirs. Although Em
had had her wallet stolen, she only had a little cash in it. Her
traveller's cheques and other money were in her money belt, and this
was enough to get by on.
When they told us they were paying 40,000Rp (1 pound 90) between
them for their room, we made the quick decision to change hotels. It
was much cheaper, nicer, cleaner, busier & safer here. Plus, the
toilets work!
We worked out where the girls' hotel was in relation to ours and
realised something. The taxi driver had in fact charged us 20,000Rp
(the same price to get from the airport to Kuta) to take us about
100m down the road. He'd taken a really long, round-a-bout route to
hide the fact. We had been ripped off.
Remembering not to trust the guy's bearded face and small, sparkling
green eyes, we rushed back to our hotel, on foot, to pick up our
bags and get them out before the 12 noon check-out time. Of course,
rushing back down the road to the girls' hotel, we were asked about
20 times if we wanted a hotel room. "Tidak Mau!" (No thanks!)
We checked into the hotel, our room was directly above Nat and Em's,
then collapsed on our beds for a breather. Afterwards, we headed
back down to meet the girls again, and off we went to explore Kuta.
Em & Nat had come up with a neat little route to get around the
shops & stalls of Kuta. They went down the main streets, winded
through lots of minor streets, went past loads of street-vendors,
shops and the 2 Matahari shopping centres. This kept them busy and
gave them a good look at Kuta.
Over the next few days, we really got to know Kuta...
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