WELL..
I know I mentioned aaaaaages ago I was going to Indonesia with my bestie this summer, for a month of chilling and travelling.. well, I've just got back! It was seriously incredible - if anyone is planning a trip to Indonesia / gap year / holiday - I definitely suggest going! If you follow my twitter you'll definitely be aware that I'm suffering from a major case of the Bali Blues right now... I just want to go back! So before I delve back in to the beauty world and 'all things pretty' - (man, I've missed blabbering on about make-up) I feel like I need to tell you ALL ABOUT my travels around "Indo'! So sit down, grab a brew and pretend you're on holiday- because these next few posts are going to be all about BALI.
(Note: If you do not care one teeny bit about my trip to Indonesia, do not continue reading as you will be thoroughly bored.)
Jessie and I, bags packed and ready to go!
Arrived in Kuala Lumpur - note, my happy, smiling, excited face - this was before the fifteen hours of hell.
My friend Jessie, and I flew from London Heathrow - via Kuala Lumpur - to Denpasar, Bali... (I'm going to skip out the 15 hour layover we had in Kuala Lumpur - bedbugs, homeless men and horrendous food is just a snippet of what we experienced, and unless you REALLY want to read about what a horrific time it was, I'd rather get to the good bits!) So upon arrival, we got a (ridiculously expensive- looking back) taxi, straight to Kuta - the main 'touristy' centre of Bali. We'd been warned about 'Kuta' by so many people - as it was often described as Australian Ibiza/Magaluf/Ayia Napa/HELL... but apart from the obvious - hundreds of 'touts' trying to sell you "Jiggy Jigg" hats / fake Ray-Bans / Bintang singlets (yes I bought one whoops) it really wasn't all that bad. No... Kuta is NOT what you expect Bali paradise to be like - but we figured it would be a good place to start...
For the first few nights in Kuta, we stayed at a small hotel/hostel called 'Bendesa' which we paid 150,000 IDR for - (around £10 a night, £5 each- bargain!) We had a pool, and yes, the room was basic - we only had cold water, 'clean-ish' sheets and the-most-annoying-and-loud fan known to man. But come on - for £5 a night! We were right off 'Poppies Gang 2' - one of the main strips in Kuta, and our room price included breakfast which meant we were able to devour the BEST banana pancakes every single morning before hitting the beach.
The delights of Poppies Gang 2 - what the Balinese refer to as 'Aussie culture'
The best way to describe Kuta to you? ... Mammoth amounts of cars, taxis, scooters (who FYI WILL run you down on the pavement - don't say I didn't warn you!) Men shouting 'TRANSPORT?!' at you every two seconds, and women luring you with 'MAAASSAGE?!' is a pretty regular occurrence. You quickly learn the benefit of 'tidak!' (meaning no!) ... Aussies EVERYWHERE... Surfers EVERYWHERE... Fake RayBans EVERYWHERE!!! It took us a good five days to establish which side of the road the Balinese drive on.. as it seems to just be 'drive into the space'... even if that space is the back of your legs. Manic.. definitely. But very fun!
Surf watching on Kuta beach
We originally only spent the initial two days in Kuta (I say originally - we did spend the odd night 'out' partying in Kuta throughout the month!) before we headed to Seminyak... a more 'upmarket' part of Bali - full of super skinny, super rich, super duper 'cool' people. INTIMIDATING. Our hotel here set us back a whopping £30 a night. Now yes yes, that's still 'cheap' considering what you might pay elsewhere - but trust me, if you're wanting to do it 'budget' in Bali... that's expensivo. Saying that, Seminyak really was uber cool. A must do - at night, the beach is lined with beanbags and acoustic music where you can sit back, relax, mojito in hand and watch the sunset... whilst a small Balinese lady called Mari will massage your feet for £2... BLISS.
My 'Seminyak' outfit - I wore this dress once in the entire month I spent in Bali, and that was in Seminyak... The rest of Indonesia was muchhhh more casual.
Dress- misguided.co.uk
So that just about covers my first few days in Bali - next we headed to Ubud - where Eat, Love, Pray was filmed (Julia Roberts...duh.. watch!) and Ubud definitely deserves it's very own blogpost.
XX Chloé
looks amazing! make sure you tell us all about the rest of the trip too! x
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