I'm not the author Alan Glynn (click here for him) but fully recommend his novels Winterland & Darkfields

Sunday, June 05, 2005

Bali

We stayed in the Resor Seminyak, which we both recommend, it's got a great pool and some great restaurants outside the gate which saves you having to brave Kuta (the strip) every night for something to eat. The Balinese people are so desperate for your money its very hard to go out at night with out being totally harassed by the hawkers trying to get you into their shops.

We found it very unsettling and we were delighted when we moved to a less touristy area for the final five days of our stay. We stayed at the Sheraton Lagona and it was absolutely fabulous. More swimming area than I've ever seen. The breakfast table alone was a gastronomic master piece. Being a five star resort meant everything in the resort had a five star price so we, being scabby backpackers, avoided buying stuff in the hotel and braved the hawkers every night and ate in the neighboring village for about 12 euro a night. The Indonesian food is excellent.

I took out the hotel hobi cat sailing boat for a blem on afternoon and capsized it which sparked a mini rescue operation by the hotel staff while everyone on the beach looked on. Put it this way I was a little red faces coming ashore and it wasn't from the sun.

All in all Bali is a beautiful island and we didn't see much as we just wanted to chill but they need to do something about the hawkers.