Kuta Kalling

Jakarta airport. 1am. Buggered.
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Cebu Pacific winged us to Jakarta Airport, where we planned to get a flight to Bali.  We cleared customs by 1am and were quickly harassed by taxi drivers.  In the end we decided to sleep in the airport until the airline offices opened because there wasn't enough time to sort out accommodation in the city.  If you're sleeping at the airport, head to the departures level where you'll find a clean area, relatively decent toilets and security guards.  Don't bother trying to find the internet, that's one thing the place lacks easy access to.

Adrienne catching a few Z's
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Adam Air had the cheapest tickets to Denpasar (Rp390,000 - NZ$1 = Rp5800).  When we got to Bali we grabbed a private bemo to Kuta because we couldn't find the public ones.  We thought we'd been ripped off (Rp35,000) but it turns out that we'd bargained a good deal, the taxi is normally Rp45,000.  After 10 hours at Jakarta airport and wandering Kuta with backpacks, we were buggered.  Our first impression wasn't good: the taxi driver tried to short change us, the internet was expensive, the wartel we called Hanna (CouchSurfing host) from was a rip off (Rp30,000 for 2:05 to a mobile) and we were constantly harassed by shopkeeps, taxi drivers and touts.

...Bali introduced us to the sounds of the wet season...

Cool landscaping
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Hanna met us in the evening and took us to her place.  That night Bali introduced us to the sounds of the wet season, backed up with a few hours of bass from the many nearby night spots.

The rain kept coming in the morning, which didn't leave us with much to do: internet (Rp 250 per min), laundry and lunch.  Hanna recommended doing Bali by scooter and we hired one for a week.  Normally you pay about Rp35,000 per day for an automatic, but thanks to Hanna we got it at Rp25,000 including insurance (US$100 excess).  Hanna gave us a quick night tour of Kuta and we invested in a sim card (Rp25,000 for Simpati) in order to use our mobile here - cheaper than a wartel!

Mmmm.... a well deserved beer
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A tour of Bali started the following day.  We packed our bags, backed up our photos and scootered around Kuta for a daytime look.  One word of warning: if you are looking for a beach to enjoy, flag Kuta Beach.  It sucks.  Good for learning to surf or if you've never seen a decent beach but not one for Kiwis.

All our gear for the next week went into a pack on Adrienne's back and a day bag.  We jumped onto the scooter, opened the throttle and blazed off into the choke of traffic to Ubud.