In Bali & travelling at last! hallelujah... the excitement of travelling took some time to kick in; was too preoccupied addressing everyone's concerns about the dangers of travelling alone (yeah, including my own). It was only when I got through customs at Bali, had arranged a hotel & taxi, & was sitting in the taxi whizzing through the tropical night past temples and palm trees that it all really hit. I sat back and grinned, & haven't really stopped since...
The place is gorgeous in a ramshackle way. Everyone rides motorbikes&scooters on the pavement, wearing Bob-the-Builder hats, women passengers sitting demurely sideways on the back as they weave in & out of traffic. The pavement is littered with little palm-leaf offering trays giving flowers, biscuits and cigarettes to the gods. Palm trees and - umm - lots of flowery trees abound, with massive coloured butterflies and tiny darting birds. The buildings vary from shanty-style held-together-with-twine mixes of driftwood and corrugated iron, to splendid stone constructions. Due to the highly decorative nature of the architecture, both look equally messy to my western eye, and fit well together.
I'm staying in Kuta, near the airport; it's not 'traditional' but has a lively night scene and excellent surfing beach (waves a hundred foot high, give or take a few inches - to my eye) which will do for the moment until I find what places both have surf and tradition. Last night was in a luxury hotel - air conditioning, which was bliss. Spent a few hours today hunting for a cheaper place; settled on a basic place in the center. It has electricity at least sometimes, a shower with cold water if not hot, and is stone-cool with a fan which works when the electricity does. And the builders don't start till 8, and their work - judging from today's noise - seems to involve scraping noises rather than drilling noises, so that's okay. After moving in there around 3, I lay down on the bed after a cool shower and woke up just now at 8. So much for the day.. time to see what the evening has to offer.