Alix Says:
Our local pals Ananda and Johan our taking took out and about southern Bali for the day! They totally rock and it is awesome to have new friends who live here; helps to learn more about Bali and of course the language barrier (although most people here speak some English). We are missing the full cremation ceremony of a high priest which would be interesting to see, but what can ya do. We met up in the morning and hopped on our mopeds – me with Ananda, Colin with Jo – and set off to Kuta. Kuta is on the West coast, a big surfing town and rather large and crowded. We strolled the street markets and paid our respects to the ‘Ground Zero’ memorial site – scene of the 2002 nightclub bombing that killed 200 people – then back on the bikes and further south.

GWK – Garuda Wisnu Kencana is this massive statue of the Hindu god Garuda, but it was never completed! The pieces are just lying about – the torso over here, the bird he flies on over there and the arms way over there. It’s kinda funny to see, I am not sure why it was never finished or even if the motivation is intended to resurface and finish it! The end product is supposed to be 66m tall making it the tallest statue in the world, I guess someone got distracted?! The area where it sits is up on a hill so the views are nice looking out over the southern Bukit Penninsula and it looks like a quarry – all the rock is carved out creating maze-like hallways.

Next stop, stunning Dreamland Beach…..as dreamy as the name implies. Fab spot for surfers, the waves were perfect – curling and crashing like in the movies, guys cruising in the tunnel created. I swam a bit but got kinda scared by the powerful waves so I thought it smarter to watch to pro’s instead. A new fancy hotel and bar is being built on the rock overlooking the beach, it’s beautiful no doubt but it kinda ruins the natural beach scene. Although it does have a kickass infinity pool that appears to stretch into the sea even though you are 3 or 4 stories above the beach. Awwwww it was really beautiful to sit in the pool with the crashing ocean below you.

Colin Says:
You buy a local some Arak and you are in man! The local moonshine or coconut liquor can take you by surprise. Our first experience with Arak came our first night in Bali when we decided to stay out way past our bedtime and met some locals who suggested we try they’re local brew. The Arak we were drinking was made by a local fisherman who also owned and operated his own warung, Warung Odah. He eventually turned up and we drank over some intense questioning on my behalf on how exactly one makes this stuff. I don’t really know how the stuff is made but I can tell you how to drink it. You put this stuff in anything, a plastic bag, an empty coke bottle, a water bottle water, whatever. Each brewer has their preferred bottling system. Odah settled on 2 sets of glass bottles — large for 15,000rp ($1.50 US) and small 8,000rp ($0.8 US)! Two large bottles is good enough for 4 people. Apparently the stuff can kill you if made incorrectly and we had to sit through five minutes of terror stories about tourists dying off the stuff. I’ve also heard of plenty of sorry bastards dying from Jameson, Jim Beam and a whole host of other things related to overconsumption.

Anyway. You shoot the stuff. One at a time round and round you go. I did notice a certain devoutness to each of the Arak sessions we were in as the Balinese love the stuff. They measure out each shot with scientific precision often pouring bits back to make sure each drink has just the proper amount. It all tasted the same to me but you know, when in Bali act and do as the Balinese do.

Anyhow the real point here is that we made nice with these two best friends Jo and Ananda who enjoyed our company enough to take us out for some free tours of Southern Bali. Super! They lent us a motor bike which I eventually had to have Jo ride as I almost took out myself and the entire glass store front where we were parked. This my first go on a motor bike and my first ride through the absolutely insane streets of Bali. But, you know, got to learn sometime right. The bike they got for me ended up having a manuel transmission. They just tossed me the keys and were like “That one’s yours…cool?” I said ” Yeah, totally cool. Wanna show me how to ride it?” Get this wiz-bang tutorial say “OK” and jump on for a little test drive. Jam down the throttle put it in gear and the fucking thing zips out from under me! I jam the handle bars far to the left so that the bike doesn’t go flying into the glass store front directly in front of me and take off down the parking lot, knock the bike over to make it stop and say “What the Fuck”. Jo and Ananda start cracking up. Jo had failed to mention how sensitive the throttle is which for an experienced bike rider would be the thing to check first I’m sure. I on the other hand just twisted that thing back like I owned the place. Anyhow, we all decided it might be a better idea if I didn’t drive.

The rest is history.