Bali to Bangkok

Our last few days in Bali seemed to fly by! We hired a driver and drove to the south part of the island, the beach area frequented by most tourists, and in past, by many backpackers (alot of Australian who are conspicuously missing these days). Pretty beaches but not our type of place to stay!

We passed what the Balinese interestingly refer to as 'ground zero'....the bombed area of nightclubs that killed so many tourists just a few years ago. There is a huge monument built near the site with the names of the people who were killed there and nearby is a lone small temple which was the only thing left standing. There is to be a huge peace rally on the site this year on the anniversary of the bomb. The Balinese are so sad about the event that so terribly hurt their country. As we left the compound where we stay in Ubud, we wondered how long it will last. With tourism numbers so down, (other than the Japanese and German who prefer much fancier places with pools) room occupancy is at an alltime low. We do not know how many more seasons small places like our favourite can survive! How sad it would be to see the loss of these family owned places as the prospect of jobs for the people running them is not good.

A long day of flying from Bali to Hong Kong and then to Bangkok but we finally arrived at midnight on the 9th.

Our first couple of nights have been in a different place than the hotel we usually stay at here in Bangkok and they have been less than the warm welcome we have come to expect in Thailand. We like Bangkok so much to have it spoiled by a lousy place to stay would have been too sad. The Thai people are so sweet and obliging that even the attitude of the people in this hotel was out of character. Much of the faults of the room would have been 'non-issues' in a small village and this place is probably on a par with much of our accomodation in China, but we have different expectations here in Bangkok. Anyway, the move this morning to our favourite hotel will put that all right.

Yesterdays walking and walking and walking....and then the computor mall with so much to see and wish for, took alot out of me and I fell aspleep early as Jim played on the computer. (In Bangkok we are able to connect the laptop using a purchased card which gives us 17 hours of internet and works much like a prepaid phone card. At just $.35 an hour, it is great!)

Today's plan is to have a look for a tailor for a new shirt and pants and then off to Koa San Road for the rest of the day. Koa San is the market area surrounding the backpacker hostel area. Always lots of interesting stalls, food markets and people watching there. We may even hop a riverboat for a short 'taxi' ride down the river. There are many choices of transportation for getting around Bangkok and for a huge, heavily populated city, it is relatively easy. There are lots of young people around to help with the language usually, but we have learned to always pick up a card from the hotel with the address written in Thai as many taxi drivers do not speak English. With the new skytrain, buses, Tuk-tuks (open motorcycle-type carts....good for siteseeing but NOT to be used at rushhours as the pollution will kill ya!) the river taxis and cheap taxi rides, there is no reason not to explore the city. Most areas are perfectly safe (keeping in mind the usual precautions for pickpockets in the market areas) and we always feel comfortable here. During our long walk yesterday, we realized that there are many cities around the world that we have returned to and we thought how neat it is that we can immediately feel at ease and know our way around! Need a global tour guide anyone?

At the computer mall yesterday, we noted a sign on the front doors that said the Mall does not condone the sale of pirated software or copied articles and that if anyone had a complaint they could contact the number below! Yeah right! As if all the people there to buy software etc were going to complain! People were opening selling, business as usual! I expected, after reading the sign, (obviously, a result of the pressure that the US has been putting on Thai) for sellers to be somewhat more covert in their trade (as they are in Hong Kong), but nothing had changed. "Copying" is such a huge part of the Thai marketplace, that little will likely change!  In case you are wondering......no.....MY shopping did not change either!  A couple of dvd movies that Jim wants to see are also on the list. A quick reminder that if anyone has a 'shopping list' they should email me soon. CD's and DVD's are small so not a problem!

Well everyone, time to shower, have breakfast and move so will close for now. We will post at least one more update before leaving here and heading for
China. We are leaving most of the luggage here, as we will fly back here before heading for Auckland and travelling lite is important on the next leg of the journey! (May not return as light as we leave though!  lol)

 

The Wanderers