Travels in Bali

I first visited the island of Bali, Indonesia in the early 1990s. At the time, I was newly married and traveling with my new bride. Simone was the best traveling companion I have ever had. She was, like me, open to new and unexpected experiences. We had flown to Bali with only a reservation for the first two nights. Our intent was to wing it the rest of the trip.

This, in fact, turned out to be a prescient plan, as we encountered several rewarding places of accommodation through references we picked up from locals as well as more than a few obliging hotel clerks. At each evening's hotel, we would inquire of the clerk as to a recommendation somewhere near the following day's destination. The clerk would call ahead and arrange for us. This resulted in our staying at one or two of the most impressive (and relatively inexpensive) lodgings in our mutual experiences.

We had flown twenty-plus hours from San Francisco to Bali via Hawaii with a stopover in Borneo/New Guinea. This proved quite educational, as the government of Borneo had hired a small band of aborigines to dance about in native dress for the edification of passers-through. Interestingly enough, we spotted these same natives dining in an airport fast food eatery, which shall remain nameless. Suffice to say, the sight of this band of indigenes scarfing down corporate burgers put the lie to any intended purpose of their culture-promoting sponsors.

After the long flight, we landed in Nusa Dua on the southern tip of the island. From there, we went immediately to our pre-arranged accommodations in Sanur, a beach town, also on the southern end of the island. These towns, Nusa Dua, Sanur and nearby Kuta are tourist-centric beach communities, providing all the accoutrements that visiting party-seeking travelers could want. That was exactly what we were trying to avoid. Sanur was nice enough but after the first couple of nights, we were eager to get down to the business of exploration.

To that end, with guidebooks in hand, we set out for Candi Dasa another beach town up the eastern coast of Bali. On a hotel clerk's recommendation, we had secured lodging for the evening and upon our arrival, our beachfront digs pleasantly surprised us. The exchange rate being decidedly in our favor, I quickly adapted to the practice of requesting the best room available without giving a thought to cost.

Driving in Bali was an adventure not for the faint at heart. Not being very adept at stick

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