Second stop of my solo trip was Kuta, finally I was going to enjoy the beach!!!
I didn’t know what to expect but I was there. The streets were crazy, a lot of traffic, mopeds everywhere, a main road and a lot of little side streets and alleyways. Did I mention I was In the centre? On the main street you could find famous fast food chains and other famous companies such as KFC, Starbucks, Hard Rock Café, to name a few.
I got off the bus, found a cheap guest house to stay in and headed straight to the beach.
Kuta is known for its beautiful sunsets, surf on the beach and buzzing night life. I only spent 3 days here but I didn’t go out at night, I didn’t feel totally comfortable going out drinking by myself in a strange place.
So I used to go to sleep early, wake up in the morning with the rooster crowing, the sunlight coming through my window and the unbearable heat.
Nice, fresh fruit breakfast and then off to the beach where I lay under the sun until I couldn’t take it anymore and went swimming for a while. A cycle that went on over and over again during the day…until of course I fell asleep.
I once fell asleep and when I woke up I had a really red rash on my chest, but I assumed it was only a sun burn and I didn’t think much else of it. But when it didn’t go away by the next morning I had to go to the pharmacy and get it checked out. It appears that I had a sun allergy (the first of many other times that this has happened to me now) but nothing that some cream couldn’t take care of.
Now, after so many years and so many other trips, I can see how inexperienced and how scared I was. I used to go through the same streets so as not to get lost. The little streets were like a maze.
I use to go to the beach and watch people surfing, I couldn’t do it because I injured my knee in the Botanic Garden, but it was still fun. I went to see the sunset as well, it was my first sunset on the beach. At home, our coast is on the east side so we only get sunrises.
One of the things that I did, that is not ‘touristy’ at all, was to go to the Bubba Gump Restaurant. Yes, yes this is an American franchise but Forrest Gump is my favourite movie and I’ve never been to one. So when I heard that Kuta had one I had to go.
The decor was all related to the movie, they had some outfits in a vitrine and signs with phrases from the movie all around. The souvenir shop was amazing, they sold everything from shot glasses to hoodies. I ended up baying a few t-shirts, it was expensive but it was worth it. I went to the restaurant and the prices were out of my budget so I could only afford to buy a juice. In the restaurants they had TVs and they were playing the movie, so I just sat there, drank my juice slowly, and enjoyed my favourite movie.
There are a lot of more things to do in Kuta, I didn’t explore everywhere so I definitely need to go back.
After a few days it was time to make a move, it was Lombok’s time now.
I was trying to save money, so I decided not to take the speed boat, instead I took the public boat that crosses from Bali to Lombok.
First I needed to take a minibus, which took a few hours, then the public boat (Oh my god it was soooooo slow), another minibus for a few more hours and finally a little boat with loads of chickens that brought me to my final destination, Gili Air. It took me 12 hours but I got there in the end.
I was going to spend my next 5 days here, in a small island just enjoying life and some peace and quiet.
But I think it’s enough for today. I’ll tell you more about it next time.
See you soon xx