And the days go by....

I must make this quick as I'm on a deserted island and the internet rates are astronomic!...(deserted?)

After bangkok, I caught the express shuttle to the BKK airport for 130 bhat...read: 1050 my first afternoon in bangkok! My goodness the things I have learned. The flight went smoothly, although my backpack was 2 kilos over AirAsia's limit, so for a few frightening hours I was separated from my long time friend, the backpack. Although I did receive it back on Bali with full contents and structural integrity, the already peeling Canadian flag decal was gone.

Was this some sort cosmic sign highlighting my ex patriotism? or perhaps just careless handling/pasting of the decal. Either way, no longer do people realize my home country from 100 meters away bursting into 'CANADAAAAA! Vancouver or Toronto?!'....'neither bro, but close' i would reply. I will take it as a sign as my separation from all the things I hold dear from back home including, but not limited to:

Driving a car
Tim Hortons
My friends
Dolan's Pub
Keiths Beer
Free Internet
Having an income

Back to current events though! There is a certain vision I have of the next destinations, a daguerreotype in my mind if you will, and sometimes that vision is exceeded, and sometimes it is let down. Bali has been a looming fascination of my mine since day one, not only as the last stop on my adventure but from the numerous personal accounts I receive from fellow travellers.

I must say, and this is very pre-mature (that's what she said), I was let down. I was told to go to a beach called 'Uluwatu', good surf, lively, cheap. After paying the 14$ to get down there, I quickly realized that the surf was impossible but for the most X-treme australian bros, there was not much going on other than surfboard shops, and no accommodation. Disappointed but not dejected, I was picked up by a lovely indonesian couple on their 'second honeymoon' They drove me to the main beach, called Kuta, where I hit the pavement looking for anything costing less than 12$. Failing that, I booked a grungy room for that price, and set my feet towards the town. I have seen and breathed touristy, but this certain beach takes the cake.

'Masssssage?'
'Please buy somtingggg'
'Girl, man?, you want girl?'
'You want shirt boss? cheap cheap?'
'Come in look, I have guns!'
'Marijuana man? good price for you'
'Surf lesson boss? Come on, come on!'
etc etc etc

Don't let me bore you with my over-touristed whining, but you get the drift. In fairness, Kuta is the worst of the worst if you come to Bali, and if I can I will get on a scooter (the deadly scooter!) and check out the rest of the island. Apparently there are monkeys in the center of the island that will scratch you and steal your shit, so that sounds like something I would really be interested in. I did get to surf yesterday morning, and it was pretty fantastic. 'Bra, i was getting like 6 foot left handers, but it was tight because the righters were crushing my jam!'...or something like that. Kuta beach mostly entailed me eating pringles and buying new release DVDs for a dollar, not super exciting, but you must understand my bank account and brain account are both completely overdrawn at the moment.

Thus leading to the current island, gili T! I had heard few things about this particular stomping ground, but after 4 hours here is my take. It is extremely refreshing that motorized vehicles are outlawed, everything being drawn by horse and carriage or plain old bicycle. Things are mentally expensive, almost parallel with back home. (Imagine paying 6 dollars for a grando burrito on the beach, outrageous!) So my time here is short, but tomorrow entails some crystal water snorkeling, some sea side snoozing/reading, and perhaps try to make friends. I have mostly tried to cut alcohol out of my diet due to monetary restrictions, which tend to make for some quieter nights. This is not a problem because I can almost hear my sanity returning!

Currently there is an Australian work visa in the process, so after this tiny hole in the wall island, I will head back to Bali, onto the Malaysian airport and into Melbourne to start another adventure! Where do you find time to further your 'real life' Josh? It doesn't get much more real than this, bro. One love!

josh