After deciding that staying and relaxing in Kuta was not an option, we rented a scooter and starting exploring.
Our trips confirmed what we had suspected - once out of Kuta, Bali gets so much better!
The traffic is still crazy (although much calmer than outside Kuta - Marc will have a post on that), but the surrounding landscape presents a welcome contrast to the busy chaos of city life. The Hindu villages are very picturesque, since many houses, shops and community centres have gates or even whole structures built in traditional Hindu style. And between villages and cities there are rice paddies stretching until the ocean or, looking the other way, until they meet the mountains on the horizon.
And I should certainly mention that people outside Kuta are very different, too. Once there are less tourists around, the commercial side in Balinese people gives way to the human side. We met a few very nice persons but our most special encounter took place on the two days after we had arrived in Bali. We were in the capital Denpassar trying to get tickets to go to Java (the main island). We were lost and asking for directions when we met Jhonny. He helped us out with the tickets and when he found out that we had no fixed plans for the rest of the day, he insisted that we have lunch at his house and meet his father and sister. And so we did. We spent the whole day together and by the end if it Jhonny decided to go to Java with us!
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