Meeting Kent & Teri from Canada in Bali
Kent & Teri
Ages: Kent 31 Teri 27
From: Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
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Baliblog: How long have you been travelling?:
Kent & Teri: 4 months.
Baliblog: Where did you travel?:
Kent & Teri: Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia, Indonesia and now back to Thailand.
Baliblog: Why did you travel?:
Teri: I was finishing up my college diploma and wanted to go away before working.
Kent: Its been 8 years since I’ve had a vacation from my job, I was fortunately able to take a leave of absence and I proposed to Teri shortly before we left and this seemed like the best way to celebrate and plan for a wedding when we get home.
Baliblog: What have been the highlights so far?:
Teri: In each country there was a highlight. In Thailand we did hill trekking which was fantastic. We did a really nice boat trip in Vietnam.
Kent: We were able to see some of the limestone islands (there are 3000 of them ) on a boat in Vietnam. We slept on the boat with 12 other people. It was great to learn about the local culture.
In Cambodia we went on a dirt biking trip for a few days away from the area that tourists go. We did 520 km in the jungle and packed a backpack full of toys stopping at villages, playing with the kids and giving toys. That was one of our favourite memories. Also Angkor Wat was phenomenal. From Siem Riep we went through the jungle to a temple in the mountains on the Thailand / Cambodia border. We learned to surf in Indonesia and seeing Mt. Batur on a sunrise hike was awesome.
It’s been an adjustment for us to get to learn the tide charts and stuff we do really have at home. We’re used to ski-reports and wind chill.
Baliblog: Does travelling in Asia as a married/engaged couple have its advantages?:
Kent: I thought it would be like a big holiday, but there is a lot of work involved . We were very fortunate that we could communicate with each other and get through the hard times. Also sharing costs is another advantage.
Teri:If anyone is getting in my face I just have to mention that Kent is right behind me.
Baliblog: Any disadvantages?:
Kent & Teri: You’re with each other everyday for the duration of the trip. You have to work for some ‘alone time’, but that’s because we’re all humans. We’re independent enough to do that. We’ve learned a lot about each other.
Definitely better for a couple planning to get married to take long trip before they’re married. It’s the best decision we ever made.
Baliblog: Have you been able to pick up bits of the local languages and if so what was the easiest language to pick up?:
Kent & Teri: We’ve made a point to pick up the basics in every country, but as soon as we did it was time to leave. T- I would say the easiest places to learn the language are the places where the alphabet is the same.
Teri can speak French and Laos was colonized by the French so that was useful.
Teri: When we were at Angkor Wat there was this old priest sitting on one temple and I found out he could speak French. He said he had been at the temple for over 50 years and told me he about the history of the temple.
Baliblog: Why did you come to Bali?:
Kent & Teri: We are interested in history but after travelling through Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos we saw that a lot of it revolved around war. We considered going to Nepal but on a whim came to Bali.
Kent: I wanted to climb a volcano and learn to surf.
Teri: This is the first place we’ve been to and be stationed in 1 place, not going from town to town. It’s a nice change.
Baliblog: What were you expecting?:
Kent & Teri: The scenery and the surf.
Baliblog: What was your first impression?:
Teri: I thought Kuta Beach was really dirty. I thought it would be more crowded on the beach so that was a plus.
Walking around was horrendous, with the street construction.
Kent: Beautiful sunsets. I rented a board straight away when we got to Kuta Beach and got hammered. Out on the Bukit at Uluwatu there are beautiful white beaches like Dreamland.
Baliblog: How was the airport processing for the visa?:
Kent & Teri: It was really busy, we waited an hour in line. We got here about 3pm.
Baliblog: Did you get asked for money by the immigration official at the airport?:
Kent & Teri: No. They were actually really friendly.
Baliblog: Was it easy to find accommodation?:
Kent & Teri: We just took a walk down Poppies II and found very cheap accommodation. But with cheap you get what you pay for. We stayed in about 4 different places.
Baliblog: How much did you pay on your first night?:
Kent & Teri: 50,000rp
Baliblog: How easy was it to get started in surfing?:
Kent & Teri: The first day we were on the beach and K had been talking to a local with a booth on the beach about surfing lessons.
Teri: I was about 200 paces into the water and realized the guy couldn’t speak English. I went and told his boss this wasn’t going to happen. So we then went and set up a proper lesson with a western company. I wouldn’t recommend taking a lesson from a stranger on the beach.
Baliblog: What have been the positives and negatives of surfing?:
Teri: Its good exercise, it’s a rush when you get it and we definitely had fun.
Kent: The aggression in the surf from the Balinese men brought me to levels of intensity similar to that of my competitive hockey days.
Baliblog: What have been the positives and negatives of Bali?:
Kent & Teri: Beautiful landscapes, sunsets, you can see a lot of the island in a short time. It was also cost effective for us.
Kent: The beach vendors too aggressive. I had this one lady come up to me with her finger up her nose to the second knuckle asking if I wanted a massage. They then go off upset that I didn’t buy.
Teri: I must say the beach security was very good and that was one thing we were worried about in the beginning. We could just leave our backpack with a drink vendor and they would look after it.
Baliblog: Can you recommend Bali to other travelers?:
Kent & Teri: I think it would depend on what their goals were, ours was surfing. If we came back we probably wouldn’t spend as long here as we spent and explore some of the other parts of the country.
Baliblog: How does Bali compare with Thailand?:
Kent & Teri: Accommodation can be cheaper here and also food. Kuta compares well with Bangkok for cost.
Kent: I like how the nights cool down, its really nice here.
Baliblog: Any tips on accommodation in the Kuta area?:
Kent & Teri: We stayed in 2 places that we liked Cempaka on Poppies II it was really nice fairly & staff, but the bed was uncomfortable. The price for 2 was 40000rp. We are now at Bali Sandat II on Jl.Benesari, it’s about 90,000.
Baliblog: Any tips on places to eat in Kuta:?
Kent & Teri: Warung 96 is great and cheap. Gateway to India is incredible at the bottom end of Jl. Legian and Rumours which is in Seminyak.
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Kent & Teri have a ton of stories to tell and I merely scratched the surface of their trip. Before they left Bali they sold their surfboard figuring that in the Canadian Rockies it wouldn’t get much use. I look forward to visiting them someday and having Kent show me how to snowboard…locals permitting of course.
By Sean | Permalink
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