Kuta Karnival parade today in Kuta Bali

Saturday October 2nd is the day of the Kuta Karnival parade which will be between 2pm - 4pm and go from Jl. Legian to Pantai Kuta.

I am sitting in an Internet Cafe typing with an eye full of sunscreen as I inadvertently wiped it in.

My friday started by waking up in the Nirwana hotel in Kalibukbuk (central Lovina ) and getting their free breakfast, which was just fruit and coffee. To get back to Kuta Chris and drove east along the north coast to Singaraja and then headed for the mountains, passing through Gitgit, Pancasari and Bedugal and following part of our route up the day before.

Th driving isn’t difficult but there are plenty of switchbacks. I never got to use the 5th gear ever on this trip. For me driving in the mountains can be a mixture of heaven and hell. Heaven because of the view and the people I meet and hell because of the diesel belching trucks and buses. At one point I had to pull over to let a Pariwisata bus and a white tourist van get out of sight as both of them created a toxic black cloud that was just nasty.

Our drive was quite pleasant though and took about 3 hours to get back to Seminyak. I managed to get the vehicle back to the rental place without refilling the tank (they give it to you empty) and our gas bill for the whole trip was 70,000rp.

Friday night Chris and I ate dinner at Good Luck on Jl. Benesari which is another 50 meters past Warung 96. Good Luck does steaks, chicken, tuna, pizzas, salads, pasta etc. It is a step up from the other warungs and if you are staying in Kuta give it a try.

We stepped into Kori Restaurant on Poppies II and played pool for an hour on their fullsize table. The deal is they charge you 30,000rp per hour and that includes a large Bintang. Kori is another place that concentrates on quality and is a pleasant oasis in the heart of Kuta. Chris commented that he’d never expect to find such a cool and relaxing place on Poppies II. The classy jazz tunes and decor create another world for customers who pass through the ‘kori’ which means ‘gateway to the inner courtyard’ of a temple.

Friday night saw Chris and I explore a bit of th Kuta nightlife. Chris has never been to Australia and I wanted to give him a taste of how true blue Aussies party. Our first stop was Paddy’s on Jl. Legian. We stayed a couple of hours and the place gradually filled up with happy holiday makers dancing shirtless on the mini stages set up for drunk shirtless people.

I bought us a jug of their special jungle jiuce or whatever its called. The stuff is quite sweet and nasty but you get about 2 liters for 30,000rp. Good enough for a cheap night out.

Behind Paddy’s is Bounty Ship which as many people know is built in the style of a galleon. Outside they were advertising ‘black music night’ and there were maybe 100 people watching a Balinese band play ‘jambe’ drums. Inside the ground floor of Bounty we spotted a pool tables and went straight for them. Price of a game was 5,000rp and the balls were the size of golf balls. Once again I had the edge due to Bintang’s magical effect on my brother. We took off around 12.30am and headed home.

As I’m writng the suncreen in my eye has dissipated sufficiently for me to look at somone without squinting. I now have to cover the parade happening in 30 minuntes and then set up for a bbq which kicks off at 5pm. Chris leaves tommorrow and I want to finish with a flurry.