Meeting Andreas in Kuta Bali

Barrie from Perth Australia recently returned to Kuta Bali with his wife Candika from Yogykarta, Java. They will be around for a total of 2 weeks and its good to catch up with them. Candika is a ferret for a bargan and for some reason has a thing for Polo shirts.

They are staying at hotel Prawita on lower Jl. Legian which is an okay place, with a ton of Balinese carvings and a pool / bar / restaurant.

I had arranged to meet a tourist from the Blog named Andreas on Monday and so Barrie, Candika and I went down to Fuel the sexy bar / restaurant next to the Sari Club site and waited. Andreas did not show up but anyway it was good to check the place out.

Next day Barrie calls me from the pool of the Prawita and tells me Andreas is in the pool with him. I asked how they figured out who each other were considering they had never communicated before. Barrie was wearing his BootsnAll baseball cap and Andreas saw it.

Later that day we all met up at warung 96 on Jl. Benesari for a beer. Andreas has graduated from a Masters degree in computer science in Australia and is taking a short trip. He told me all about Colombia and of course we discussed football and women. Andrea said that in Colombia most girls would not even think about going out of the house without a hour preparation and a ton of make up. He also said plastic surgery is extremely popular too.

I filled him in on some of the parts of Balinese culture that I find interesting like the man of the house getting measured by a priest before he builds the family compound ( 3 measurements are takin, one from the tip of the outstretched thumb to the outside edge of the hand, one from the tip of the middle finger to the elbow and one from the tips of the middle fingers with arms out to each side. These are multiplied and an area is assigned for the new family compound).

Andreas is from Cali Colombia and has been away from home for 3 years. I asked him to describe some of the food he misses and he said the sopa (soup). They use a pressure cooker to make it and use finely cut beef, beans, rice and a whole manner of other good stuff. He says his mother wants him to come home.

Andreas said for visitors to Colombia definetaly go to Santa Marta, Cartagena but you can skip Bogota and Barranquila. He told me for holidays many Colombians go up in the hills to their farms where its cool, just like here in Bali up in thr highlands. He said its not really worth going high into the mountains as there is not much development and you might get lost.

I asked him if he ever went over to Venezuela and he shook his head. Colombia and Venezuela are big rivals and locals in Colombia often say to each other, Come on stop acting like a Venezuelan, meaning a whole range of less than desirable things. He said every country in S.America has its rival, Brasil with Argentina, Colombia with Venezuela, Peru with Ecuador etc.

I would like to get down there sometime and it sounds very interesting.

Andres left this morning for Australia.

Right now I am getting ready to pick Sean up at the airport. My house is 25 minutes away and I will take a taxi. Huge downpour today.

Sean is flying Cathay Pacific which means he transits through Hong Kong and they have a real time flight tracker. I could see that his flight was on time and even what gate he went through.

Hope the weather clears up for him.

Tags: Bali Travel