#wafflesgalore

[enjoybittersweet]

When that Lotus kicks into overdrive mode #wafflesgalore #bittersweet (at Bittersweet) https://www.instagram.com/p/CSrpNzaqjcq/?utm_medium=tumblr

[sammeychar]

Couldn't hit the road home before grabbing #Bruxie ❤️ #wafflesgalore #byesocal #fuelforthelongdrive #nofilter (at Bruxie)

[filindipino]

Monday 3rd August

We finally saw Putu today (a friend from uni who lives in Bali)! We had a really lovely meal at this Hawaiian restaurant by the beach. It was nice to have a proper catch up and talk to him, especially since it had been more than 2 years since I'd last seen him. It was also nice to get a basic low down on what to expect from the locals in terms of what the prices should be and a quick, "Make sure to always haggle if the opportunity arises". Although it was nice to get a feel for what to expect, especially because we had already accepted that we would always be slightly ripped off, we weren't expecting it to be this bad - to be honest, it was really disheartening, and really very upsetting that people would go that far, just because you're a tourist. We already trie haggling the night before for a simple bracelet that I could whip up in 5 minutes, and the guy looked so offended, even insulted when we tried haggling it down to the price that we were told they were worth by a local, more than the price even! It just goes to show that if they're so used to getting their way, they refuse to accept anything less.

To top that all off, the tours here are pretty pricey too, all including a private driver (no option for shared tours), some costing Rp500,000 each! Which is a lot of money, especially on a budget when that same amount would pay for 4 nights somewhere nice! The transport in Bali itself is pretty bad, with the infrastructure attempting to develop years too late. The best way to get around is by taxi, as long as it's metered, which counts out a lot of the taxi services in Bali, especially the random guys in the street yelling out "transport" or "taxi" at every tourist. Blue Bird is the taxi service that nearly all expats swear by, which has led to interesting developments from other taxi companies attempting to copy their logo and change the colour of the cars to try and trick people. The other options is a private driver, but this is also pretty expensive for the day, but gives you a little bit more freedom. Our first and, sadly, only experience with Blue Bird led to the driver insisting that there was a minimum fee of Rp30,000, and then short changing us and looking confused when we asked for the rest of our money.

Best part of our day after all that stress, was a lovely walk on Jimbaran Beach, taking around an hour to walk to around the airport, and along the motorway at one point to oncoming traffic, much to the perplexity of the locals who stared and beeped the whole way. Jimbaran Beach was lovely, with loads of beach restaurants offering romantic views with candle lit tables; all of which we bypassed to go sit by some boats, with scattered fish corpses in the sand!

And to makes us feel better about being ripped off, we headed to a placed called FlapJacks and ate our sorrows away with deliciously scrumptious waffles! (Note: buy a waffle machine!)