Saturday, July 12

Bali and KL financially considered

My six days in Bali were spent in the hilly, rice padi town of Ubud, an "artists community." I arrived after dark so I couldn't see much, all I knew was the my room occupied the top floor of a bungalow and had a 4 poster bed covered in mosquito netting. I awoke to very loud birds chirping saying to my tired self, "looook, I'm tired." The surroundings ended up being stunning. I really was in paradise, all for $32/night. 3 course meals plus alcohol all seemed a bargain at around $15, massage for only $8-$10 then include taxi rides to/from the airport and the day out to the wedding in Seminyak and it all adds up, rather quickly.

KL (Kuala Lumpur) in contrast is a huge city, though not nearly as crowded as Moscow. She's full of tourists and immigrants. People of all different colors and languages. Almost everyone we encountered spoke English, same in Bali. We stayed in the fancy pants, Hotel Maya, which was a luxurious treat. Street food was abundant, we ate several meals for 10-20 ringit, that's $3.5 - $7 for two people! No alcohol, but it was too hot to drink. And granted I spent much of the time having stomach cramps, but it was yummy. Even our most expensive Korean restaurant meal was only $20 for 2! KL bills itself as a shopping town, but I'm not convinced the quality and prices are much different from Bangkok, but it was fun.

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