Can-Kuta, Indonesia

After a wonderful week in Ubud we were ready for the B.E.A.C.H so we headed down to South Bali hotspot, Seminyak, this is where all the beautiful people come to hang out, and home to many swanky resorts and hotels.  Lucky for us, after a little searching we were able to find a budget homestay for just $15/night in the main part of town and not too far from the beach.  Only problem was the pesky angry dog next door that we had to walk by each time we left, but he seemed to be sufficiently scared of Jonny and J.J.’s air karate kicks so we made it our safe and sound.

After a late dinner, Kait and I headed to the airport to pick up our friend Heather (Clegger as she is known to us) who was coming from Canada to join us for about 3 weeks. FINALLY REUNITED!! We celebrated our joyous reunion at the arrivals terminal of Denspar airport for a few minutes and then hopped in a cab back to meet the boys in Seminyak. While we were out at the airport the boys had apparently done some exploring and discovered an unreal bar called Santa Fe that featured and even more unreal rock cover band – Crazy Horse. These guys really knew how to rock out, even though the drummer could have been over 50. You would swear you were at a live Pearl Jam concern.  The 5 of us caught up there until late into the evening over Bintangs, a local Balinese beer, before heading to bed to get some rest before our big day of beaching-it.

Enjoying Bintangs and reunions

Day 2 in Seminyak was spent 100% totally on the beach, from morning all the way to sunset. We spent the day beating Clegger’s jetlag and catching up on all the bronzing that we missed while in India followed by a pretty tame evening of dinner near the beach.

How was your Monday??

Sunset in Seminyak

Next up we headed to Kuta Beach, one of the most famous beaches on Bali. This is where you find the massive clubs, fast food joints, surf shops and Aussie’s on spring break. This is why we dubbed the place Can-Kuta, because it is basically Cancun. A wonderful beach spot but basically void of any and all local culture. We decided to spend only a few days there to enjoy the beach and good surfing before venturing out to find more culturally attractive spots to spend our time.  

We checked ourselves into a fantastic little find called Suji’s Guesthouse where for just $35 a night (total not each) we got a private 3 bed villa, with hot water, breakfast, a pool and Wi-Fi mere minutes from the beach.  I highly recommend it if you find yourself in Kuta. We spent the day bronzing, surfing and shopping before we headed back to Suji’s just after sunset. Even though it is pretty void of any culture, one thing Kuta is not missing is wonderful beach and amazing sunsets.

Poolside at the Suji Guesthouse

At night we hit another delicious dinner spot called Un’s, there really seems to be no bad place to eat in all of Bali. It was at Un’s that we got our first taste of the local booze – Arak. We eased into the Arak with a round of Arak Margarita’s but as the night wrote on we stepped it up to Arak and soda’s all around.  As everyone knows what happens in Can-Kuta stays in Can-Kuta so I we will save the details for stories told later in life to embarrass each other, but the night included dancing, shots, absinth, pizza and shenanigans that would have made our 20-year old selves jealous.

Ladies before the night on the town

Starting into the Arak cocktails

Sunset on Kuta......where we nursed our hangovers

After a much needed sleep-in we nursed our hangovers on the beach. We surfed until evening where there was yet another sunset that would give a post card a run for its money. After a pool dip and showers we headed out to a real Italian pizza place we had pasted the night before. The place had just opened and was run by an Italian/Balinese couple. The pizza was amazing as was the company, we chatted for a long time with before being treated to a shot of Limoncello (Italian liquor often shared among friends). After dinner we tried to hit the strip again but no one was in much condition for round 2 so after stopping by the Kuta bombing memorial we headed back to play some cards (how old to we sound??) 

OOO_Talia and Jonny