Hello Kuta

Day 6, 23 February 2011
The Journey
After bidding Mudana Selamat Tinggal, we continued our journey back to Kuta; without forgetting to get lost in the process. (So much for trying to set off early so we'll avoid the sun, the traffic and cops!)

cam-whoring while L went off to ask for directions :p (time check: 12:53pm)

checking the map (that we've gotten for free, even though the fellow tried to charge us for it)
(time check: 12:56pm)

the road signs confuse the hell outta me. you'll think you're on the right track,
until you see the arrows point a different direction 5min down the road. (time check: 1:18pm)

this was all we had packed for our 10D trip. 1 haversack (L), 1 tote and 1 overnighter bag (Me)
(time check: 2:32pm)

Travel time between Ubud and Kuta was supposedly 1.5hours and we thought we could have arrived in time for late lunch. Well, you'll not be hearing about what we had for lunch, because we never had lunch! Thanks to the ride, we got a tan. And when we finally did arrive in Kuta, we had no clue where we had wanted to stay. L did not want to go back to Pesona Inn, but I did not want to splurge on fancy accommodation either. So we spent quite a bit of time scooting around, looking for that "perfectly-priced" lodging (which of course did not exist!) The wonderful villas cost too much (IMO), whilst the lower-ranged villas were "not worth it". So yeah, I played the scrooge when it comes to accommodation. Now you know.

We finally found and settled in at Tamarind, Batu Belig Beach Bungalows. Room rates were 550,000rp per night (approx. SGD78) but we negotiated down to 450,000rp per night (which was still kinda high, in comparison to what we used to pay for lodging, at SGD20/night!). They could only allow us 2 nights since we did not make any prior bookings and all other slots have been taken up. And so we settled at that - checked in, unpacked, checked our emails and rested our legs. Did I mention we were so freaking hungry already?