Sun, sun, sun, thunderstorm

Here I am again, sitting with a cold Bintang, listening to a thunderstorm and trying to tell you about my day as best as possible.

This afternoon, I set off to explore Kuta. I casually walked along the beach because I thought it wasn't too far. It turned out to be quite a distance ;) It took me about 40 minutes, and all this in over 30 degrees. What wouldn't one do to check out an H&M store at the other end of the world? As I was walking along the road for the last stretch, I was approached about 50 times if I needed a taxi. I'm starting to find it a bit annoying, but I still try to say 'No, thank you' with a smile, and most of the time, there's a smile in return.

When I arrived at the 'Beach Walk Mall', I was quite impressed. It all looked really fancy, half open, and with water in the middle. I'd love to have something like that in our Werre Park ;)

I found H&M right away, and they even had a doorman greeting all the customers. The store was extremely modern and chic. This store only opened in September, though. The prices there are even slightly higher than ours, but overall, it's the same. I just missed the winter jackets ;)

For lunch, I treated myself to a salad there. Of course, I didn't feel like walking back, so I tried out the taxi app 'Blue Bird'. It's really easy. You open the app and enter where you want to go. The price is immediately displayed, and a driver is found for you. You immediately receive a photo of the driver and his taxi number on your phone, and you can directly track where he is and how long it will take. It's a really great system. The taxi ride cost me about 2 euros in local currency. Unthinkable in Germany to take a taxi for 2 euros.

In the afternoon, I went back to the beach to work on my vacation tan. I jumped into the waves and just lay down in the warm sand.

After I showered, I actually wanted to go out to eat, but then a rain shower came in between. Here, it starts raining really heavily from one second to the next, but it's also over just as quickly. Now there's still a little thunder and it's oppressively hot.

Today, I have to go to bed a bit earlier because Mareike and I have booked a driver for tomorrow who will show us a few temples and other hot spots. For about 37 euros, it's affordable for two people to be chauffeured around all day.

Of course, it's also worth mentioning that today I dared to try Indonesian food for the first time. It was rice with fried chicken and lots of garlic. I didn't even pay 3 euros for dinner with a drink. But I think for the next few days, I'd rather pay a little more for Western food ;)

I hope I can show you a lot of photos tomorrow, depending on when I'm back at the accommodation. Since tomorrow is my last day here, I also have to pack. On Monday, I'll continue to Ubud.

Nicky