08.01.2018 Day 2

Oh my God, it's so hot... ^^

It was about 24 degrees at night, but due to the humidity, it feels much hotter. Luckily, I was still so tired from the journey...
Well, now it's 0700 and 28 degrees. It's going to be a tough first week. After waking up, having breakfast, packing, and at 0900 we continue to Lovina. Today my driver is Harry. No, not a European, but a local. This fellow is also very talkative. During the drive, he asks me if we should take detours. Since my journey has just begun, I don't say no.

And so we stop at the Baliswings. These are swings on a cliff. There are different heights and ranges for the swings. I myself don't swing there. Not because I'm afraid, but because they want 30 euros for swinging once. That seems a bit much for just swinging. So I just take a few photos and we continue our journey.

We stop occasionally so that I can take nice pictures of Gunung Agung. As you can see in the pictures, he's currently spewing some ash.

At this point in the story, I can only recommend to everyone to travel to Bali now or in the near future. Currently, it's very quiet here due to the volcano, and there's plenty of space. You can also enjoy the tourist attractions here in peace.

But back to the events.
After about 70 km and a solid 3 hours, we finally reach Lovina. Here I am warmly welcomed. The timing is also perfect because it's lunchtime. They show me my bungalow briefly, a room of about 15 square meters with 6 beds and a small bathroom. No other furniture is available. At this point, I think it could be quite funny. However, at the moment, I'm the only male participant living in the bungalow park who doesn't have a single bungalow.

After dropping off my things, they take me back to the terrace where the buffet lunch is served. There is plenty and a variety of dishes available. The main course consists of rice with chicken, fruit, and vegetables.

The other participants are also all present. I introduce myself briefly and also learn their names.
The Germans Nadine, Paula, Pauline, Sarah, Chaline, and Lena,
The African Meike,
The Americans Tiffany, Julia, Markus, and Molly
And the Saudi Fahad

Unfortunately, I missed the morning program. They went to Lovina and checked out the tourist area. But it's not a big deal. I'm sure I'll go there often enough. The afternoon program consists of an introduction to the Indonesian/Balinese culture and the local religion, Hinduism. There are so many festivals, rituals, and rules here that I can't remember everything quickly. (You can find photos where everything is explained in bullet points on the boards under the pictures. I will also take photos of everything during future classes)

By 15:30 local time, this introduction is also over. Now it's time to relax a bit from the journey. So we play around in the pool. Except for a brief moment, I try to stay out of the sun as much as possible. With my fair skin, I feel like I'm burning in seconds here.
But every fun comes to an end. Eventually, I have to restock my supplies.
So the Germans, Meike, and I make our way to the mini market around the corner. You can imagine the mini market like a gas station on a highway in our country. Except that the prices in Germany are insanely higher than here. Oh yeah... there was something.
The currency here in Indonesia is called Rupiah. So Indonesian Rupiah. One euro is worth a little less than 16,000 IDR. The largest banknote is 100,000 IDR. Since the money is worth virtually nothing, you can probably imagine how much you have to carry around all the time. I have decided to always carry around two million (about 130 euros).
So now I'm in the market and I bought a lot. However, everything together costs only about 200,000 IDR. With our supplies stocked, we return to the bungalow park for dinner.
Here, I will stop the day. Nothing interesting is happening anymore. Unless you want to hear how I'm happily lying by the pool with a full stomach 😉

Overall, it was a good day. All the new sensory impressions, such as the chaotic traffic, the foreign languages, and the constant stupid humidity, have to be processed.
At this point, I can already say that this journey will be very interesting. Just the first day was so exciting and varied.
But now that's enough for today. Selamat tinggal!!!