I’m officially no longer a Peace Corps Volunteer, and I left Rwanda for good a little over a week ago. Maybe I should write more about how I’m feeling about all that, and maybe I will later, but for now, I want to talk about the trip! Anna, my good friend and fellow volunteer, and I decided to celebrate finishing Peace Corps with a backpacking trip in Southeast Asia, starting in Bali!
We left Kigali on Qatar Airways last Friday afternoon, spent Friday night in the lounge at the Doha airport, left for Bangkok on Saturday morning, spent Saturday night at a small hotel near the Bangkok airport, flew out of Bangkok early Sunday morning, arrived in Bali’s capital of Denpasar around noon, drove four hours across the island, and finally made it to our first destination – Pemuteran!
We went to Pemuteran, a small beach town on Bali’s north coast, on the advice of a fellow Peace Corps Volunteer, who’d visited Bali before. A ways off the island’s main tourist track, the town of Pemuteran is essentially just some buildings along a small section of the main (but extremely narrow) road that runs along the north coast. The town pretty much consists of just that one road, lined with hotels and guesthouses, tiny warung restaurants, small shops, spas and salons, and a few street vendors. Hearing that Pemuteran was a quiet, laid-back place with nothing much to do besides lay at the beach or by a pool, we thought it would be the perfect first stop, a place for us to relax and finally decompress from the constant tension of living as Peace Corps Volunteers in Rwanda. The narrow, black-sand beach is perhaps not the most spectacular in the world, but it was gorgeous and great for sunbathing and swimming, and a few days of relaxing there was just what we needed.
Of course, one of the biggest things we noticed in Pemuteran was the lack of staring and pointing – we could walk down the road without causing a scene! People would typically look up to say hello, and children would sometimes wave, and then go about their business. It was a refreshing change, to say the least.
We stayed at the Kubuku Hotel, which was wonderful, especially considering – we got a discount since it’s the low season and we stayed five nights – it was only about $22/night for a double room. To us, the room was pretty fancy, with an en-suite bathroom with a cold water shower (it was hot enough that hot water really wouldn’t have been a benefit), really soft towels, a fan AND air-conditioner, and a patio with a view of the mountains. Breakfast was included, and each morning was a feast and with TONS of choices. Coffee or tea? Which of five different fruit juices? Eggs scrambled, fried, or in an omelet? Toast or pancake? Banana pancake, lemon pancake, pineapple pancake, or honey pancake? After trying the banana pancake, and discovering it was amazing, I had that with scrambled eggs, tea, and orange or watermelon juice the rest of the mornings. In addition to the included breakfast, and getting juice and fruit at check-in, we also got an afternoon snack each day. The hotel staff brought tea and fried bananas, egg rolls, or dadar galung on a tray to our patio each afternoon, so we could have it overlooking the courtyard at our convenience. The people at the hotel were so kind and friendly – clearly customer service is valued here! One night, while there was a ceremony going on down the street, one of the employees came to our room, extremely concerned that the noise was bothering us, and offered to let us leave our stuff but sleep in a different room that night. It really wasn’t that loud, and we opted to stay where we were, but the concern was very sweet.
We ate in a different warung every night, and the food was wonderful and cheap across the board, and often beautifully presented. All the dishes had lots of flavor and spices – which was a welcome change – and most came served with rice. Plates of chicken or vegetable curry or chicken skewers with peanut sauce ran about $3, and every meal was absolutely delicious. All in all, visiting Pemuteran made a wonderful beginning for our trip.
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