I have been home for over a week now. How I wish I were still on vacation. I must say, vacations are truly, truly good for the soul. This was taken on our first afternoon shortly after our arrival in Bali. Kuta certainly worked for me!

I was a bit apprehensive about staying in Kuta, to be honest. I had read so many negative reviews from bloggers and travel experts. They wrote such negative things about the place, I thought we booked a hotel in some gritty, God forsaken place. I was expecting rowdy and verbally abusive drunks from Australia. I was expecting vomit all over the place. I expected very insistent sellers and touts who would tug on my shirt sleeve and not let go until I made a purchase of a trinket or two. I expected congested streets with hardly any place to walk on. These were just some of the criticisms I read about Kuta. Instead, I saw a rather peaceful Kuta and Legian. It was the complete opposite for us. We loved it. We enjoyed being in the heart of the city. We enjoyed how walkable the city sights were. True, there were Australians. But none seemed belligerent and ready to pick a fight over nothing. In fact, I saw Australian families with kids and babies. True, there were touts. But they left us alone after we said no. The streets were surprisingly clean and did not reek of any alcohol or piss. In fact, we often saw locals sweep the sidewalk and others even mopped the pavement with water and soap.

I do need to say that we are city folks and if asked to choose between a resort deep in the mountains or a hotel right in the middle of the hustle and bustle of city life, my partner and I choose the latter. It's just the way we are. We don't do yoga nor meditate for extended periods of time. Some people would say, "But you traded living in the city for a vacation in another city." True, but when we go on vacation we visit another city with different sights and smell all foreign to us. Rest assured, we did see the Bali everyone raves about in travel reviews, books, and magazines. We saw the sights and were quite impressed. I hope to return to Bali someday and perhaps when we return, we will choose to stay in a different part of the island for a totally different experience. But for now, I can only say a million thanks to the people we met in Kuta and for making our vacation one I will never forget for a very long time.