Link to the previous page murray river-e 
Bali
After our scare with the expired visa for Australia, we were really looking forward to Bali – also 
because of the warming sun – we were looking forward to Bali. The flight from Adelaide to Bali takes around 5 1/2 hours. We really took it easy and flew with a „cheap“ airline. Luggage (1x 20kg) is charged extra. Seats – yes. But even for the glass of water you have to pay extra, everything else anyway. And it was even checked that nobody took their own water on board.
We had pre-booked a cab due to arriving late in the evening. After almost an hour of searching, WE had the cab hailed and then we were able to make our way through the night-time alleyways to the hotel. Hotel arrival: everything was fine, very friendly and great rooms. Great swimming pool and great warm sun the next day.
Bali belongs to Indonesia and is one of the larger islands in the Indian Ocean alongside Java and Lombok with an area of approx. 5780 km². The population is around 4.5 million. There are several mountains on the island around 2000m and the volcano Mount Agung with a height of 3037m. The last eruption was at the end of 2017. The inhabitants of the island came from the Indonesian archipelago, Malaysia, the Philippines and Oceania. Bali was ruled by various kings, also as part of Java, and aligned itself with Hinduism. Since 1520 Bali was independent. The first contact with Europe took place in 1512 with a Portuguese expedition. A Dutch expedition reached Bali in 1597 and the Dutch East India Company was founded there in 1602. The island was subsequently administered by Holland and occupied by Japan in February 1942 during the Second World War. In 1946, Bali was incorporated into Indonesia and became an Indonesian province. In 2002, 202 people, mostly foreign tourists, were killed in an attack in Kuta. The memorial erected at „Ground Zero“ bears witness to this.
The most important economic sector today is tourism. Here are some impressions from Kuta, particularly interesting are the many religious buildings throughout the city. Life takes place on the street.
But there are not only tourists but also the exceptionally friendly and busy Balinese – from all over the world.
Most of the traffic is done by moped or similar and then it goes criss-cross in all directions.
The magnificently crafted sculptures, such as the Satria Gatotkaca Park here, are particularly impressive.
But of course these two weeks went by far too quickly, but we quickly agreed to come back for a little longer. -G.)
