E-mail from Kuta, Indonesia (island of Bali)
I am now in Bali which is an island of Indonesia just
South of Java.
Things are really cheap here. I am finally a Millionare. I exchanged
$280 Australian dollars for 2.6 million Rupiah. There largest bill is
50,000, I got 60 of them. My hotel room is a huge private room in a
hotel with a pool and only coasts $5.00 a night including breakfast.
Most full meals are under a dollar. CD's are a dollar, a Sprite is 20
cents and cloths are a fraction of what they are back home. There is
nothing you can't buy here and all you have to do to get it is leave
your room. Everyone wants to sell you something. Even when riding a
motorcycle people will pull up next to you while you are driving in
crazy traffic to sell you a watch or whatever. On guy drives while the
passenger shows you his portable display case of stuff. The beaches
are nice, the water very warm and a 1 hour massage under a tree with
a bit of haggling is $2.00. The ATM will only give me $300,000.00 rupiah
which is only about $20.00. Bank of America charges me $3.00 each time
which is a full day of meals here. I rented a motorcycle and got a Bali
drivers license and have 
been
to most of the island. Today I hired a guide to take me up to a volcano.
We left at 4:00 a.m. so I could watch the sunrise. We boiled eggs in
steam vent holes. The sound of the holes venting fire is that of unmistakable
power. The sulfur was a bit hard to handle but the views were worth
it. I walked to a waterfall in the mountains and saw monkeys. I stopped
to take a picture of a baby and another monkey came up behind me and
took all the foam out of my already to big plastic motorcycle helmet.
I tried to get it back but he got mean so I got a picture of him tearing
the foam to shreds. Later that day I was stopped by a cop for not wearing
my helmet. He said I could pay him the 60,000 Rupiah fine. I offered
20,000 and we settled on 30,000 which is about $2.00. The traffic and
roads are hard to imagine. People just go were there is room. When there
is no oncoming the entire road is full of cars and motorcycles, but
when someone comes from the other direction everyone squeezes over to
make room. People will go on both sides of the oncoming car.
Things are really cheap here. I am finally a Millionare. I exchanged
$280 Australian dollars for 2.6 million Rupiah. There largest bill is
50,000, I got 60 of them. My hotel room is a huge private room in a
hotel with a pool and only coasts $5.00 a night including breakfast.
Most full meals are under a dollar. CD's are a dollar, a Sprite is 20
cents and cloths are a fraction of what they are back home. There is
nothing you can't buy here and all you have to do to get it is leave
your room. Everyone wants to sell you something. Even when riding a
motorcycle people will pull up next to you while you are driving in
crazy traffic to sell you a watch or whatever. On guy drives while the
passenger shows you his portable display case of stuff. The beaches
are nice, the water very warm and a 1 hour massage under a tree with
a bit of haggling is $2.00. The ATM will only give me $300,000.00 rupiah
which is only about $20.00. Bank of America charges me $3.00 each time
which is a full day of meals here. I rented a motorcycle and got a Bali
drivers license and have been
to most of the island. Today I hired a guide to take me up to a volcano.
We left at 4:00 a.m. so I could watch the sunrise. We boiled eggs in
steam vent holes. The sound of the holes venting fire is that of unmistakable
power. The sulfur was a bit hard to handle but the views were worth
it. I walked to a waterfall in the mountains and saw monkeys. I stopped
to take a picture of a baby and another monkey came up behind me and
took all the foam out of my already to big plastic motorcycle helmet.
I tried to get it back but he got mean so I got a picture of him tearing
the foam to shreds. Later that day I was stopped by a cop for not wearing
my helmet. He said I could pay him the 60,000 Rupiah fine. I offered
20,000 and we settled on 30,000 which is about $2.00. The traffic and
roads are hard to imagine. People just go were there is room. When there
is no oncoming the entire road is full of cars and motorcycles, but
when someone comes from the other direction everyone squeezes over to
make room. People will go on both sides of the oncoming car.