Day 7: Rest Day in Kuta, Bali, Indonesia (Thursday May 18th, 2023)

Today was a rest day for me. I slept in, but still woke up around 8:30. I lazed in bed for a bit, which was nice. Having my own room was such a luxury compared to a hostel. I had A/C, an ensuite bathroom, free water, linens, etc. All for $10 USD/night. 

I did 30min of yoga to start off my day. Then I got ready and ventured out. 

I needed to get cash and breakfast. So I figured that would be my exploring for the day. I walked down to the supermarket where there were ATMs, which was about a 8min walk. Walking here was something to get used to though. I'm used to clean and calm sidewalks back in the US. But here, the sidewalks are a free for all. People, dogs, parked scooters, people driving scooters, etc. Crossing the street was a whole other story. It was every man for themself, which meant you went when the traffic was stopped or between the slowest moving vehicles. Then hoped that they showed down. Which was still dodgy because the motorbikes would just zip around any stopped or slow car anyways. It was obvious I still had to adjust to the lifestyle of backpacking southeast Asia. 

After I got cash at the ATM, there was a cute little cafe outside the grocery store where I got brunch. I got eggs with avocado sourdough toast and roasted tomatoes and an orange juice. I was still questioning what to eat or not to avoid Bali Belly, but everything here seemed safe to me. It was definitely a touristy shop and not local, but that was okay with me to start out as I adjusted. 

After I ate, I decided to venture down the street a little further to a market. It was mostly food, but I also found some cute clothes and got another light weight long sleeve cover up and tank top. I also got a coconut to drink as a treat, those are one of my favorite things. 

On my way back, it was already so hot. Once back at my hotel, I chilled for most of the rest of the day. I tried to nap but couldn't sleep since I had been resting so much, but it felt good to lay down. I also did some computer work and caught up on emails and such. 

For dinner, I walked down the street and ventured to a little open air restaurant. It looked good, sanitary, and had locals eating there - which is always a good sign. I got noodles with egg and veggies for 19IDR ($2 USD). 

After dinner I walked back to my hostel and the rest of the evening was low key.  I did book a driver for the next day to see some of the sites. I debated renting a motorbike, because that's the thing to do here. But, I wasn't ready to drive on the left side of the road in the chaotic traffic. I wanted to practice driving on the left somewhere less stressful.