Day 3 – Best Birthday Ever

To kick off my birthday everything felt very quiet and I started to feel a little like missing home.

In the morning the hostel was so very quiet that I didn’t really talk to anyone. The hostel staff said happy birthday and goodbye to me and I was off on my way to check in to Day 1 of the Wanderlands Travel tour I had booked. No idea what to expect I sat in a taxi for a very long time stuck in traffic trying to find the hotel. Once I got there, the pool was luxury, my room had air con and finally clean toilets. It was a nice relief and start to the planned holiday!

When I checked in nobody at all was around and all I knew was that the welcome dinner would be at 8pm. So I dropped off my stuff and headed for Kuta to grab some lunch and have some chill out time on the beach.

I probably should have realised that you cannot relax on Kuta beach. Whilst it’s good fun watching the surfers, you can’t sit down for a second without being hassled by sellers. At one point I had a lady put an anklet on my foot and not let me take it off. In the end I had to buy it because she wouldn’t let me take it off myself and she wouldn’t do it haha but I didn’t mind so much.. It’s meant to bring good luck and I’ve been wearing it since the day she put it on me. After this I had a lady trying to give me a massage and a man trying to sell me tattoos so I figured I’d leave and get away! Walked in the ocean and went shell hunting also.

I had a very lonely birthday and spent most of it alone which was a shame but little did I know it was going to turn out to be one of the greatest of my life…and that’s saying a lot.

Before heading back to the hotel I decided I’d treat myself for my birthday. I stopped for pancakes by the beach and had amazing American pancakes with chocolate sauce, chocolate chips, cream cheese and Oreo gelato! Mmm was well worth £3.

I then got a French manicure done, possibly the first manicure I’ve ever had done in a salon, was going to wait until the last day but figured it was my birthday so why not.

After this I headed back to the hotel and found I was a little late after I got lost trying to find it. The group was already in the lobby and I was surprised at how many there were! 18 in total from England, Scotland, Brazil, Wales, Mexico, New York, Texas and probably other places I’ve missed too…

The first thing we did was head for dinner and after learning it was my birthday, the tour guide felt I should celebrate so I ordered in the cocktails and began to get to know the group better! I soon learned the majority of people were from England and Wales. Dinner I tried the Indonesian dish – and it was really yummy. Fried rice complete with an entire egg on top and chick satay.

After the dinner I was feeling pretty good about the group, good vibes. We headed through main town Kuta and ended up in a bar where I got to know Steve from New York and Amanda from Scotland better. The majority of the trip was full of people going home from travelling Australia or heading to Australia after this trip but myself and Steve were both on holiday so making the most of the short amount of time.

Finally after the bar we ventured to the club Icona which would soon become my local. The club was massive and played western music with 3 rooms and full of party goers. By the time we reached here we were pretty drunk and ready to party but we’d lost half of the group to bed already. Myself, Steve and Amanda headed in and found James our tour guide. After a short while I noticed James chatting with 2 English guys I recognised from my flight! We were laughing at each other because I’m so short and one of the guys was 6"5 so it was quite the contrast. It felt rather like being back at home though as I began to recognise more people, I heard my name being called at one point to then find it was the workers from the hostel I stayed in day 1 and 2! They recognised me and wanted to party!

The whole night turned crazy. Dance offs, 4 for 3 drink deals causing me to buy 4 at a time! In the end I ended up meeting some surfers from England and we went back to a hotel to drink and party all night which caused me to miss the first day of my tour… Oops. Was totally worth it though.