Leaving Bali

Hi All,

We're leaving Bali today and heading to Bangkok for a about a week before going to Bhutan.

Bali rundown
Can't say that I loved Bali, can't say that I hated it either. Would I come back? Probably not. In my opinion the main problem comes from the fact that the infrastructure is set up for a mass of tourism when there isn't the tourism to sustain it. There are too many resturants, too many people selling too much crap, too many emtpy taxis running around honking at you and too many people in your face trying to sell you stuff. What results is an air of desperation everywhere you go. That said, there are some incredible deals to be had and if Gay and I weren't on such a budget we'd be living the high life. Also, after you scratch the surface of the commercialism the Balinese culture is incredibly robust and people live relitvly the same way they have for hundres of years. For example, most people dont live in houses or aprtments. Up to 3 generations in a single family live in thier family compound which consits of kliving areas, a comunal kitchen and a temple at the center of it all (people here are devout Hindus).

What's next
Our Bhutan visas came though as expected and we're alowd in the country starting June 1st. We're going to spend about 1 week in Bangkok before entering Bhutan. More on Bhutan later.

Money, it's a hit! (dont give me that do-goody-good bullsh*t)
I've been obsessing about money. At first I was constaintly telling myself that "it isn't healthy, that I should just have a good time and it will all work out". Well forget all that. I've embraced my situation and I've realized I can have a good time while constaintly fuixating on our budget. To that effect I've appointed myself Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of our roaming outfit. As my first act in this position I've created what we call in my new biz as a "general ledger". What this means is everytime we spend money or exchange travlers checks for local currency, we write it down. Diligently. Then periodically, we reconcile the ledger with our current cash on hand. What's that you say? I'm a complete loser? Well hold that thought, there's more! You see, with the help of the ledger I can get great statistics such as the following:
-Total USD spent to date: $760
-Total spent per day per person: $22.35
-Project duration of travel with this spending rate: 6.06 months
-Average exchange rate: 8650 Rupiah to $1 USD (all conversion below will use this exchange rate)
-Average meal price: $4.36
-Average room rate: $6.50 / night

You see how fun that is!

Ok more to come later..

Bye,
Jon