Ubud, Bali, Indonesia (29 March)

We both woke up at 6am as we had gone to bed so early. We looked into some hikes we could do and one suggested route was Sayan Valley and it was recommended to buy a Bali Pathfinders map for trails to hike and cycle. We had breakfast at 8am when it started and went to find where we could buy the map. We asked a few taxi drivers how much they would charge to take us to Sayan and they were quoting between 80,000 and 100,000 rupees. You can hire your own scooter for 50,000 for the day so we headed back to the hotel and hired one – they gave us a nice pink one! Ha ha

We bought a map and headed out to Sayan, driving in Ubud is a lot different to Nusa Lembongan island – it is crazy and really busy. When we arrived we had a look at the map to see where the path started and the map was useless – it didn’t tell us a thing. Luckily a guy called Babong walked past and asked if we needed help, we said we wanted to walk the Sayan Valley and he landed up taking us around on a 2 hour hike of the most beautiful lush, dense jungle and rice paddies. We landed up going through a few people’s properties and even his own property and met his father. Shame he was so sweet. The walk was amazing. We saw people white rive rafting down the river which looked like great fun. Once we got back to our bike we gave Babong some money for his time and headed off to try find Tegallalang – an area with big rice paddy’s.

We found Tegallalan town no problem but didn’t know how to get to the rice paddy’s so we took a random right turn and landed up driving down the most beautiful road. It was so green and lush with the road lined with palm trees in some parts. It was great fun to drive up and down the hills but the poor bike barely made it up a couple of hills carrying both Pete and I! We found some rice paddy’s which were stunning. We got a bit lost but finally popped out onto the main road of Tegallalan. The town is really cute with loads of shops selling hand crafted goods lining the main road.

It was only 2pm decided to drive to Goa Gajah (Elephant Caves). It only took about 20 minutes to get there. They give you sarongs to wear as you go through the entrance so that was a first for Pete :). The caves themselves aren’t great, it is more like a dug up archaeological temple with some water features. We wandered around and kind a path that led down to a beautiful garden. We found another path and decided to follow it – we landed up at another temple where we were blessed by this crazy but very sweet religious guy. We did a little ritual with him and he poured holy water on us and sent us on our way down another path. This lead to a very overgrown path that we weren’t sure we should be on. We then bumped into a local girl called Annie who said the Buddha temple was at the bottom of the gorge and she guided us own. The path was quite hairy in places answer had to cross a rickety old bamboo bridge that was very scary!

The Buddha temple was in a cave under some rocks – it was very plain but very peaceful. There were also other temples but they were half submerged in water as it is just coming out of rainy season so we couldn’t go in. The view from the bottom of the gorge was stunning, very overgrown and lush and made me feel like I was in the middle of the jungle somewhere wild.

We left Goa Gajah around 4pm and headed back to the hotel, we didn’t realise our road was a one-way so we couldn’t turn down it and landed up doing a big detour down a very bumpy dirt road but we amazingly popped out across the road from our hotel! We were so hot so jumped straight in the pool when we got back.

Later we found a great little restaurant for dinner – we are loving the local food, it is so fresh and healthy and they add chilies to most dishes :). After dinner with a belly full of food we headed back to the hotel for an early night again! (must be getting old!)

Nusa Lembongan to Ubud, Bali – Indonesia (28 March)

We woke up at 6:30, had a quick breakfast and the guys dropped us off at the beach for the ferry at 7:30am. They took our bags again on one scooter and we took the other scooter with our day bags. I have no idea how they managed to drive!

We caught the 8am “ferry” back to Sanur on Bali island and then organised a transfer in a minibus to Ubud which is more inland on Bali. We arrived after about an hour and needed to find accommodation. Just walking down the Road with our backpacks we got hounded by people trying to get us into their hotels. Pete landed up going off with 2 separate guys on their scooter to look at their accommodation whilst I waited on the side of the road but none of them were that good. We were approached by another guy with a hotel on the road we wanted to stay on (Monkey Forrest Road) with aircon, free wifi, a swimming pool etc etc so we both went to have a look. After quite a walk we got there and it was nice so we bartered him down to a great rate and settled in to our room on the 1st floor with big glass sliding doors looking over the pool. We are right next to the monkey sanctuary so there are grey long-tailed macaques everywhere.

We decided to go for a walk to check put the area. Monkey Forrest road is full of great little shops and restaurants – only down side is that you get asked if you want a taxi every few meters which gets quite annoying. We walked past a market and I was very excited to see one of my favourite South East Asia fruits called Rambutans. I have been looking for them since I got here and this was the first I had seen them. They are quite similar to lychees but they have a red skin that is hairy/spikey. I bought a bag and merrily munched my way through them 🙂

We landed up at the Royal Palace which was very traditional and beautiful – we could only go into one small section but it was great to see. After that we popped into the shop and bought some snacks and Pete got a whole lot of things for the bakery and started our walk back to the hotel. As we walked passed the entrance to the monkey sanctuary we saw loads of monkeys on the pavement so I went to take a photo, next thing we know one of the bigger monkeys ran up and jumped onto Pete’s shopping bag and ripped it to shreds, before we could do anyone the cheeky little $*!# was running away with all Pete’s pastries/ breads. It was quite funny but poor Pete was so bummed all his food had been stolen.

We got back to the hotel and went for a swim to cool off and just relaxed for a bit at the hotel and decided to go for an early dinner and we found a great little restaurant with amazing food. When we got back to our hotel room there were a few monkeys hanging around. We had left our dustbin and wet clothes outside and one monkey jumped down and stared going through the bin. We chased it away and a few minutes later it walked up to our sliding door, looked at us as we sat on the bed and had a wee right outside our door!! It then grabbed our door mat and walk away as if to say “that’s what you get for chasing me away!” ha ha Another monkey came and tried to steal Pete’s towel off the line, luckily a staff member came up and chased them away! These monkeys are so cheeky and have no fear of humans.

Nusa Lembongan, Indonesia (27 March)

We had the best day ever!!! We woke up and decided we wanted to go snorkelling so the guys at the hotel called their friend Tony who agreed to take us out. After bartering him down to an acceptable price for 3 stops we headed off to Manta Ray Point, Crystal Bay and Gamut Bay. We were joined by a very nice Ozzie couple. The boat ride out was breathtakingly beautiful and the weather was perfect.

Our first stop was Manta Ray Point and we were all gob smacked when we jumped into the water and saw these huge manta rays swimming around. They were so graceful and beautiful as they glided through the water. There were about 6 of them and one was absolutely huge. There was one who kept swimming really close to me as if it was playing so I decided to just hold my hand out and see what it did. It swam past me about 5 times, getting closer and closer eat time until finally it swam right up to my hand so I could give it a scratch. It was amazing. I was quite nervous as they have huge stingers at the back and after we got out Tony told us that a diver got stabbed by one a little while ago!! I think that diver must have done something to hurt or annoy the manta ray as they were really friendly and gentle with us. It was truly one of the best experiences of my life!

After an hour frolicking with the manta rays we climbed back on the boat and headed for our second stop – Crystal Bay. It was only about 10 minutes away and as the name suggests the water was crystal clear. We jumped in the water again and spent about 40 minutes snorkelling over beautiful coral reef with hundreds of fish of all colours and shapes. I recognised a few from my diving days, Angel fish, Parrot fish, Trigger fish, little clown fish and I even saw a couple of small barracuda.

We then drove about 15-20 mins further along to Gamut Bay. The snorkelling here was also beautiful. There were huge mushroom shaped coral and other strangely shaped coral on the reef and hundreds of fish. When I jumped in I saw a brown and white striped sea snake which was thankfully swimming the other direction. It was great to see so much marine life on the corals. We only snorkelled here for about 30 mins and we headed back.

I will never forget this day, it was such a special experience.

That evening we had an early dinner and an early night 🙂

Nusa Lembongan. Indonesia (26 March)

We arranged to hire a scooter and snorkelling equipment for the day, so we woke up early to get everything sorted and we were on the “road” by 9am. It was so much fun. I love scooters. The roads aren’t really roads, more like pedestrian paths that probably were paved a while ago but now just have bits of paving every now and again so you bump your way over potholes and missing paving for most of the way. We drove up the road to Mangrove Point past local houses drying out their seaweed. We were told there is good snorkelling at the Mangroves. Most people get boats to take them around but we were pretty sure we could swim it as the reef doesn’t look far from the shore. We asked a local which was the best way to swim with regards to the current and he told us the wrong way so we swam out with the current and then had to swim back against the current! Oh well it was great exercise and we saw some beautiful fish, giant star fish and coral at the reef. The sad thing is that we swam over so much dead coral from the reef back to the beach. It was really sad to see. We also swam over loads of seaweed farms.

We had a quick drink at a restaurant overlooking the water and admired the view for a bit. The water is such an amazing colour. We then jumped back onto the scooter and headed through the Mangrove Forest and down the east side of the island. We decided to drive over the bridge (well again more like a pedestrian bridge that you can drive over but it is so narrow only 1 bike can fit) to Ceningan Island. Now this island was a slice of paradise. It is quite difficult to get to as it is still quite untouched by tourism. It was stunning. We drove to a the Blue Lagoon point where you can cliff jump and surprise surprise Pete wanted to do it. Yo can dive from 12 meters, 8 meters or 6 meters into stunning blue/ turquoise water. Pete did loads of jumps and backflips and loved it! I have no desire to throw myself off a cliff so I just sat and watched. When Pete had had enough of an adrenalin kick we drove over to a lookout point and had a picnic. It was so stunning.

We decided to head back over the “bridge” to Lembongan to continue exploring that island. We drove to Dream Beach which as the name suggests was idyllic. We had a swim and sat on the beach for about 20 mins before heading over to Mushroom Bay. It is named this because of the coral that grows in the shape of mushrooms. We decided to swim out with our snorkelling gear to see if we could see the mushroom coral. We went the wrong way at first, swimming along the coast and found a pretty little secluded beach that can only be accessed by sea. We got out and had a look around before heading out to deeper open water to find the coral. I always get paranoid snorkelling in open water that boats aren’t going to see me so it was a bit scary for me but we were fine and a few boats did see us and past us which made me feel better. We saw the giant mushroom coral and loads of fish so it was worth the swim out 🙂

We had to get the bike back by 5pm so decided to start heading back. We took some back road paths and explored a bit more before getting back to Bunda 7. We had a swim in the pool and relaxed for a bit before gong out for dinner. We tried a different restaurant but the food wasn’t as good as the little local restaurant we found the night before. We were both exhausted from a full day of gallivanting so I spent the evening updating my blog notes and had an early night!

Bali to Nusa Lembongan, Indonesia (25 March)

I woke up to the most wonderful treat – Pete had made me breakfast in bed! Now that is the perfect way to wake up every morning 🙂

After breakfast we caught a taxi down to the beach where the ferry leaves from and had a cold drink on the beach while we waited. The ferry finally arrived at 10:40am. It wasn’t exactly a ferry (well what we would call a ferry), it was just a boat. They have no dock so the boats just reverse as close to the beach as they can. To get on you basically have to time the waves right and make a run for it and jump on he back of the boat. If you time it wrong the boat could hit you – nice! This was one of those times I wished I had a smaller backpack!! Luckily the local guys offered to take our backpacks – whew! We got quite wet but made it onto the “ferry” safely. They then proceeded to load 2 motorbikes, a washing machine and a chest of drawers. It was quite fascinating to watch. After all that entertainment we had a leisurely 1 hour boat ride across the channel to Nusa Lembongan island.

We had the same fun and games getting off the boat but the waves were a calmer on this side. We were met by 2 guys from our hotel, Bunga 7, who asked if we could drive a scooter. Pete said he never had, the guy said ” are you a good driver?”, Pete said “I think so”, and he handed us the keys and said follow me – hmmm i guess me forgetting my license back in the UK isn’t going to matter! They put my backpack on the front of their bike and then he just managed to get his arms around it and onto the handlebars. His friend put Petes bag on his back (the bag was bigger than him!!!) and then climbed on the same bike behind his friend. I thought the poor bike tires were going to pop. It looked so funny. Pete strapped my small day bag to his front and I had his big day bag on my back and we climbed on our bike to follow them – thank goodness it was an automatic so we were fine. The roads were very bad and bumpy though.

When we got to the hotel the guy with Petes bag just managed to get it to reception before he gave up and just looked at Pete and said “you have a very very very heavy bag boss” and he looked like he was gong to faint! Shame. We checked into our bungalow – it was great. Woven thatch walls and roof, an awesome dark wood 4 poster bed, a massive shower and a cute terrace where we can sit outside. The hotel also has a great little swimming pool in a beautiful garden. This is much more like the Bali I knew 12 years ago!

We decided to take a walk around an landed up walking for 3 hours, stopping to have a swim and smoothie en-route. The beaches close to us aren’t that great as there are loads of boats but it is beautiful and the water is turquoise and clear. The main town is really cute with traditional temples and Balinese style houses. We were so hot when we got back so we swam in our pool and lay on the sunbeds for a while. We wanted to find somewhere local to eat so we took a walk and found a cute little place close to us. The food was delicious and the people were so sweet. All in all we had a great 1st day in Lembongan island.

Bali, Indonesia (24 March)

We had a slow start to the morning sorting out some admin stuff online etc and then decided to go for a nice long walk. We walked to the northern most tip of town and then headed to the beach before doing the coastal path back south. It started raining when we got halfway down the coast but it was actually quite refreshing walking in the rain.

We tried to find the local ferry port to enquire about tickets over to Nusa Lembongan Island for tomorrow. The first guy we spoke to tried to sell us a speed boat trip for 2 million rupees for both of us (about £150 for a 30 min boat ride). We just laughed and walked away. The next 2 guys had tickets for 250,000 rupee each and when we walked away ran after us and offered it to us for 175,000 rupee each. We eventually got to the office and you can get a ticket on the local ferry for 80,000 each (about £6 each). it is crazy how much you have to barter over here and you never ever accept the first price for anything!

We walked for 3 hours and then just enjoyed the rest of the afternoon swimming and relaxing at the hotel. The pool is so tranquil, I love it. Later we took another walk down the main street and went to this cute little local restaurant for some Nasi Goren (fried rice with veggies, chicken and soya sauce – delicious!!)

Bali, Indonesia (23 March)

Today is Nyepi Day – the Balinese New Years and day of silence. The Balinese have their procession the night before to awaken the bad and evil spirits so they walk around banging drums and making a noise. The next day ( today) everyone has to stay inside so that the evil spirits can exit the village/town/city. Even tourists are forbidden to leave the hotel premises. Balinese people are forbidden to do any activity on this day so they cannot cook, use electricity, watch tv or even talk. They cut the tv reception over the whole of Bali so even tourists in hotels can’t watch tv. The airport even closes for the day.

It rained most of the day anyway and luckily we had gone to the grocery store the day before and we had a kitchenette in our apartment so we could cook our own food. We also have a DVD player in the apartment so we bought DVDs the day before. They don’t do dvd rentals over here – you just buy a cheap copy of the dvd you want. We had 2 out of the 7 that didn’t work but the rest were ok.

Bali, Indonesia (22 March)

We decided to head down to Sanur Beach which was only about 30-40mins away as we had heard it is quieter than Kuta. We booked tickets for the 11am minibus and made our way to the pickup point. The minibus finally arrived at 11:45am and it was packed. They somehow managed to squeeze our backpacks in putting mine up against this poor guy who looked really squashed. I sat in front with the driver and another girl and the driver was yawning his head off the entire drive and at one stage turned to me with bloodshot eyes and said “I’m so sleepy”. Not exactly what you want to hear from the driver! I watched him closely the rest of the way to make sure he didn’t nod off.

We got dropped off on the side of the road and hadn’t booked accommodation so did t really know where to go. The driver pointed us in the direction of the beach so we started walking that way. We found a tourist info stand and got a map of Sanur. We headed down the main road and I walked into the first decent looking place we saw to ask if they had any vacancies. They were full and the lady also told me these were luxury private villas that cost US$250 per night. Hmm slightly out of our budget for this trip.

She was very nice and after a bit of a chat she checked at their other hotel and they had 1 apartment free so she offered it to us at a big discount. We got driven there in a very smart minivan that only had 4 seats that you can recline flat into a bed. The hotel has 12 double storey apartments that are decorated in beautiful dark wood furniture and all have big double doors off the lounge leading out to a stunning swimming pool surrounded by lush vegetation. It was felt so peaceful and relaxing. Our room was massive and also had double doors out to a balcony. We felt so lucky we had managed to get something so beautiful.

We got settled and then headed down to the beach for a swim. It was low tide so the water was quite shallow but we floated around for a while. A little fish got attached to us and kept trying to nibble the skin off our toe which was very ticklish. It was funny until it started biting me on my side which was quit sore! We kept trying to chase it away but it just kept coming back (no fear!) so it landed up chasing us out the water! We were laughing as we ran out the water away from this tiny little fish!!

That evening we went to a restaurant called “The Ducks Nutz” and had a great seafood curry and tuna steak. The food here is great and I am so glad to be eating fresh fish, veggies and nice spicy food again 🙂

Perth to Bali (21 March)

It was our last day in Perth and Australia :(. We were very sad to be leaving. We woke up early and Jax had made us fresh bread for breakfast. We have been so spoilt by all our friends in Australia and have just had the best time. Our flight was at 10am so we had to leave the house at 7:30am. I was really sad to say goodbye to Jax 😦

We had a great flight to Bali – it was only 3 hours 40 mins and the plane has loads of leg room for Pete and the meal was really good. As soon as we got off the plane we were hit by a wall of humidity. We walked out the airport and bartered ourselves a cheap taxi ride to our hotel which landed up being about a 5 min taxi ride from the airport!! The hotel was small but clean and neat and the wonder – Ketut – was really sweet and helpful.

We went for a walk straight down to the beach and I wanted to find Poppies 11 lane which is the main road in Kuta for shops, restaurants etc and it is also where I stayed last time I was here. Kuta beach was awful. There was rubbish and beer bottles lying everywhere. It was really busy and the locals have set up little make shift bar areas with plastic tables and chairs all down the beach. It had been raining the day before so the water looked really dirty and uninviting.

We walked the length of the beach getting harassed every few steps with locals asking us if we would like – surfboards, surfing lessons, jet ski, drinks, massage, pedicure, manicure, hair braiding.

We walked down to Legian Beach and then over to Poppies 1 and Poppies 11 Lane. It was crazy to see how built up the place has become over the last 10 years. There are designer shops, huge shopping malls with MacDonald’s, Starbucks, Dominos etc and there are huge night clubs and hotels all over the place. We found a restaurant and had dinner and made plans to get out of Kuta ASAP.

Perth, Australia (20 March)

I was very sad it was our last day in Perth 😦

I was feeling a bit better and managed to keep a piece of toast down so we went for a drive to South Trigg Beach and took the dogs for a little walk. We dropped the dogs back at the house and took a drive to the Harbour area called Freemantle. It is where all the arty people live. It was really cute.

We had lunch at the Brewery which backed onto the water and you can sit outside, it was really nice. My stomach was still feeling tender so I didn’t eat.

After lunch we drove home and we showed the guys some of our travel photos – it took ages to get through them so we gave up before we got to the end (I’m a bit trigger happy!!!) ha ha

Dyl and Pete lit a braai (BBQ) and cooked some kangaroo steaks. My stomach still wasn’t feeling strong but I did have a little taste and it was really good. Pete loved it :). We had a great evening just chilling at the house with the guys. So sad it is our last night with them :(. Can’t believe it is also our last day in Oz 😦