Grand Istana Rama Hotel Kuta

... quite nice to just chill on my board as I waited. Meanwhile there was no sign of Granny Beach Tat, though I wasn't exactly on the lookout!

In the evening I went to a bar/restaurant called Maccaroni Club about five minutes' walk from my hotel. My food was nice, though expensive, and I also had far too many beers as I was bored. The thing about Kuta is that a lot of people go there on holiday with friends etc so it's not exactly the kind of place where you meet people ...

After a tough night on the volcano we enjoyed the sunrise. Following a quick breakfast consisting of a steamed egg we were the first to descend the volcano. Back at the car we brushed our teeth and got new clothes. We drove straight to parsi by Candi Dasa to a very beautiful beach (Pantai Putih). It is very easy to miss and quite undeveloped. There were only a few people and no hotels. The ...

... to Kuta. Tourist capital of Bali. Indonesia is a strange place. I dont think I have been offered so many items of clothing, watches & DVD's "cheap cheap" in my life. But there are lots of very cool people as well & it is a stunningly beautiful country, with a very laid back attitude towards life. Plus it is really really bloody cheap, even by SE Asian standards, which is always good. On our first day here we jumped in a cab & headed north to Ubud ...

... scooterways (is that a word?), passing everyone right and left just like everyone else does. It was fun in a "Wahoo, if anything happens I'm in DEEP ****, but you gotta roll with the events" kind of a way. I garnered more than a few stares, that's for sure. And for all that - the ATM wasn't on my network! So, we gave up for the day. I put down a deposit with what cash I had, and the woman I worked ...

... we wanted a hot tub. Someone remembered that we had a bath tub in our room and suggested we use it as a makeshift hot-tub. We filled it with several inches of water and then crammed five bodies into the tub, which instantly caused the previously shallow water to overflow. Arms, legs and bodies everywhere we laughed and laughed until our sides hurt. Finally, exhausted we passed out. Who says Ubud does not have good nightlife? Life is what you make of it...

... it was good to feel the bracing chill of the pre-dawn air (around 10 degrees?). I dashed up the final 280+ steps to the crater's edge just in time to see the sun rise over the misty ridges in the horizon. What other track to play at this point but One Perfect Sunrise by Orbital (with vocals by the incomparable Lisa Gerrard)? The volcano was actually belching clouds of acrid suphurous fumes which was ...

... one at a time, wanted the same thing. Finally brought Steve & Sherry into the mix as well and we must have posed for about 20-23 pictues with different young ladies and a few young fella's. Well this is what it's like being in the lime light. I've never experienced anything like it. It was essentially a small school of kids checking out the center. As we left, we took a picture of all of them and gave a shout out with which they responded with woohoo's and clapping like we ...