Ketut's Place Ubud

Today was more or less ****ing hideous. I had breakfast at the hotel, which was free and rather lovely: a big banana pancake accompanied by a selection of different fruit slices and a cup of coffee. It was after this that everything started to go wrong. I went to the internet cafe over the road to use Skype to call up some hostels. I called all of the hostels in Cemoro Lawang (town an hour from Probolinggo from where you set off for Mount Bromo), and after speaking to two and finding ...

When I last talked to my mom, she described my trip in Asia something
along the lines of being full of "misadventures." I would certainly
agree. If you factor in Vincent, creepy strange Macau, getting ripped
off by corrupt police officers, forgetting keys on the motorbike, staph
infections, sleeping in a haunted jungle, near accidents on the
motorbike, and typhoid - she's definitely right. Oh, and there's one
more to add: misadventures caused by mere ...

... that you learn to love. Towards the end of the 2 hour drive we cought our first glimpse of Gunung Batur which is a volcanic cone set inside a big caldera (which is kind of like a massive crater, but it is caused by the collapse of land after an eruption). We first arrived driving around the caldera rim and we stopped to get out and take pictures of the impressive volcano and glistening Lake Batur beside it. From there it was just ...

Fabulous week - 3 days in Sanur - with beach massages, swimming, reading, visiting Adam and Ninks (Jo and Charlie's friends who live there), eating lots, drinking and generally chilling out. Watched a wonderful sunset whilst sipping Bintang in Jimbaran Bay (Kuta), and followed it with a superb fish supper while listening to Gamelan music and watching Balinese dancing. Magic. Then it was off to Ubud for 4 days - even better!...Barong dance, woodcarvers ...

... has dished up for you. You just have to relax and go along with it, blind curve passing and all. Back in Bali I hit up my local favorite spots to see my Balinese friends and get my five dollar massage and haircut. Sergio and especially Dayane with her new bargaining skills went to town buying up plenty of costume suits, paintings, and enough decorations to redo their house back in Hawaii for pennies on the dollar. I decided it was best to relax and not be too productive ...

... the most amazingly gorgeous soft coral either of us had ever seen. One type of soft coral that we found particularly beautiful were called flower stars. They were black with brightly colored tips looking like some sort of alien spider like creature. - A very fun motorbike ride over what pass for roads in these parts but aren't really wide enough for cars (not much of a problem since there are no cars, only a few transport bemos) and are only paved in parts. First we visited dream ...

... Sanctuary (www.monkeyforestubud.com/). The Monkey Forest is owned and managed by the village of Padangtegalan but you shouldn't think of it as simply a tourist attraction. The area and the monkeys are sacred and one must respect this. There are several amazing temples and you can't help but feel like you've just stepped into an Indiana Jones movie. Even though I've included a few pictures, this is a ...