Nandini Bali Resort & Spa Ubud

... so had another quite day. It was Zacs birthday, and mum got him a silver frog - his favorite animal. We also got him a birthday cake. We went to see a dance in the evening - but the driver took us to the wrong place twice - by this time it was too late! we settled for another dance - which was canceled. Then being fed up choose to walk to the puppet show on monkey forest road. We were told it was only Mondays despite the hotel reception telling us it was on tonight!<br>

... when we returned I<br>instantly booked us a spot to hike Gunung Batur to see the sunrise &#8211;<br>we will not be defeated!!<br><br>At the end of the tour we enjoyed a<br>delicious meal (buffet style&#8212;and yes it was delicious) including<br>roast chicken, roast duck, and sate. We enjoyed chatting with the<br>other western tourists from various parts of Europe and hearing about<br>all the vacation time they get (6 weeks for some). <br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br>

... whenever they build anything. <br><br>Over at the spa Paul invited us to come along with him over to the Western side of the island where his friends rented a house on an isolated beach for the weekend. We decided it would be a fabulous opportunity to see more of the island and meet some expats. The next day we left early in the morning and headed out. I forget the exact name of the place but in the end I think that may not be too bad of a thing since ...

... dedicated to wood carving handicrafts, which apparently offered great views of some rice terraces. The scenery rolled by as I flew by on my two wheels. I saw an old woman in traditional dress - namely topless- and girls washing clothes in the quickest running parts of streams (they'd use soap suds in one place until the water ran dirty and then move upstream a bit to repeat the process). Clothes were laid down by the side of the road (along with ...

We arrived back in Kuta early evening. Sarah was due to fly the following morning so we had enough time to hire a bike ...

... boundaries. I spent the evening going down to a restaurant to use the Internet for an hour; it had been a week since I was on it. Most all restaurants here have free wi-fi for anyone to use, a luxury that many tourists take advantage of. I love sitting at a table and ordering a drink and some food and going on my computer rather than sitting inside some stale internet café where the connection is slow at best. I'm finding my local places that I love to go to, and finally I ...

... locals hend s meer und d welle wieder mal (fast) fuer sich elei gah - und das au voller freud usgnuetzt. de toubi isch am namittag mal usegange und het voll sin fun gah. eimal heter e overhead welle verwuetscht wasen natuerli umso gluecklicher gmacht het. nach dem surf simer im herzige warung direkt vorem strand oepis go naeh. en local het eus agsproche und freud a eusne wenige indo woerter gah. am liebste heter eus grad no ...

... We want to believe it was the former. At the end of the alley was the "resort". It was actually nice and we hung out there for two days. However we never got in the ocean water, just in case.... The highlight was hanging out on the pool loungers, eating cookies and star gazing. It was amazing how big the sky gets when there are no city lights.

... in a long time. The price we agreed on was 40,000idr, about $4usd. I was so exhausted and collapsed into bed! The next morning I set out to do some exploring. I was in Bali briefly last year, and remember loving the place. This morning I was reminded why. It is tropical, beautiful, with secret surprises to be discovered everywhere- intricate details in architecture and design, temples abound, friendly smiles. I found my way to the beach, which was private and ...

... Unfortunately, it isn't. It rarely ever is. It's a story that sounds all too familiar - reminiscent of the many out-of-control monsters created by a seemingly well-meaning politician with a hidden agenda. A political agenda that goes woefully wrong and before you know it the hunter has become the hunted. That pretty much sums up what happened with Indonesia's forests. In the space of 30 years from when Suharto came into power, the country's natural ...