Padma Indah Cottages Ubud

... above sea level. The hike was 9km long, and was impressive, especially since we started hiking at 3:00am, and then watched the sun rise at 6:00am from the top. When we returned at noon I took a much deserved shower (we were covered in sand) and slept. <br>

... does venture over to a local vendor for some egg roll type<br>treats that are cut with scissors and served in paper&#8212;beautiful!The kids, especially the girls, are<br>adorable and it was fun to see the interactions between family<br>members. Family is extremely important to the Balinese culture and<br>there is a closeness that is very apparent. The other reason why the<br>Balinese don't travel is because of their familial duties ...

... was great to see these stately birds lounging about in such beautiful surroundings.<br><br>Once back in Ubud, I started feeling ill. I decided to cycle off on another route out of town regardless. I cycled past a school and a group of naked schoolboys splashing around in a river (apparently (at least according to a photocopied Lonely Planet I read in the back of a taxi!), the Balinese believe that bathing is a private action and that when they do it ...

... with swanky wine bars and posh places to eat. The place was nice and quiet though and I stayed with a lovely family in ...

... having to see the white dogs, and just ran a couple loops around my favorite stretch of road, where no dogs roamed. If anyone knows me, they know I'm not the person to be afraid of a dog. I'm the girl who walks up and pets any animal, any time, without hesitation. But it's a different world here. While coming back from my run, the black and white dog started barking and coming closer to me. I slowed to a walk, trying to be as inconspicuous as the local people roaming the streets, but ...

28.03.09: Bye Bye Hong Kong, hello Bali. After a few modern cities, it is nice to go back to a different atmosphere. When we arrived at immigration, there was like an hour queue, as you need to apply for a rip-off visa and there were only 5 customs guards for 3 full planes arriving. When we finally got out, we could not find the place we wanted to rent our car from. We were not sure of the name anymore, the phone with ...

... veggie curry and fried rice and b) somewhere that sells red wine that isn't either off or more expensive than back home. Oh yeah, c) swimming and lazing by the pool. It's a hard life, really. We meet an American girl who suggests Nat should check out a really cheap spa off the main drag, and so we decide that this will be our project for the day. We decide to do a lap of the whole main circuit which is supposed to be a massive one way (scooters ...

... the next day, so we got a big discount on the price of the room. The diving was in Tulamben where the US cargo Liberty was torpedoed by a japanese submarine in 1946, so you can dive inside the wreck. That was awesome. It is crazy to see how much vegetation has grown on the wreck, going in it, you can only imagine how where you are was the living room and the machine room and the engine room and so on as you dive along. We spent the rest of the day enjoying the ...

... comfortable mattress. I loved sleeping out there, feeling the fresh breezes and listening to the night sounds. I would always wake with the early morning sunshine, enjoy the peace and quiet for an interval, then fall more deeply asleep and wake for breakfast. Neither Alec nor Amy were willing to consider sleeping outside for a minute. One night I was on the sleeping porch, almost asleep, when I heard the sound of a large creature of some sort ...

... few hours, but all I do know, is that after a few jugs of mojitos, she had all of a sudden persuaded me that going home was a terrible idea and that I should go to Australia with her. And that was it - decision made. Work gave me another month off, the bank gave me a leetle beet of a loan (its amazing how quickly they want to lend you money with a horrific interest rate nowadays), and my flight ...