Puri Bambu Hotel Bali Jimbaran

... reverence to the brilliant orange soccer squad. So we wiped off our seats, got cold in our orange gear but actually had a pretty good time! Even by soccer standards the match was pretty boring (the score says all - 0-0), but the atmosphere was awesome and we were very close to the pitch, which meant I could really check out all these fit, well trained and uuhmm technically gifted soccer players ..

When we got to the airport afterwards, Ivo ...

From arriving off the ferry into Gilaminuk on the northwest tip of the island of Bali, we continued on the bus for 3 more hours to the capital, Denpasar, located near the south central coast of Bali and the main tourist area of the island.

Bali is considerably smaller than Java and can be driven around in just a day. Although a small island, it has something to offer for everyone: beautiful beaches, luxurious spas, fantastic shopping, miles of beautiful hills of ...

... we did buy. After the market, Suzanne and I just walked around the main roads looking at the shops we had yet to see. (Usually it was just Suzanne and me that did most things while Franzi stayed to herself). Everything I bought (not much) could fit inside my purse, so it really was just a day to walk around the town and stop off and get a fruit juice in the middle of the hot sun. My foot was extremely tired by the end of the day, since we ...

... Tulamben to dive the shipwreck of the Liberty. This is justifiably Bali's most famous dive site and we loved both our dives on it.

We decided on a sunset walk to a picturesque beach one afternoon. Turned out we had to walk through a constructions site as they are building a resort there. Still not quite the island paradise we were looking for so we made plans to head to the Gilis.
Padangbai, Bali, Indonesia kingsandems

... which involved a very weird game of tug of war, with Jonno being the rope. I won! Back at bounty the terrible dancing commenced, the fishbowls flowed and the activities on the captains wheel continued. Anna and Savage managed to discover a common interest in the railways (they both work/worked for a railway company in London), i think it was Anna's excitement at this link which i laughed at more rather than the link itself! Calvin by this time was hugging a large ...

... Lyon), so Fab was happy to have someone to finally speak proper french with (instead of my fumbling, mangled Quebecoise). The bungalows are dotted throughout a beautiful garden/jungle setting full of papaya, frangipani, hibiscus and coconut trees. If you don't scuba dive there isn't much to do on Gili Air, but that's the whole point. The few times we set out to snorkel were pretty much all thwarted by the ever-present jellyfish (no idea why they seem to ...

... we didn't have enough money to get it, so we geared up for an early morning buy and surf the next day. We spent the rest of the day chilling at Padang Padang Beach, hiking through the caves and around the shoreline down toward Dreamland (the break further down from Impossibles), and got a nice cliff-top view of the sunset. Our first full day, and it was clear this place was going to be hard to leave. In the night, we embarked on a ...

... but I grab a shakere and later a drum and it's a great scene...facilitators from 6 different countries and drummers from the international community of Ubud. I hang in till the end...still a little daylight to scooter around some of the back roads...but as it gets dusky the air becomes thick with bugs and they get in my eyes and mouth so I decide to call it a day....a full one...lots to think about...and lots of scratching to do tonight...always...

... nog mistig. En inderdaad: na ons ontbijt van pannekoeken en fruit, is de hele vulkaan niet meer te zien en lijkt de mist tot op het balkon van het restaurant te hangen. Dat belooft nog iets voor de 25km afdaling op de fiets die we nog voor de boeg hebben... We gaan eerst nog naar een koffieplantage, waar we in de kruidentuin aan allerlei bladeren mogen ruiken en voelen: nootmuskaat, kruidnagel, vanille. We zien cacaobonen en koffiebonen en ook een hele grote bananenspin hoog in de ...

... though she'd never been to this place before, this was HER TURF! No kidding. First we go to this guy selling shrimp. Big ones, little ones, and every size in between, whatd'ya want. Oh, you want the big ones huh? Well that'll cost ya. Oma quickly puts him in his place and gets a lowball price. Then she inspects each shrimp that they give us to make sure there's no duds. "Hey, drain that water before you weigh that, we're not paying for water!" Then we move on to one of the ...