Ubud Village

Arrived in Ubud with no place to stay. Looking through the lonely planet book at the bus station a man approaches us with a homestay option of 80,000Rp per night (includes breakfast). He has transport to take us there so that we can see if we like it. Sure, sounds like a good option, until we saw that the transport was a scooter. We look concerned and he says okay okay its okay. So, we take one last look at each other not knowing if it is ...

... then feeding time so they were all then a little preoccupied thankfully. Giving us the chance to observe uninterrupted! They provided many an hour of entertainment! We then headed out for the most amazing Japanese meal - so good - I think it&#8217;s about safe to say it&#8217;s my favourite food ever. It&#8217;s been growing on me for a number of years but that meal just confirmed it for me. <br><br>We embarked on our next adventure Aussie free. It was a shame but Stephen wasn&#8217;t ...

A short bus trip brought me more inland, to completely different world. Ubud is even at the first sight noticeably in contract with Kuta &#8211; quiet, more cultural, no half naked teenagers.<br>I got accommodated right in the centre, in a compound of houses, which looked more like a normal private house than a hotel. It was actually a complex owned by a big family, renting a few rooms at the back. My room was great, with a big ...

... emotion on se rend dans un autre temple tout proche, et rebelote, on est pris dans la ferveur et l'enthousiasme des villageois qui fete aussi leur ceremonie. On y rencontre un gars parlant anglais qui nous explique en gros les rites. On y prend des photo des offrandes, des grands meres qui essaient de nous caser avec les petits/tes fils ou filles. Bref on en prend plein les mirettes, et on quitte la fete locale sans chichis, avec les sourires des gens qui nous ...

... in Denpasar when I arrived back in Bali and then be forced to get another 30 day visa from another trip out of the country or try to get an extension at the embassy in due time. Or I could make it a 5 day trip in one place and go to the Indonesian Embassy and obtain a 60 day visa, meaning I wouldn't have to leave Bali again. But, I would have to deal with finding the Embassy, filling out forms, etc. And would I want to go to Singapore or Kuala Lumpur? My flight was headed to KL ...

... night in Lovina in a rather shabby hotel where the owner had directed me by motorbike after approaching me on the beach. Mixed seafood for dinner in a nearby restaurant came in healthy portions. For desert I chatted with a friendly local guy who specialises in pendants from shells, corals and coconut wood which he makes from his own finds and sells to the tourists. Currently in Lovina there are hardly any and the whole infrastructure of this place runs more or less idle, so my petty ...

... scenic than in Vietnam or Thailand. The rice fields are terraced over a steeper mountainside with both coconut and palm trees scattered throughout. Many tourists like to go trekking through the rice fields. But for me, there was enough tranquility just watching the rice fields as the sun went by over the mountains. Most of my trip was spent sitting in front of the bungalows. I chatted with ...

... two weeks. Tomorrow I fly to Sumatra, Indonesia's angry dark heart, long exploited by Java and given little in return, where I will take part in a jungle dark in hopes of spotting some wild Orangutan. If I leave Indonesia without seeing one, this entire trip is a failure. I will thus not leave until I see one. Plotting a flight there from here was a bit tricky, AirAsia's Bali&gt;Jakarta&gt;Medan (Sumatran city) schedule was not Charles ...

... at the end of the 19th century by the King of Karangasem (ancestor of the King of the first palace) and the first Stedeholder in Bali for the Dutch regime. You can walk into the palace and see how the king (and his 10 wives) lived. They left 30 children and 90 grandchildren. It was nice but only if you are in the neighborhood (1$ entrance). We drive another 10 minutes. The views stay nice. An old lady, walking with a stick, crosses the road with many kilos of rice grass on her ...

... thing we've really come across. So prices...well internet in most places is about $0.50 to $1.50/hr. All places, except Indonesia (Bali anyway) the speed is OK. If you go to some of the smaller communities, the speed is Food is incredibly cheap - especially seafood. You can eat for $4.00 for a full meal of seafood, veggies and rice (of course). Even Western food is reasonable if you want it. All the clothing, souveniers are all so very reasonably priced. We bought art ...