Villa Kerti Yasa Bali

... It took a long time to find the only ATM and internet cafe.

We arrived in Amed to be told there was 'no room for us at the Inn'. Our booking had been cancelled.
Because we don't pay taxi drivers until we know we have a room our driver was 'happy' (with a nice tip) to help us find somewhere. Many places were closed for the season, the first "with pool" that had vacancies, proved a result. We got a bungalow almost on the beach with only the swimming pool between us ...

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We stopped off at Lovina (the very north of Bali), which had a beautiful beach. We hadn't long got out of Suzie when we found a company offering dolphin spotting trips. We weren't sure whether to believe the man at first who said “I will show you LOTS of dolphins”, but it was a beautiful day to be out on the waves so thought why not? The guide took us to his boat, which looked like a hollowed out tree trunk. We hadn't been out for long ...

... wear. The girls looked nice, but in all honesty they looked like 10 year olds ready to go and work the street corner or drag queens. Seriously. There was nothing innocent about their hair and makeup. If they were my daughters there is no way I would’ve let them out of the house looking like that. I don’t know, nor did I ask, but I suppose their hair and makeup are Balinese tradition??

The manager at the villa did most of the traditional ...

Sepi, hanya ada deru ban menyentuh aspal. samar terdengar lalu lalang kendaraan bersahutan. langkah ini kian terasa berat. rasa kantuk dan letih berpadu satu. biru pagi di sekitar Ngurah Rai mulai menyala. aku masih punya sepotong gelora. terlintas dalam benak ...

... closed all the nightclubs and all but two of the bars, who also had no music. After talking to a rather intoxicated police officer (who was on duty by the way...with a gun) we found out that the silence part of the festival starts on the eve of Nyepi day so it was literally a music-less celebration....very odd, but amazing none the less. The parade consists of effigies made out of bamboo and other various materials being carried through the streets of Kuta by groups of ...

... at the top end) to find the USB cable. On the way, it becomes clear what in fact this area of South Bali is....it's basically to Australianand Japanese what the Costa del Sol is to the British and Irish. Not only that but the Balinese have become expert hawkers, hounders whatever you like to call them. You can't walk 10 yards without cries of "Hello boss, taxi, transport?" or "Allo Mate - spoken in the finest Australian accent" or the one I love ...

... to find some drinks but instead we found a local fashion shop. The designer designs their t-shirt in Balinese culture and it was interesting. We each bought a t-shirt which showed Bali underwater in cartoon. Ahris picked us up again to send us to the airport. Finally our 5 days diving and shopping adventure ended just in a blink of eye.

... Road for 60,000 Rp./each. Public bemos (mini-buses) are much cheaper but we would have to get to the right bemo terminal in Denpasar to take advantage of them. The Perema tourist service also makes the run, but their prices seem to have really gone up lately. We read about people using it from Kuta to Ubud for 20,000-30,000 Rp over the past few years, but according to their website, it costs 50,000 Rp now. They also drop you off in a rather inconvenient place ...

... blacksmiths, silversmiths, etc. After the ceremony we talked with several of the elders, wisemen and the head preiest. I do not consider myself religious, but I definitely felt a spiritual connection to something at that ceremony. It was a very cool experience, having the privelege to participate in a ceremony that is usually reserved for locals. Furthermore it was quite mind blowing to know that the same ceremony had been taking place in that same temple for hundreds maybe thousands of years.

... this gift-giving might be limited to a smaller section of maybe 1,250 people, unless the newlyweds belonged to an important family such as that of a priest. The same thing goes for other important ceremonies, such as those given to children at three months and six months. There's no need for a village police force; upon any perceived threat to the community, someone rings a bell and everyone who can comes out to help ...