Villa Lalu Kuta

... drinking competitions etc. The Balinese must think us Australians are the biggest bunch of *******, parading around like a bunch of drunken hooligans. It's a shame as the locals are really chilled out people and seem genuinely friendly (only seen one fight here so far, and that was between a pair of angry Balinese lesbians).

It's hard to mix in with the locals just yet, we still stick out like sore thumbs. It's quite obvious that the rest of Bali ...

... climbed onto the back of my bike. Easy as! In my little world that’s a pretty good introduction to Asia! Got us both home without crashing which is always a bonus and then we started on the catching up. Were still working on it.
Luckily she got on with everyone really well and so our little group of wonderfulness continued to expand.
We headed up to a temple on the west coast the following day (Miriam with her own bike this time). Disco’s choice as it was his ...

... must leave Kuta for Sulawesi and the wilds of the rainforest and I cannot decide whether or not I would return. I think that alone, Kuta is not the greatest place on earth to be as there is little chance of escape from the plague of tourists that descend here, I would however consider returning with other people to share the beach and bars with.
I find it difficult to comprehend that my time of freedom is coming to an end. I will of course be ...

... seemed more like ball-room dancing, only done badly (Tom: Badly?! It was beautiful!) and to drum and base music). The girl still kept moving away every time Tom went in for a kiss. One drink later and they were leaving again! Before the girl left, she went over to a group of four guys and said something. He seemed to give her the nod and a thumbs up, at which point Tom and the dwarf Indonesian girl left again!! This, yet again, seemed very strange to Andy and I. Why did the girl ...

... The narrow lanes were actually 2 way streets packed with motorbikes, scooters, pedestrians and the odd truck and were a constant challenge to navigate.
We took the first accommodation we could find and sorted out a nice place with an essential pool for the next day. The heat was stifling but the prices were insanely cheap so we ...

... a visitor to this beautiful country. The monkeys themselves have no fear of people and would think nothing of jumping out of a tree onto your shoulder and stealing some fruit from your closed palm, something which one of the larger ones did to Sean, much to his shock! Evenings in Ubud are quite slow in comparison to the fast paced life of Kuta but this was fine by us. After dinner, we headed back to the hotel and spent the evening chatting and playing cards... cheap, easy ...

... super. Les vagues sont spectaculaire et les couchers de soleil allucinants. Je pars mercredi pour Kuala Lumpur ou je vais m'arreter une nuit pour ensuite prendre l'avion pour Krabi en thailande. Full moon party le 9? 01/04/09 J'ai quitter Bali ce matin a 6:00 pour Kuala Lumpur, je dois passer la nuit la parce que les avions sont trop pres l'une de l'autre. Je vais donc passer la nuit la, puis une autre nuit a Krabi en Thalande avant de me diriger vers Ko Lanta.

... and pictures hand made from silver wire and beads. The wood carving and painting galleries were equally fascinating and we spent quite some time looking around and watching the artists at work. Next up, a visit to a typical Balinese home, open to the public and totally different to any house we'v ever seen. The home is made up of several different buildings, mostly open sided,and an open air temple. Each small building has a different function be it kitchen ...

... well I guess a kind of personal journey that led me there. Anyway why I got there is beside the point I had arrived! Bali as you can imagine is beautiful and full of culture, history and strangeness!!! My first destination was Sanur, near the beach. Very nice, spent time relaxing and walking about. On my first day of arriving I had my first marriage proposal and one chap offered to take me off into the sunset on the back of his scooter! Very nice I thought but ...

... de markt en deed verder heerlijk weinig op deze vrij middag. Die avond besloot ik wel naar nog een dansvoorstelling te gaan: ditmaal een dans waarbij de muziek gemaakt werd door de gamelan die ik al iedere avond tot ver na tienen hoorde vanuit mijn bedje en die het verhaal vertelde van 2 koningen die in trans met hun kwade geesten met elkaar gaan vechten. Dinsdag was mijn laatste dag in Ubud: ik wilde nog even naar de kapper en nog even kijken of ik wat leuke souveniers vinden kon ...