Wida Hotel Legian

Hi Karen, Another hot, balmy day in Bali. Let Warren know ther's no partying, usually worn out, watch movie, go to bed. Sleep pattern was out of whack for about a week. Heaps of shopping. Food is great. We are having a feast cooked for us tonight. We have all our washing, cleaning and breakfast made for us. Massages each day ...

... went to change all our money. They had to close and go next door for more money. Deb shopped her heart out till the last possible minute. Everything is so cheap.
We are being looked after very well. Balinese girls cook our breakfast, do our washing and cleaning. It is a dream come true. Spas are great. Will try to blog every second day as I have run out of phone credit. To be continued.......

... playing pool and having cocktails.

Our first major excursion was to the Safari & Marine Park. Dad arranged for a driver for the day, we nicknamed him “Speedy” Pete and made just in time for the Elephant show. The kids were able to meet the stars of the show afterwards. The highlight of the day was the amusement park out the back of the animal enclosures. We laughed our heads off watching Max attempting to drive the dodgem cars.

On the way ...

... to leave for the beach at 9:30am. Well, the theme of the day of losing my way continued on. Yes, while driving the 30 minutes it takes to go to the beach, I sat on the back of Julia's motor bike for an hour and forty five minutes! Can you believe that?! At least this time I can say that it wasn't my fault. I was dying on the back of the bike, and although I put sunscreen on, the direct and heavy sun burned my skin. A unique thing here is that everyone uses the motorbike for ...

... good, but gentle salesman), and the paintings were ours. Afterward we headed out to have a better look at the streets of Legian in the daylight. Overall the town was a bit ramshackle with random stores and street stalls. Everyone was trying to sell us something - clothes, food, taxi rides. The hounding was constant. We tried to have a look in the open air markets near our hotel, but retreated after only a few minutes of incessant ...

... and Tegal Sari are built in straight lines out into the rice field. As a result, every bungalow has fields in front and behind; you feel very much a part of them, and indeed one morning I had a farmer with his sickle chopping away at his field not five feet from the window. The lines aren't parallel but at right angles to each other, from the common point of the joint driveway. Green Field goes deeper into the paddies, while Tegal parallels the road. The ...

... meh ufem buggel het als de toubi, dihei xi isch. zeme mit ihre simer eifach mal zu eim vo dene huettlis go luete. ufgmacht het en scho chli verlaebte duetsche wo eus gern itrette lah het. und da hemer xeh: ussert de muur rundum het sich noed viel veraenderet ide vergangene jahre. nacheme foeteli und echli smalltalk (de duetsch het eus leider noed gross choenne wiiterhelfe bide suechi nach luet wo am toubi sis mami no kennt hend) simer denn aber wieder gange.

Jon and I moved AGAIN! We decided that while our room has an amazing view during the day, it is a little too "jail cell" for our taste at night. We move a bit further up Monkey Forest Road to Lumbung Sari Bungalows. A smidge more expensive, no A/C, but so much nicer and, wait, wait for it.....no chickens! We met up with A and J and decided to get some more info from the very helpful Tourist Center in Ubud. There is supposed to ...

... to things. Upud has a famous monkey Sanctuary which is really close by to where I am staying so it was my first stop for today. I love my monkeys, and have been lucky enough to have some pretty good experience with the little fellows so far in my travels,( the purse snatching monkey in Malaysia wasnt too bad) but I have heard some stories, some scary stories ....about these Bali monkeys.... You are warned to not wear ANYTHING ...

... I would have liked a bit more explanation about the site, the sacredness of it remained clear. I started thinking about the reconstruction of sacred spaces and how we, in the West, try to make them clearer to the modern mind, but really just end up erasing the reason that they're sacred by making things too obvious. Up a cliff face, across some rice paddies and then down to Goa Gajah (the Elephant Cave) itself. The exterior is really intricately carved, but inside, it's very ...