Toko-Toko Ubud

... I'm
not sure...” Mike: “yea, let's try this way” Carla: “ugghh I
just landed in a swamp” Angry Dog: “Bark! Bark!” Mike: “let's
get out of here and head for the road.” So yes we ended up running
through rice paddies with a dog chasing us – fun! Luckily a farmer
came to help us and pointed us in the right direction! Rabies
averted – but we do have our shots!

... to her that I knew she was going to sell a lot more today for200 then 75. She smiled and said, “OK70.” Nice. I got a 5000 rupiah discount.

Off I went in my sarong towards the mother temple. I had my ticket in hand and I was confident that no one was going to push me around. They had the set up brilliantly designed. There was no real entrance but they headset one up to look like a ticket checking stand. You were funneled up to a table where your nationality ...

... one of Bali’s volcanoes, then we biked mostly downhill for 25 km finishing up with a wonderful indonesian lunch. Along the way we stopped and learnt about some of the cash crops that they grow, coffee, cocoa, vanilla, cinnamon etc. They produce a very expensive coffee here called Kopi Luwak. The coffee bean is collected from the droppings of the Luwak (like a weasel) they are washed, then roasted. The Luwak naturally selects the best and ...

... would let out an “Awwww”
Suddenly we was distracted by a cacophony of sound emanating from near the temple grounds. It was on our route so curiosity got the better of us and we went to seek out this raucous sound. As we passed through a bit of a security checkpoint we noticed groups of separate crowds all sat around playing some kind of gambling game involving dice. Three dice are rolled and the dice contain various images of animals on them and the men where ...

... die for, looking out over all the rice fields from his living room. He's still waiting on his couch, so we just sat on the ground and drank our "Arak Attacks" (the local Bali signature drink made with arak and sprite) and played King's Cup. There was only seven of us there: Henning, Franzi, Suzanne, Nathan (the Gianyar guy who has been here in Bali for 4 months and is now working for Henning), Helena (the Klungkung girl who hangs our with us a ...

... The next day, we went to Nusa Dua by motorbike and Alexander took us to a dive center. Sebastien, Eric & me dove for about 50 min. to a depht of 12meters(~39ft). We saw a sleeping shark, the nemo fishs hiding in a marine plant and tons of other fishs that we had the chance to feed.....After this adventure, we went back to Bali to relax around the pool at the hotel.The next morning, we went surfing at Kuta Beach. "Almost pros!" After the surfing ...

... owner, and then he decides to leave to party it up with you? Sounds shady when you put it that way). But a good time, and the only night I've really stayed out late since I've been here. Went to a "discotheque" or two before ending up at a bar with live music. They had a list of all the songs that they know, and you can pay about 40 cents to get them to play one. I was surprised that among the usual top 40 **** and ...

... this little island. LAst time I updated the blog, we were deep in the jungle. When we got to Sanur, it was a sunny beach resort town and we spent Thursday diving nearby in Padangbai. The diving was good, not too remarkable other than the DRAMATIC difference in water temperature. One second you would be in 24C water and one flip later and it would be 21C water (I know that doesn't seem dramatic when you read it, but trust me, it was dramatic to us in our light ...

... bits that weren't in the donor garment is no mean feat, especially when sitting in a hot sweaty room whose only cooling mechanism is the fan which constantly blows everything onto the floor. So, the lining wasn't quite straight, but it was barely noticeable and could be corrected. In the meantime, Jacob, very impressed, donned his newly lined shorts and we went out. We went to speak to a company called Perama, who offered transport between various parts of Indonesia. The plan ...

... here have an inherent respect and love for each other, they treat each other with the careful attention that a mother has with a small child. It's really remarkable to watch, and feel - just to be around. Last night at dinner with Riley, a German couple with their two small sons (like 2 1/2 and 1 1/2 yrs old, I'm guessing) sad down at a table near ours. The baby started fussing when the Mom put him down, and one of the ...