Bhanuswari Resort Spa Ubud

Ok at this point I'm about 6 days behind in writing this so I'm gonna fast track it a bit...

We went to the Street Cafe just outside our hotel to collect our discount 25k, continental and european style breaky, which was excellent and the first chance I got to try 'Bali Kopi' (coffee), which is what they call the coffee grown and served in Bali so its not difficult for tourists to understand, it actually does have a more genuine name.

Our driver ...

... on me. They weren't angry and didn't bite or scratch me, they were just looking for food. Although one lightly bit Zac because he wouldn't give up his bracelet.

After this we went to see the Kacak and fire dance. It was my favorite of all the dances. In the fire dance a man was running over hot coals from coconut shells.

Wednesday, September 2009
Ubud, Bali, Indonesia:

Zac was feeling a bit unwell again today so we didn't do much, mum and I ...

... good – but we thought the lemongrass tea that we tried was
the best!

Next we visited a traditional Balinese
family campground. There are tight quarters and in order for it to
work people have to be considerate of each other otherwise it would
be a living nightmare. And these people work – hard- notice the
grandmothers who are stripping the bamboo, a very time-consuming
process. We also got an interesting lecture on the ...

... that we chose the latter, because after only six weeks of budget backpacking, Ari and I find ourselves in a blue-taxi speeding towards Kuta (and as western and touristy a hubbub as exists on Bali). The main lure - besides the beach itself whose golden sands stretch for 8km - is the gigantic, utterly delicious and much missed "Cobb Salad" served at the Hard Rock Cafe. Now, as two salad-afficionadas, the most difficult part of this trip has been avoiding ...

... pour son temple auquel on accede en descendant 200 marches le long de rizieres (pour l'instant on s'en lasse pas, c'est trop beau). En bas la riviere scinde le temple en deux, des anciens structures sculptees dans la roche (c'est compare a Ellora mais c'est plus en piteux etat). La visite vaut le detour pour le decors, et l'ambiance qui y regne, on y voit d'ailleurs des gamins dans leur plus simple element plonger dans l'eau et nous aussi, on voudrait bien y aller!

... to explore Bali outside of Kuta, so we rented a motorbike and had a lovely day exploring south of Kuta. We stuck to roads as close to the beach as possible and ended up driving past all of the swank resorts - Ritz, Four Seasons, etc. We found a little trafficked gravel road that took us through some lush tropical forests and eventually to a clifftop Balinese Hindu temple. We checked out the temple and descended the cliff to the beach below that was beautiful ...

... entgegenkommenden Fahrzeuge auch schon mal die Gegenfahrbahn mitnehmen, weil das bequemer ist. Hab den kürzeren Weg genommen, nicht an der Küste entlang und hab 3 Stunden gebraucht. Das Hotel ist ganz süß, hab ein schönes Bad - mit Badewanne, die ich sicher nicht benutzen werde - A/C, Pool, riesiges Bett und ein Panorama-Fenster durch das ich das Meer sehen kann. Hab mich sofort in meinen Bikini geschmissen und an den Pool gelegt - darauf hatte ich mich ja schon seit 3 Wochen so ...

... de Jatiluwih que se revelaram muito mais impressionantes do que esperávamos, é uma zona verdadeiramente bonita. A viagem foi longa e ficámos com os trazeiros um pouco doridos da viagem, mas valeu a pena! CZ: Na Bali jsme jeste meli nekolik dni na valeni, nez jsme odleteli zpatky do Singapuru. Prvne jsme na Bali okupovali hlavne jih, tentokrat jsme se rozhodli zamirit na sever ostrova do primorske vesnicky Lovina. Od trajektu do Loviny jsme se ...

... 10-12 stories) and the villas in the garden below. Jon-Jon and Julian had a ball riding up and down from our room to the lobby and then the garden. After we thoroughly checked out the place, we went back up to the top to enjoy breakfast with a magnificent view. Soon after, Kathryn joined us and ate her meal while the boys played with the house band in the lobby bar. Our last two nights on Bali were spent in a hotel along Monkey Forest Road in Ubud. As ...

... and the ****ing b*at br*ke d*wn and the tide came in and it was crazy adventure right th**e. P**r b*atman. Next surfing-sp*t was Medewi, which was really calm, the swell was n*t v**y str*ng these days anyway and I was glad I didn't bring my b*ard f*r that. When I g*t back t* Kuta I met my l*vely friends S*fia and Lisa, British and N*rwegian. I can't even describe it, we wh**e just p**fect team, all 3 surf**-girls, playing with fire *n the beach at night, making ...