Holiday Inn Resort Baruna Tuban

... wave me down to stop &#8211; and thinking that they had noticed a problem with the bike, or that I was going somewhere that I shouldn&#8217;t be, I stopped. But no, they just wanted to chat! "What&#8217;s your name, where are you going,&#8230;" the usual sequence of questions&#8230;.<br><br>I came across a large village, Tanglad, in the middle of the island, which is know for their special form of weaving. They grow the cotton here, hand dye it and ...

... continue this discussion at the station OR pay 450,000 Rupiah to 'make amends for our law violation!!! (Quote) CHEEKY FCUKER!! In case some of you aren't aware, he is asking us for a bribe! I looked at Jeff who by instinct started to argue but what can we do? It's obvious we are never going to win this argument so we had to bite the bullet and pay the man! We asked him for a ticket or something to show we had been charged in case we were pulled over again and his response was ...

... the mountain where he sat, opened it, and drank out of it like a human. He held the cup in both hands and poured the liquid back into his mouth. Seeing an animal act like that shows us our natural innate tendencies before being learned by society. We watched the monkeys swim like humans, dunking under the water to refresh themselves, holding their breath when they go under. They bite each other, a form of aggression known to man alike. They clean one another and hold on to ...

... festival the Balinese Hindu's are not as veggie friendly as the Indian Hindu's. The festival started with a lot of animal sacrifices taking place. For farm girl Sarah probably not a major problem but I was not too keen to go to a killing spree. <br><br>As it ...

... private quarters. Ubud has an interesting Monkey forest but we were a bit monkey-ed out! So we gave that a miss. There are many spa hotels in and around Ubud and it certainly worth spending a couple of days away from the beach to enjoy this tropical hillside retreat. There are literally thousands of temples around Bali; some bigger than others, the one with probably the best setting is the temple at Tanahlot. Sitting on a rocky outcrop just off the west coast ...

... great experience, my legs were really aching and the soles of my feet really sore, and even falling fully clothed into the pool at the final whistle didn't cool me down! That evening there was a tournament dinner in a beach restaurant timed to enjoy yet another amazing Balinese sunset...and a sociable evening was had by all... although some of us left quite early due to heavy eyelids, although the long walk home along the beach was ...

... a better deal for drinking water though. Previously we had been paying around 4,000 Rp for 1.5 liters from the MiniMart or other random convenience stores, but now I figured out that the "Club" brand from the Circle K convenience stores costs only 2,500 Rp for 1.5 liters. The same stores sell imported Evian water at over 20,000 Rp for 1.5 liters. I am not much of a connoisseur of different types of water, but I am curious if anybody can justify spending nearly ...

... the next stage of my journey. I've had an amazing experience here in Bali, and also had a bit of downtime after the program to contemplate and integrate all that I've learned in the prior month. India is a natural progression from here, a place I've always wanted to visit, and I am one-step closer to that. Enjoy your summer, and the new energy that comes with the solstice. Life is always ebbing and flowing, just like the seasons.

... to take two hikes, one along rice terraces and jungle paths, passing mountain temples on the way, and another to a spectacular waterfall. Though the slippery steps (nearly 500 of them -- the Englishwoman counted!) nearly deterred me, the cascade was well worth the challenge of getting there and back. There at the bottom of the valley we were encircled by jungle, the waterfall spraying mist to add to the ...

I'm not really in Ubud right now, but we ventured there yesterday so I decided to put that as my location. Today is our last day in our villa here in Seminyak. We were supposed to go to the beach to snorkel today (the sun's out!), but I am sick, and kindly, everyone is sticking close to home base today. We are going to go to Nusa Dua some other time. The torrential downpours continued on Tuesday so we ...