Zen Bali At Kumara Sakti Ubud

... around us. I was only about to get very low quality photos of them due to the bad vis, almost like a UFO sighting. We surfaced shortly after that as jess was running low on air after fighting the current so the boat came and picked us up and I just sat in the water until the other guys surfaced so I wouldn't get sick. Once all on board we headed back towards Lembongan, and stopped at Crystal Bay on Nusa Ceningen, the smaller Island next to Lembongan, joined by a ...

If I though my breakfast was bad yesterday, this morning it was absolutely abysmal. A different bloke from the hotel made it, and not only was the bread size even smaller but the toasted chocolate spread sandwich was hideously soggy. I ate it in about two bites, and washed it down with coffee, the only redeeming element of the repast. I planned to fit in some surfing before midday check-out, but not having consumed sufficient carbohydrate, I was forced to head over the road to the mini ...

We booked a scooter from the Hotel.Unfortunately, it never arrived, apparently the driver had an accident. So we went to the main street and booked one there. Today we wanted to go to Ubud and check out the Monkey Forest. The ride to Ubud takes a few hours. The traffic in most of the Bali hubs can be easily described as insane. It's packed and dirty. Anyway we made it in one piece to Ubud. After a few stops. Buying some silver beads along the way. At ...

... juz sobie taniec Kecak i plaze w Sanur. Plaza dopiero przed nami.
Spacer po Monkey Forest, przy zewszad biegajacych malpkach jest bardzo przyjemny. Mozna karmic malpki z reki, czasami mozna nie zdazyc bo ktoras podbiegnie od tylu i przechwyci banana :) Bardzo przyjemne miejsce gdzie mozna sie zrelaksowac.
Dzien zakonczylismy dlugim spacerem po malo uczeszczanej okolicy Ubud, gdzie skrot nie do konca okazal sie skrotem ( przerabialismy juz to ...

... organize everything, but that task was more than I could handle. I've already acquired so much stuff here. For example, I already have four towels- two bath towels and two beach towels. Which are all necessary considering how quickly and easily they get filled with sand and dirt. And you need to switch them up when you take them in for the laundry. But every little thing like this adds up and my bag is now full. I will definitely be getting rid of a ton of things before heading ...

... restaurant, and took us to FINE art and jewelry galleries were the products could be found in the marketplace but the markup was crazy high. We visited Tanah Lot temple, which was gorgeous...although touristy. Tara got fresh coconut juice. We learned the basics of silversmithing and we visited the monkey forest. The monkeys were really cute, mischieveious, and very much like people. I even saw one litle monkey run up to ...

... raised my expectations. Anyway, our Hotel (Artini 2 Cottages at no. 2 Jalan Hanoman) seemed pretty good and was atmospheric to say the least - architecturally it appeared to be modeled on some old temple, sunk into a pit so that the rooms were mostly below the level of the adjoining paddi field (yes there was one!) which should make a nifty sprinkler system if a fire ever breaks out. With plenty of daylight left I took a hike up and down the (considerable) length ...

A nice stop in Lovina to refresh. The Nirwana Hotel right on the beach, what a great pool. We basically shut down for a few days and recharge. We headed the Royal Baths which are fed by underground volcanic springs. The locals say they have therapeutic qualities; we stood under the pounding water and got the free massage. The sunsets here are the show, you can count on the locals and tourist alike to come out in the evening to enjoy the colorful Bali sunsets.

... on a bus the whole way. BAH! Kuta isn't really what we were after, so we are heading on from here tomorrow morning. Its been a long few days of travel, but at least we can relax for a few days soon. Tomorrow we are heading to Gili Air (a small island just off the west coast of Lombok) and there we shall sit on our behinds on the beach for a few days. Possibly sip a cocktail or two. Perhaps snorkel a bit. Sounds like heaven to me ...

... we needed & it was so cheap! That's why after a couple of days we booked a day trip away (seperate entry). Just purely out of luck we'd managed to arrive in Bali a day before the start of the major Hindu festival - Nyepi - new year basically. In the build up, and seeing out the old year, alot of work goes into the preparation of the offerings and rituals that will purify the island in readiness for the new year. The first ceremony we saw ...