Bali

Hi all

Back to second blog - we can access the other blogsite but cannot now sign in for some reason - ahh global communication - sometimes less than global. Unfortunately we cannot upload any photos at the moment either.

We are currently in Sanur, a small seaside resort in the south of Bali. Its smaller than Kuta and very quiet and relaxing. Our first week was spent in quite a large resort hotel in South Kuta which was lovely but vast. Here we are staying in a much smaller hotel called the Mentari Sanur. Out days are mostly spent walking around, haggling with market stall holders and relaxing by the pool. After the last few months of travelling and moving around frequently, its great to read some trashy novels (Tracy not Gary of course!) and think about the future.

While we were in Kuta we did an afternoon tour to a temple called Ulu Watu at the southern tip of Bali then watched a fantastic Kecak fire dance at an open air ampthitheatre next to the cliffs and overlooking the temple. This particular dance is unique to Bali as there are no instruments but instead a choir of 70 men sing the story. It was wonderful. We rounded off the evening by having a BBQ fish dinner on Jimbaran beach, our table just a few feet from the sea and were serenaded by a quartet with a rendition of "Angel" by Robbie Williams! A popular song here as we have now heard three versions of it by three different groups!

We are gong to spend a week in Ubud next week and we will be seeing more dance there and hopefully a shadow puppet performance. Ubud is the artistic and cultural centre of Bali and we are lucky enough to be able to spend plenty of time soaking it all up.

Bali is a very beautiful island but commercialism has created a situation where westerners are seen as only in terms of wallets - every single interaction here is followed by an attempt to sell you something. It is a sad thing and often quite desperate as the whole island is so heavily reliant on tourism. We are fortunate to be going to the east of the island for our final few days, staying in Amed which is untouched pretty much by tourism.

We hope you are all well and enjoying early summer, looks as though the weather is good. Here is is about 30 degrees day and night!

Thinking of you all

Lots of love

Tracy & Gary

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