Rice paddies, villages and Gunung Batur

Well, this will be short since the internet crashed as I typed the last one and the clock is now running out on my pre-paid card....

Yesterday, I went on a day trip up to Gunung Batur/Lake Batur and back. Gunung Batur is a volcano in north east Bali - apparently it last properly erupted in the 60s but everything I see seems to say different dates so by all accounts it seems to have a minor eruption every few years. No smoke yesterday though! We went by minibus to have breakfast overlooking the crater, and then drove back down a little way to a coffee plantation. Had a brief introduction to the coffee, but more on the fruit!

After that we got on mountain bikes and cycled 24km (mostly) downhill, through villages, stopping to walk around rice paddies and for water breaks. It was full moon yesterday, and the villages were all decorated for the festival. The children all ran out to say hello every house we passed and wanted to high-five us - which isn't easy when travelling down hill at speed on a road full of potholes! Beautiful scenery and a fantastic day.

After that we stopped a the trip organiser's house for lunch. It's all local run and the extra money goes to help a school that he sponsored, which I didn't know before I booked, but it was nice to hear.

After we got back, I went for dinner and met a German lady that exports goods to her shop from here, so she was good for information. We went onto a reggae bar with a live band for a few hours after.

I'm still staying in Ubud at the moment - today I just walked around the place some more and slept in late - going to see a dance show tonight. Tomorrow I may move on but not sure of my plans yet.

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