Day 5 - Seminyak to Ubud

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Last breakfast in our villa at Seminyak. Woken to the sounds of Stephanie, Charlie and Pippa hitting the pool. Lots of giggles and races happening around 0700. Hope the new neighbours don't mind the noise, guess they made enough last night - karma....

Ketut does her bit for breakfast, including dragon fruit juice today. Hmm, interesting colour - like Beetroot. Tasted a little earthy but not bad. Put that down to experience. Cars due at 1100, then Ketut gets a call at 0915 that they are here already. Bags almost packed and Chris still to have a shower. They are told they are early so they are happy to wait - no option really, as they wont be paid until we get to Ubud anyway. Doesn't seem an issue and we just get organised a bit earlier and quicker than expected.

Last minute pics, hugs with Ketut and thanks for her special service. Into the cars and away. Stephanie saw a piece of finisher she liked yesterday so we go past that shop for quick pics then on our way. Traffic is horrible - seems a standard issue for Bali. Our driver today is a bit more aggressive than the others we have had so it makes for an interesting trip. No real dramas but a bit more edgy this time.

Eventually get to our new villa, and guess what, it is there as well. Smack bang in the middle of the rice paddies. This is like a real jungle scene, chickens running down the road in front of the cars, palm trees, coconut trees, etc. get outbid the car and Chris Mc gets on his knees and kisses the ground. Maybe our driver wasn't that bad after all.........

we knew that they probably wouldn't be ready for us as they had guests leaving and then had to clean for us, however they said we could drop,the bags and go into town using the same cars. Anyhoo, we were greeted by our hosts, dropped bags and then told they had finished cleaning anyway. Decided it was easier to still get dropped into town with the cars and do a quick reccie of the place for the next few days.

Nice drive through the town then we are off walking. All good, ATM works again and we are now hungry. Pick a place and order food and drinks. Lunch done and we wander through the market. Hmm, they seem to have lots of little surf boards lie, Charlie bought yesterday (after much dram). Bugger. The market is like most, once you do 5 stalls, they are all much the same. Get to the other end and decide to get a taxi to take us back to the villa. Haggle a bit and we are away. Driver finds our place and we get there inplentymof time for our booked massages starting at 1530 for all of us. 2 masseuses to cover us all.

In for a swim in the pool - a bit cooler then in Seminyak but very refreshing. Massages done, even Charlie and Pippa had an abbreviated massage as well. When we arrived, we had chpatted the owner up about AFL finals and where we might watch them in town. He offered his tv for us to watch. I had also arranged for his wife to cook us an Indonesian dinner so we end up watching the footy and eating in their house. Ana had also cooked a brownie cake for Jessica's borthodox day including a candle. The dinner was fantastic and the cake a hit. To top it off, they have a very young son (Benjamin who is about 6 months old) so Pippa was in 7th heaven.

Dinner and cake done, footy beyond repair (end of 3rd quarter), Thierry (our French host) now aware of AFL and we are off home, having used his computer and local knowledge to book our zoo tour tomorrow. Can't complain about the service once again.

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