Bali - Part 2

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Mummy and Maribel arrived late Thursday (16th June) night, Eleanor and I met them at the hotel, by this time it was early Friday morning so we didn't stay too long. It was great to see them again and Mummy looked exactly the same, she never seems to age.
I went for a surf on Friday morning and joined some of the group for a massage at the Murano Spa, it was about twenty minutes by car from where we were staying though they offer free transfers from local hotels. That night we all went to the Balcony for dinner, the driver wasn't sure where it was so he dropped us off in Legian, we had to walk the rest of the way dodging cars and motor bikes, by the time we arrived I was more than ready for a Bintang.
Saturday was a a full day tour with our driver Silas who we booked on the internet, he had a ten seater van so there was plent room for us the six of us (Mummy, Maribel, Julie, Chris, Eleanor and me), Tony and Phil decided to have another day surfing. We saw a lot in the day, temples, a coffee plantation, a volcano and lake, silverwork, arts, woodwork and more, we also tasted a local delicay - the suckling pig, it wasn't as good as lechon in the Philippines, the skin was nice and crunchy but the meat was a bit dry. We also tasted pea-berry coffee, the beans pass through a small animal before being ground for coffee and we all shared a durian. We finshed the day with dinner by the sea at Jimbaran, it's famous for seafood. Phil and Tony met us there after a bit of a mix up over the rendevous point, they were enjoying a few bintangs when we arrived, I ordered a large one myself and enjoyed the sunset wh
Mummy and Maribel left the next day (19th June) and the rest of us transferred from the Bali Mandira to the Mara River Safari Park. We all booked the honeymoon package that included two nights accommodation in the park, meals, photos with animals and two park tours. It was a unique experience, the main restaurant fronted a playground for lions, the park also had a wide variety of other animals, it was a little slice of Africa in Bali.
Phil and Chris left for home after we finished our "honeymoon" whilst Tony, Julie, Eleanor and I went to Ubud, well known for arts and the Monkey Forest. We enjoyed some very nice cusine over our two days here including crispy duck, very tender port ribs and a wicked martini. The Monkey Forest was also a unique experience, I've never seen so many monkeys in one place.
We enjoyed our final three days in Padang Padang at Lullaby bungalows, a very private resort consisting of only four cottages and a small restaurant. The landscaped grounds and pool were very impressive and the perfect place to chill out and read a good book, a nice escape from busier places like Legian and Kuta. Padang Padang is located on the Bukit Peninsular and is very close to popular surf breaks such as Uluwatu, Impossibles, Bingin and Dreamland. Tony and I had a good surf at Dreamland, Tony got a great wave and was labelled "Legend" by one of the locals. He also broke his second fin of the trip, must be those powerful bottom turns. A high light of our stay in Pedang Pedang was the quality of the food, the cooks at Lullaby were great and nearby restaurants like Buddha Soul were exceptional, the mixed seafood with saffron brown rice was arguably the best rice dish I've had.
We are back home now, we've got some great memories and plenty of reasons to plan a return trip.

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