All good things...

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We would just like to state from the off set, that due to a comment we have had on our blog, the food in Bali was very tasty and lots of variety for us veggies and really reasonable.

Day Trip

After 3 glorious days of relaxing and sun bathing and of course diving, we thought that we better do some sort of sight seeing. In every country we have been through so far, there have been group tourist busses to take you to the major sights, however in Bali things were different, they seemed to only run private tours, for the same amount of money a group ones are. It seems that they expect you to meet other travellors in bars.

When planning the tour with the agency we decided that we would finish in Ubud instead of Kuta to experience a different aspect of the Island. The morning we were due to leave we arrived at breakfast to find no staff, the manger was around but none of the breakfast staff, he told us they were coming. We helped ourselves to coffee and waited. The problem was our guide was picking us up in 20 min. After another 10 min, there was still no sign of them, so Jan took matters into her own hands and went into the kitchen to start to make us breakfast. Needless to say, as she put the bread in the toaster and taken out a pan, the staff arrived and shooshed her out their kitchen and our breakfast was whipped up in 2 minutes.

When we came to paying, Jan told the manager that the fact she had to pay for cooking my own breakfast was ridiculous, he seemed to think that his own staff being 40 min late at breakfast was acceptable, hence an argument ensued. We had originally planned to return to that hotel and therefore had left our bags in their storage are, but as the argument escalated due to the hostility of the manager (who originally said he was an employee) we were asked to take our baggage and we were not welcome to return to that hotel.

Luckily the company we were doing our tour with, let us store our baggage.

We were finally off on our adventure with our guide Juda (or Yoda as Steve called him). Our first stop was a batik and weaving factory, we saw how they made beautiful hand made batiks. We then went to a typical balinese dance show, where they explain about the good and evil spirits. The show was extremly colourful and fun to watch. Our next two stops were to a silver smith and wood carving local outfit which were interesting but quite touristy. We then had an hours drive to a volcano site, which had a beautiful view. That was our lunch stop and we had a wonderful meal at a local resturant. We then went to another village to see the terraced rice fields, it had to all be planted and ploughed by hand and was amazing to see how hard the people worked.

Coffee with a kick

We went next to a balinese coffee plantation. Not only did they grow and roast their own coffee and coco, but they had loads of herbs and spices. Our guide picked a fresh chilli off the tree and instead of just nibbling it as Jan did, Steve took a huge bite and found his lips and mouth going very red as the chilli was strong. We were able to taste the local tea and coffee at the plantation, and fortunately Steve had recovered some taste buds by then.

Monkeying Around

Our next stop was Ubud and the monkey sanctuary. This is a huge forest were monkeys, not huge ones run free and wild. They are not dangerous, however tend to take things that they want like food and water. As we entered the park steve was holding a small bottle of water and within a few minutes a monkey jumped on him, grabbed the bottle, undid the lid and tipped out some water to drink it seemed he was thirsty. We spent about an hour in the park watching the monkeys froloking about. There were tiny baby ones too and a few decided to have a water fight in a big puddle which was very amusing. Our guide then took us to the local market and then we then went to find ourselves some accomodation for the night.

Although our guide offered to do a different tour for us the next day, we decided to be lazy and spend the day by the pool- we were in for a little suprise.

Our evening was spent walking around, getting to know the local area.

Changing Hotels...Again

The following morning, after breakfast in bed, all the hotels in Ubud delivered breakfast to your room, what a luxuary. We decided to change hotels as our pool, was not going to receive direct sunlight, which would be important for a day at the pool. We moved 2 doors down, a real hardship.

Rain, Rain Go Away, Come Again When We Are Away!

We decided on a morning walk, a little shopping and also to go and organise our dive for the next day. This was all complete by midday, and Jan was ready for the pool. however the heavens decided to open and it rained all day, but not light rain but heavy torrential rain. I suppose we had had 4 glorious days of sun in the rainy season, so we could not really complain. We ended up just reading and sleeping in the afternoon. We did however get up to go to the market again before 6pm and steve had another £1.50 haircut, but the only added benefit was the best coffee we had on the island.

Another Dive

The following day the sun did decide to shine, it obiously needed a day off We were picked up just after 8pm to go to Nusa dua, another dive sight abour an hour away. On route we picked up our equipment and arrived at a small beach. We met our dive instructor and took a small boat out for about 15 min and jumped off the boat and went 10 meters under to see beautiful coral and fish. Our first dive lasted 40 min after a rest, we went in again and did a drift dive, which means you literarly float with the current a strange feeling and a whole new experience for us. But we did get to see some amazing fish, that included an eel and big tropical ones. When we surficed it was raining, just lightly, however by the time we got to land and had showered and eaten lunch the sun was shining. It has been amazing to do 6 dives throughout this whole trip, each one being so different, it has really inspired us both to dive more often where ever we are in the world.

Bye Bye Bali

We got transport back to Kuta, found a nice friendly hotel with a delicious pool and settled down for the afternoon, with a good book and sunshine. Unfortunatly Steve seemed to have liked the dive a bit too much and we think swollowed some plankten, which did not like his tummy, so he spent the following 48 hrs on and off the loo. I wont subject you too the details, that I had to go through. After an afternoon at the pool, we went to a bar to watch a movie and eat dinner.

Our last day in Bali was spent very much like all the others. Wake up, see the sunshine, have breakfast and head for the pool. We did manage to get some last minute shopping in.

Singapore

We arrived early evening, we had tried to book a hotel online, but were unsuccesful. So we thought we would try at the airport. It was a good thing that this bit was at the end of the trip, as hotels are so expensive and because of the impending chinese new year, most hotels were fully booked. We managed to secure one paying a lot of money for not a great deal. But it was quiet central and even had a gym, which Jan used (steve restricted himself to using the other 'facilities').

Our first day in Singapore was spent on a hop on hop off bus. They have 2 tours city and heritage tour, and fortunately for us they were having a special that you got 2 days for the price of 1. Our first stop was the botanic gardens which was beautiful, where we saw people doing thai chi and running. The plants we really interesting. We then decided to do the full city loop as the guide was really interesting and it is what they advice you to. When we got on the bus again, we made a stop at Qantus as Jan had noticed in the morning that a zip on my back pack had been brocken and the lock been hacked off but nothing had been tacken. Even though you are meant to report these things at the airport, the woman at the Qantus head office was very helpful. It does help that Jan happened to speak to the head of marketing. She got hold of someone, who told us we had to empty the bag and give it to the hotel reception and they would fix and return it. So our day took a bit of a turn, back to the hotel we went and gave the bag back. Qantus were true to their word and by 5pm the bag was fixed and she was given a new lock all by 5pm. After a bit of lunch we did the heritage tour which included china town and little india.

Night Safari

We decided to do the night safari at the zoo. We reached the Zoo around 6.45pm and first saw a night creature show which was really cute and included baby ottos putting plastic bottles into recycling bins. We then got onto a night safari train, which went through different types of jungles and seeing animals in their 'natural' evening enviroment. We went on a night walk, and even encountered a lion roaring, which was scary and awesome. The whole night safari was an amazing and different 'zoo' experience.

The Last Day

As Steve was still not feeling great and we had walked our feet off the day before. We decided to take it easy. So once packed and checked out of our hotel, we headed for the shopping streets, god forbid we should rest. After dissapointingly finding that the famous Begus Street only properly opened at 1pm, we wondered around the area for a while and made our way to little India which was not as exciting as we had hoped.

We then hoped back onto the bus and went to the bustling China town, as Chinese New Year is next week, it was heaving with people. We spent a couple of hours wondering around and looking at all the amazing decorations and interesting food.

Then it was back to the hotel for a quick shower and bite to eat and now we are at the airport... and found our flight has already been delayed...

Fortunately we have already booked our accommodation in London and know that it is good enough to stay there for a couple of weeks without complaining to the management.

Our next installment will be from London.

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Comments

[lara]

The end of an era
Excited to have you back and have enjoyed reading your adventures lots of love

[Leigh]

Hotel Ericros
Hey Can't believe it is time for you to come home already. I am very amused that you two have managed to get yourself banned from returning to a number of hostels around the world. I hope you fair better with the management at the hotel in London. I understand that the bed has already been prepared with the duvet well fluffed and the room cleaned awaiting your arrival. I also understand that they have arranged some entertainment for you in the form of a 5 and a half week old who is looking for cuddles and kisses, I hope you can assist. Anyway, I hope you don't have any problems with the management at Hotel Ericros.

[uri]

Steve has got his hat on
Welcome back Steve and Jan. I cant believe 5 months have gone by so quickly ! Everyone I have spoken to agree - we all missed you. Especially Rob. I was on the phone with him last Thursday and he was actually crying when I reminded him you two were coming home. Matthew has also been very upset. He told me he wants to join you on the next leg of your tour to South Africa. Do you have room for one more? He's a bit big to fit in your suitcase but Im sure Jan would love it. Anyway Im so glad you're back safe and sound. Cant wait to see you two and catch up and see some photos (do you have any or were they all stolen ??).