Last days- Legian, Bali- Indonesia

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We have come to our last days in Bali!

It has been quite an adventure so far and we have managed to achieve all we had set out to on the island.

We have visited Kintamani and seen the wonderful Mt Batur, an active 1771m volancano that sits along side Lake Batur. The volcano last erupted in 1994. It was just sureal to sit and have lunch so close to where this HUGE thing had created so much destruction. You can still see where the Lava reached and destroyed so much vegetation. Close by we visited the Tegallalang Rice fields. What a picture perfect postcard this would sure make. And the Monkey forest.... What a laugh we had there. We were told by our guide Hendrik that we should keep all valuables away from the monkeys as they are very inquisitive and would surely try and take what ever we had not safely secured to our bodies. And that they did. Whilst I was feeding one (on top of my head mind you) the others would be pinching the rest of the bananas from my free hand 😊 Peter had never laughed so hard. After a while I couldn't get them off and so I started crying out for help. Eventually they got bored of me and left me alone. I even tried to cheat one later with a banana skin (the banana had already been removed) and it got so angry with me, bearing its teeth and all.... It was pretty scary actually.lol. We were shown around Ubud, located about an hours drive from Kuta-Legian. It is full of arts and crafts i.e wood/stone carvings, mosaic designs, gold and silvers smiths, beautiful oil/acrylic/water colour paintings..... I think we will stay here if we ever return to Bali. It is away from the hustle and bustle of bikes and big touristy hotels. Much quieter. It was near here that we purchased a beautiful acrylic type painting of Mt Batur. The artist is apparently very well known in Indonesia for his work, and the assistant was initially asking for over 600,000 RP but we got him down to 250,000. Peter was very impressed with his bartering skills 😊

We have visited a few temples also. But by far the most amazing was the one in Uluwatu. This temple is huge, nestled on a massive cliff overlooking the ocean. I 'm not sure if I have ever seen anything so beautiful. You felt a great sense of peace being there. When we went into the temples we were made to wear a sarong to cover our knees. Was very funny to see Pete in a skirt. lol. This temple is home to hundreds of monkeys that can keep you entertained for hours.

We have gone seawalking. It is where they take you out to the ocean by boat, equip you with a wetsuit and this funny looking astronaut bubble thing for your head. Then take you about 10 ft under where you can see all the wonders of the ocean. I saw some great looking fish of all colours but the highlight was seeing the tiny clown fish (nemo's) swimming amongst the coral. Was unreal!

Oh oh and turtle island! Wow this place was cool. It is a place they have designed as a breeding program for sea turtles. They collect the endangered eggs from shore and hatch them safely, then return them to the wild. You should see the baby ones, they are soooooooo gorgeous. They have a couple in there that are up to 70 years old (I guess ones that have been sick etc) and weigh like 120kgs. When we were feeding them we attempted to pick one up. Fail! They are sooo heavy. Even the much smaller one that we did hold felt too heavy for one person. We had a great time!

We have gone to a fruit and coffee plantation. They explained to us that they tradtional balinese coffee is produced by: The animal digesting the bean, pooping it out, then they clean it, roast it and grind it up!!! Yuck!! We had a taste test of their local teas but definetly stayed away from that coffee!!!!

Spent some time at Nusa Dua (short lived due to bad rain) and Dreamland beach. Dreamland is so beautiful. It is exactly how I pictured Bali would be. White sandy beaches, crystal clear waters. Sooooo much better then beaches where we are staying. The surf is AMAZING! A little scary as the waves are so huge, making it near impossible to swim safely. Whilst we were there a little Japanese boy smashed his head onto some rocks whilst boogie boarding. Ouch!!

Nusa Dua is nice too. I guess more for the richy rich as there are alot of beautiful grand hotels and private beaches. We had to lie to the security guard and tell them that we were staying at the hotel in order to swim there 😊


We will never forget the Balinese people that we have met that have made such an impressive influence on us from their way of life. Hendrik, our local driver. He is amazing. Taking us around the island for a few days, recommending good places to go and giving us information about their culture and religion. He has an 8 month pregnant wife Ayo (lovely lady who came on the beach tours with us) He works everyday for 500,000 RP per month, around $50. What we would usually make in quater of a days work!! When we went to a department store with him, we secretly bought him a couple of things for his new baby. He was so grateful, and surprised! God Bless him! Annie from the massage palour. She has 2 boys aged 9 & 3. She works 9am-11pm and only gets paid 7000 RP (70c) per customer, rather than by the hour. Alot of the time she has no customers all day and doesn't get paid. Her husband left her and now has a new family and doesn't pay any money to her for their children! Her youngest son lives with her father in their local village as she can not afford to stay home to watch him. She see's him every other month when she can afford to go back. And they are still smiling.... Without a care in the world. I love the resiliance of these people! I won't believe that these are sob stories like anyone else would as they didn't exactly offer the information about their lives, we pried. It makes me feel so lucky and blessed to have the life that we have. Anyway, enough with the tear jerking...Life is life right. It is up to us to make the most of the time we have in this world. Best wishes to all the beautiful Balinese we have met!

So tomorrow it is off to Kuala Lumpur-Malaysia. For some more fun filled adventures and experiences.

Update soon


Cinta kepada Anda semua xx (love to all)

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