We were up early (one day I will get a lie in!!) for our transfer to the port. The van picked us up at 08.00 and the four of us were off. We'd been travelling about 5 minutes when we realised that the gorgeous sea view was on our right which meant that instead of heading north to the port, we were heading south!!! Now what was going on??? When we asked the driver, we were just repeatedly told it was fine. What could we do? There was a 'tour guide' with us on this section of the journey who wanted [View Full Entry]

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Today really didn't go as was expecting at all! My plan was to stay in Kuta for a night for the memorial ceremony and then I didn't really have a clue what to do. I was up early to get my lift to that the lovely Ronald (of internet cafe fame) and while I was having breakfast a rather tired looking Danish guy (Kasper) walked in looking for a room for the night before heading over to the Gili islands the next morning. We got chatting about our trips so far and after 10 minutes of secretly sizing each other up, [View Full Entry]

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We got up early the next morning and headed over to Ronald. The taxi driver from the night before was outside our hotel demanding the fare that we had enquired about. A heated discussion later and threats to call the police on all sides, we gave him 15,000 (a quid) for his petrol over from Kuta and he was on his way (after another argument with Ronald!!). Not the best start to a morning! Kasper needed to change his flights in Denpasar (capitla of Bali) on the way and the new taxi driver didn't really know the way to the address [View Full Entry]

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My sunburn kicked in last nigt and my god was it bad. I ended up at the pharmacist to get some burn cream as I couldn't sit down!!! Today is a day in the shade and applying aftersun! Fortunately it gave me a chance to upload my fist lot of photos and talk to Mitch (Spike's Diner) about my next travel plans. He has recommended some great place in Thailand. Chinag mai is a town in north Thialand that has a centre the equivalent to London's square mile. The centre square kilometre is surrounded by a square moat and in April [View Full Entry]

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An even lazier day if that is possible. I got myself a lounger on the beach - £1.20 for the day to a cheeky bloody, eagled eyed hawker. It wasn't even his lounger - it was the hotels, but he made such a song and dance I had to pay him to go away before the hotel realised that I had stolen their lounger and ruined the rest of my day living it up! I fully embraced island living and relaxed with Bob Marley on the ipod and my book for 5 hours before heading back into town. I ended up [View Full Entry]

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I chilled out on the beach for a couple of hours. It was so hot and the sea, great as it is, never quite refreshes you down like a dip in the pool, so I headed off to one of the posh beach front hotels like a gypo to suss out the likelihood of passing myself off as a guest and using theirs! First port of call was to make friends with the barman. Life is just so much easier with a friendly barman on your side (xx)! Took my posh cocktail (looked far better than my normal cheap bottle of [View Full Entry]

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Nicola and Robin were heading off today and I had decided to stay around a few days longer so my first point of call was to find myself a cheaper place to stay. I had been paying attention in my bartering lessons and managed to get a good deal for the next three nights - about £4.50 including breakfast! I was chufffed!! Everything feels so much fresher after the storm and with my renewed confidence I set off to lunch with Nicola and Robin. A sad goodbye later and I was on my own again. I did what any self respecting [View Full Entry]

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Up with the roosters today to get the ferry at 08.00. Nicola and I managed to get a spot on the roof this time and prepared ourselves for some sunbathing while Robin stayed inside with a book. Stupidly I thought it would be as calm as it looked from the beach (am I really this naive? Until this week I thought I was reasonably smart?!). We were bounced and rocked all over the place by some fairly big waves and we wet with spray pretty quickly. A couple of times I was holding on to the side and wishing I'd left [View Full Entry]

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Day 6 - I found Nemo! Well, I survived the cockroach visit and woke up to the sound of roosters! Everyone on the island seems to have at least one!!! It really is beautiful here. There are black and white beaches although there is a lot of broken coral and shells everywhere which can be pretty sharp at times! The main 'industry' on the island is farming seaweed for beauty products so everyday the islanders go out wit their nets in these tiny little boats and bring back masses of seaweed to dry outside little shack style huts on the beach [View Full Entry]

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Day 5 Up at 06.00 for the van to Sanur. There were lots of people and even more bags and surfboards wedged into a van about the size of a Bedford Rascal. The traffic is absolutely manic and had everyone reaching for non existant seatbelts - all part of the fun?? I watched the sunrise at Sanur over a yummy tropical fruit at the edge of the beach. I could definitely get used to this! The boat ride took about a 1.5 hours and hugged the east coast of Bali for the main part before heading east towards the island of [View Full Entry]

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