Bali

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Bali....well not exactly what I imagined. Bali is provides the Australians package holidays, the equivalent of Spain for the Brits. The prices were a bit of a shock but with the strong Oz economy in retrospect it was not surprising. It was difficult to find a room which was not part of a resort. Eventually we found a room above a shop for $15per night. It seemed a new family business venture and they were very welcoming.

For us it was a stop over for our Komodo trip and planning Japan so in fairness we didn't venture far. We stayed in Legian (just north of the Kuta party zone), it consisted of streets of cafes, restaurants, souvenir shops and family temples. Our highlights were jumping in the big surfers waves (George loved the washing machine experience!) and a dive trip to Manta Point. The boat trip to Nusa Penida was rough and we couldn't dive the site in the morning. After a dive in the sheltered side of the island we returned to find the sea had calmed and we were able to dive.

We met a lady from the UK who is the Indonesian researcher for the Manta Trust, she joined the trip to photograph mantas for their database. Sadly, we found out there is a new Chinese fashion for using ground up manta ray gills (and other rays), for 'medicinal' purposes to filter human blood. They offer the fisherman $500 per manta so now they are being fished for in huge numbers 😞

Luck was with us and we soon found ourselves with three reef mantas swimming around us, one was particularly curious. They are awe-inspiring to watch as they glide around and keep us guessing whether they are going to loop around and come back to see us again.

Our next stop over is Kuala Lumpur to catch our cheap Air Asia flight to Tokyo... sooo excited. Japan here we come...

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