Charms of Bali

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So after a late arrival in Ubud last night, or should I say the early hours of this morning, we were woken to a delightful view of a jungle garden and a beautiful breakfast on the verander. We were really lucky to find this gem and so cheap too! Today we spent exploring the delights that Ubud had to offer. As it is the cultural centre of Bali there was a lot of art galleries and arty shops to visit, and coffee shops of course! Ubud has a really nice laid atmosphere going on and everyone is so friendly and helpful. We decided to hire a car for the next two days so we could see other parts of the island, using Ubud as a base, ideal as its in the centre of the island. This afternoon, whilst drinking tea and reading our books on the verander we experienced a mini earthquake. It was really strange, as minutes before all the dogs in the area started howling and barking and we commented on what all the noise was about, and then within a few minutes the building was shaking, a bazzare feeling. So animals do sense these things before us! The following day (8th) we picked up the 4x4 and headed to some of the volcanoes north of Ubud, decided not to go to the highest one as we heard you got mobbed by people selling things and begging for money, instead we went to Gunung Batur (1717m) with its lovely turquoise lake alongside. Along the way we stopped at Goa Gajah (Elephant Cave), a Hindu temple with impressive cavings on the entranceway. Even though Bali is a small island it takes forever to get anywhere as the roads are windy and narrow at times. We went off the main road as well and got to explore some of the little villages and the terraces and rice paddys that sweep the landscape of the interior. By the time we did arrive at Gunung Batur, we didn't have time to climb it before the clouds came so we opted for lunch instead along the lake banks from where we were able to look at Gunung Abang (another unactive volcano) across the lake. After lunch, we winded along the single track roads westwards (about 20km as the bird flies but as it was it ended up being about 60km) to visit another volcanic region and to visit Bali's botanical gardens from where you got an amazing view of the extinct volcanoes and lakes below. That night we got back to Ubud in the dark, which was a interesting experience, trying to read the map in the pitch black! The second day we had the car, we headed to the southeast coast to see the black sandy beaches, although we were surprised to find a couple of white ones too! It wasn't as nearly as developed as I imagined the coast would be either. As it was half moon, the hindus, were celebrating on the beach which was great to see as they were all dressed up in their best dress and carrying gifts and flowers for their gods. Late afternoon we headed to the airport to depart to Darwin, Australia. Quite sad to be leaving Asia, as we have experienced so many diverse cultures and have met some really wonderful people on our travels, and not to forget how cheap everything is here!

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