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September 25th 2008

Published: September 24th 2008

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Steve and Laura

Sunset Surfer

Kuta

Back Again!
Our next stage of the trip took us to the Colourful island of Bali famous for surfing, beaches and colourful Hindu culture.

Kuta

We spent our first few days in Bali at the famous beach resort of Kuta. Infamous site of the tragic 2002 Bali bombings.
The town had a very relaxed atmosphere with a real mix of people of all ages and races mingling together around its narrow streets, that head down to the famous beach and surf beyond.
Our time in Kuta was spent generally relaxing on the beach and enjoying the cheap food and beer on offer in the evenings, a great way to relax after the early mornings spent catching sunrises in Java.
On first evening in Kuta we witnessed an amazing sunset as we sat on the beach, the sun changed fro yellow to orange to deep red creating the perfect backdrop to the surfers catching one last wave before the sun went down, it was a fantastic way to finish the day and start the night!

Ubud

After the sun, sea and surf of Kuta we moved inland (north to be precise to Ubud, considered the cultural and artistic heartbeat of

Rice Fields

Near Ubud

Bali. Every other shop seems to have an artist perched outside working on his latest masterpiece!
We spent 8 days here (longer than anywhere else on our trip) and had an amazing little villa set in the ricefields with a kitchen, huge bedroom with four-poster bed and a huge veranda which we have spent many hours on and where I will be returning to once I have finished this Blog.
There are many, many art galleries and museums in Ubud, and we have visited most of them The art is fantastic and we really enjoyed looking at the traditional Balinese styles.
Once we had seen the art we strode out into the countryside that has inspired most of the artists to paint such great works, verdant, green and full of wildlife (especially birds) we enjoyed several fantastic walks around the seemingly endless rice paddies in the area.
We also took a day trip into the central mountains of Bali through Mengwi and its famous temple up to Lake Bratan a beautiful place with a great Botanical Garden and Temple and fresh mountain air.

And thats about it for Bali, Its been a fantastic place to enjoy the scenery and

Volleyball

Kuta Beach

recharge our batteries ready for trekking in the mountains of central Sulawesi, home to the Torajan people who are famous for their elaborate funeral ceremonies that involve the sacrifice of many animals!! Interesting!!
We'll let you how that and the rest of Sulawesi goes in the next blog.
For now, take care and thankyou all for your comments.
One last thing, the magnificent mane that I have been nursing, that has received many mixed reviews has unfortunatley met an untimely end. Sorry to all its fans (especially those who likened it to Rya Sidebottom, Mr Stewart!!)
Thats all for now.

Love to you all.

Steve and Laura. xxx

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