Bali

After an interesting 17 hours on the coach (it wasn’t as bad as we thought it would be) we arrived in Ubud, which reeks of culture and art. We spent a few days here where we took in a traditional dance and music show.





We went on a bike tour, which was really cool and very educational:
We started with breakfast up near the main volcano in Bali (Gunung Agung). You can see the black lava flow from the latest eruption during the 60's!



We then headed to a local plantation where they talked us through what exactly they grow on the island from white pepper, through to vanilla pods, chocolate and coffee beans.
This is the coffee plant flower.

Chocolate pods!

Pineapple.

Roasting the Coffee.

Back on the bikes and onto a local village to see how they lived and what they got up to. The whole set up is too much to go into here, but needless to say it was quite complicated taking into account temples, building layout and ceremonies that have to be carried out! Man they love a ceremony!
They make all sorts from Bamboo.

They keep live stock for obvious reasons.

And ladies please note, this is their "kitchen".


Dipi went on a cookery course whilst we were in Ubud which she enjoyed massively! Also means i get to taste some differewnt grub now too!

We also managed to chill out for a bit too and bought some artwork which is being sent back to the UK.

We had always intended to visit Bali and Ubud as Dipi had been in previous years and wanted to show me what was what. Another reason for hanging around here was to meet up with the Margerison family in Sanur (South East coast) who had decided to come to come and see us on their summer holiday!
We had acquired the help of the head of tourism for Indonesia (now that’s networking eh!) and he had arranged a hotel for us all as well as picking up the M’s from the airport. We got booked in and started to count down the minutes to the arrival. We ensured there was beer to be drunk (had to go to a shop as the hotel didn’t have any!), sat in the bar until they rolled up and the rapturous greetings ensued.
Sanur itself was a bit lame – it is hailed as a slightly upmarket alternative to Kuta (Bali’s largest and tackiest tourist beach resort which is teeming with an amazing array of nightlife). Sanur was actually a sorry sight to see. As a result of the bombings in Kuta in October 2002, the economy of Bali obviously took a massive hit with the drop in visitors to the island, but after nearly recovering from this, devastatingly, more bombs went off in 2005. It seems that this is to blame for the massive decrease in tourism on this beautiful island, along with the possible threat of earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and tsunamis in Indonesia. The result is lots of empty chairs in restaurants all the way along the beach, quiet hotels and hassling from lots of desperate shopkeepers trying to convince you to buy something from them. We only spent a couple of days there just to gather our thoughts and let the M’s gather their strength after a long journey from the UK. Our universal intended destination was the Gilli Islands just off the coast of Lombok. We were all quite excited by the prospect!