Bali

wow! what a wonderful holiday. Sorry not to write while there but it was too nice and sunny to be indoors on

the computer.

Day 1

Bus to Heathrow and then the long flights, I had checked in on line and booked our seats so we got good positions on both flights and had no one beside us so I could lie down. P stayed awake the whole time and watched movies. The stop over in Singapore was only long enough to get from one plane to the next .

Arrived in Bali and Claire and Oren were waiting for us, she looks different with a fringe and straight hair!

I had pre booked a seat on a the hotel shuttle but the travel firm sent a Mercedes, driver and guide instead, so Claire and I went in that and the boys

got a taxi.

Arrived at the hotel and they advised that we had been upgraded to their private club rooms, and very nice they were lovely big rooms, balcony and the use of a private pool ( just club members were allowed). C and O very impressed and P who normally goes for the lowest price looked happy to luxuriate for a change.

Then to cap it off the management delivered a chocolate heart shaped 21st birthday cake to Claire's room , I was going to order one now I don't need to ( the travel coy had said that was why were were going there.) Good service! ( the other thing that was nice was

each day they delivered 4 bottles of water to our rooms so we never had to buy any)

We changed into the lightest weight clothes we had and went for a lo

ok around. Had a drink at the beach bar and soaked up the warmth.

Sky is blue the sun is shining and it is a lovely temperature in the shade.

Had our first swim, P doing a flop into the pool and hit his forehead on the bottom and now has a cut in it! silly boy.

We stayed at Sanur beach (which is not where the bombings were, or where the aussi tourists hang out) staying at the Puri Sentrian.

( Puri mean upper caste and Santrian is the family name according to one of our drivers the Santrians' are the royal family of Sanur)

a selection of photos

After a lovely breakfast at the hotel cafe we had a swim and then went and hired bikes to explore the area, Sadly Oren fell off then Claire skidded on some sand on the corner and while trying to stop the fall by grabbing a tree she pulled her shoulder out of the socket and then it clicked back in...ow. We did the rest of the ride along the beach stopping at a cafe at the other end from our hotel. There were some lovely places along Sanur beach . Back to the hotel and Claire now not able to move her arm... not a great start. Lazed by the pool for the afternoon hoping that leaving it alone would help) {the shoulder stayed sore all trip and we bought a brace for it and by the end of 10 days she had better movement and will be seeing the Dr in Dunedin when she gets back, put a bit of a downer on the trip for her as even snorkelling hurt!)

Day off for Claire to recover or at least get some movement back, had a mexican lunch wish sadly Oren threw up.....and then had a sleep for a while...

Next day we got a bemo into Denpasar, a bemo is a rumpty old van that you flag down in the street, barter a trip fee and it takes you where you want to go. only bench seats around the edge no seat belts and the door stays open, a bit of a hot bumpy ride.

We had a look about and went to a local market, we got adopted instantly by a woman who ( of course) took us to her sisters stall and tried to sell us sarongs.

Oren bought 3 watches and a man followed me the entire time we were there trying to sell me perfumes. It was very crowded but had some great colours especially the spices stalls.

After that we wandered the streets for a bit and I bought a snorkel and mask set as we plan to go and look for fish in the sea..

Back to the hotel and more swimming Oren managed to get sunburned on day 2 so is now a painful red colour on his back. The club pool is great we are often the only ones in it so Oren thinks it is his private pool.

Meal out on the street then a game of scrabble then sleep

Brekkie at beach cafe then we had a day off by the pool and beach, tried out snorkel.

We even managed to get one of the huge couches to lie on sadly although comfy the sea breeze does not get in so it was sweltering and I moved to a near by lounger.

Next day we hired Mr Number One and his lovely new SUV to take us on a tour of Bali. We started with a dance performance, the Barong dance, it was really good, then off to a silver jewellery factory , a wood carving shop and a batik shop all a very well worn path as a convoy of drivers went form one to the next. we bought nothing.

then into the countryside where unlike P's memories of 20 years ago the main streets are now lined with family stalls there would be 50 wood carving ones then 50 mosaic ones etc each village seems to have a speciality. Saw the jewellers at work each one on a wee wooden stool and they make each item from start to finish and are paid on number and complexity.

There were chickens delivered to the yard at the wood carving, they are kept in a cane basket until ready for dinner!

Got to the top of the island to the volcano, after refusing to pay a toll to drive on the road ( only tourists were paying it!) we got Mr no 1 to stop so we could see the view and we were swamped by hawkers selling sarongs chess sets etc. I hate that pushy selling, then we wanted a meal so Mr no 1 pretended that the restaurant that was oh just over there might be nice, but it was full of tourists and obviously the one on the "tour" route. they wanted 100,000 rupees each so we walked out, of course then they offered 75,000 each which we took. It was a buffet and the tempura spinach was amazingly nice. Wonderful view of the inside of the volcano as the restaurant was on the rim. You could see the lake and the lava from the last eruption in 2002, already little villages are back inside the crater!

Then we headed off , we stopped at a road side fruit stall and sampled all the different types of fruit and then P payed way over the odds for a selection to take away , as he said it will support the family for a week! Best passion fruit ever, nice rambutans plus other odd fruits Oren had never tried.

Then away to see the rice paddies on the hill side, amazingly picturesque then off to Ubud. P remembers it being a quiet town full or artists, sadly now full of buses, tourists and rip off market stalls.

Claire still sore and now wearing a shoulder brace to try and limit the movement of her dislocated shoulder, looks lovely with a sun dress.

Oren bought 3 watches for his mates back home 2 rolex and an omega and I bought a silver ( hmmm) ball necklace thingy that has a bell in the middle. We had a lovely lunch and wandered the streets. We were going to go to the monkey park and asked a local aussi on a bike where it was, sadly 2 km away and he said they are quite aggressive monkeys so we flagged it and went back to find the driver. I donated my change to an old beggar man but he didnt seem too impressed and wanted more money!

Back into the car and drive through the countryside we actually went through a quite wealthy area and there were some lovely homes, each home has it's own temple and everyone makes offerings every day at home at work at the temple and in the car, there is quite a business in making the little flax style trays. It was odd to see them in the cars as well. The front of all the shops had them out on the footpath.

We stopped at a temple and the boys were given sarongs to wear, it was full of lovely statues and each one to a different god. Bali is mostly Hindu.

Nice drive back to town and a swim, dinner at a local bar, it had a band that sang irish songs in a bali accent. Good fun.

Next day off lounging by the pools and going for walks, lots of nice colourful boats and there were men our fishing in the sea.

Off to Kuta for a look around, made us very glad to be in Sanur beach, it is full of Aussis in Bintan beer T shirts. The two men had a bungy ride, they got shot into the sky in a big round ball, P swore and O laughed hysterically. I managed to film some of it. sadly I lost some of the picture when I had a look myself.

We had our lunch and had all our bags checked and we were scanned , they are a bit nervous in Kuta still after that bombing a few years ago.

The beach was long and white and very empty, it would be massed at peak season. Every boy seems to be wearing the Bintan T shirt and the girls apparently get their hair braided as the I have been to Bali thing.

Wandered through a big mall but did not buy anything much.

Back to the hotel.

Next day another one off so we went for a long walk around Sanur.

A trip to Uluwatu today, after Oren bartered a car and driver ( Oren loves it and gets very good prices). The driver was nice very ordinary bloke not as polished as Mr No 1, we drove through the University of Bali lots of very large buildings. The temple was on a cliff high above a rough sea. The driver came with us and carried the stick to scare any monkey that got too close. As it was they were not a problem, there were even baby ones which were lovely. We went to the dance area and watched the kecak dance. It was great a large group of men all making a "kitchup" sound over and over as background sound. It was story of Sita being kidnapped then

rescued by the white monkey. During the performance the sun set into the ocean, very bright colours. The dance had a fire circle on the ground which got caught in the breeze and blew burning hay about the place. After the dance we got pictures taken with the actors. Back to the hotel and some lovely vegetarian Balinese food.

Snorkelling to day we got the glassbottom boat out in case Claire could not swim but as it turned out she was ok at swimming but hurt herself climbing back into the boat. Lots of fish, all colours big and small. the boat guide gave us a bottle of food to share with the fish so there was plenty keen to follow us about. My new mask and snorkel worked well but P had a sore brow from his cutting in. O had never done it before so had a great time feeding the fish.

The hotel runs an underwater walk were the people wear head gear like a big bubble and air is pumped in they then walk around the bottom of the sea and look at the fishes. Apparently you don't get your hair wet and you can wear your glasses.

went for an evening visit to the night market but there was a power cut, the hotel has a generator so we were ok but all the streets and stalls were in the dark. made walking around the market interesting as the stall were lit by candles.

Had a yummy meal in a cafe on the way back at a cafe that had power

P and I had a spa today ( 2 for the price of one) he had Bali massage and I had an aromatherapy one. They did both of us in the one room, first we got our feet scrubbed and massaged then a whole body massage. mmm.... it was lovely.

We went to the Bali zoo and posed with lots of animals ( see photos link above) fruit bats were a lot bigger than I thought p had one hanging from his fingers. The lion was very excited about having a run a around and we were not allowed to be in front of it.

Sadly now it was time to go home...big hugs for Claire little hug for Oren ( boys!) and off we went to the airport. No trouble at any airport, good seats on the plane managed to get a front seat on one flight so p had heaps of leg room not so good for me at I had to make a stack of cushions to put my feet on. Arrived in London and again no customs to worry about then into the cold and onto the bus. Huge hold up on the motorway we sat for 2 hours as there was an accident. there was no heating so we froze. took 5 hours to get home and soooo cold.

The landlady had the heating on so flat nice and warm. Into bed to catchup on sleep.

Rather be in Bali......