Now in Singapore Airport waiting for our transfer flight to Sydney
after 3 days in Kuta, Bali.

We didn’t have high hopes but it really wasn’t as bad as we thought.
It was busy, there was lots of traffic and people trying to sell us
things but otherwise not nearly as awful as it could be.

We spent a day in the rather inappropriately named (because it was
Kuta where the terrorist attcks were in 2002 and 2005) water park,
Waterbom Park, which was brilliant fun and not like anything else we
have done on this trip yet.

The morning after that rather exhausting day Ben had a 2 1/2 hour
surfing lesson (see photo) with the brilliantly named ‘Big Kahuna Surf
School’. He did an excellent job, especially concentrating while his
fellow students’ bikini bottoms fell down each time they stood up on
the board!! He rode quite a few waves stood up all the way in –
official photographer Jen’s footage proves it. It was one of the most
exhausting things that Ben has ever done but he loved it.

Today was spent unsuccessfully not getting too hot and sticky before
our flights. Now really looking forward to a couple of days rest at
Robyn & Ken’s in Sydney – Asia has been fantastic but tiring!

So we mentioned in the last blog that we were staying in a rather nice
hotel -here is the pool (with Jen’s head bobbing around in front of
the rough sea below).

We have spent 2 days eating, sunbathing, reading and swimming. Oh and
trying to avoid ‘traditional’ Balinese dance in the evenings which is
exceptionally difficult – only 1 restaurant seems to not do it!!
Luckily that restaurant also plays good music, has cheap food and beer
and has an up-to-date library of Time magazines which we have been
using to catch up with global affairs.

Apart from this we have been surprised how undeveloped, or maybe
unprepared, Bali is for tourism considering in our minds it has been a
holiday destination forever. It’s strange but good in a way, just a
bit tricky to find wifi. Having said that….

We have booked our taxi to get to Kuta tomorrow. It is apparently the
San Antonio (in Ibiza) of Asia and sounds truely hideous. But hey,
it’s got a water park and is close to the airport for our flight on
Wednesday. Should be a giggle!

We have been in Amed on the East coast of Bali for the last 4 days
after the most beautiful drive over from Ubud. Bali is mountainous and
lush green, it’s just really pretty. Especially beautiful is the huge
volcano (see photo), the 1st we’ve both seen, which looms over Amed.

Amed was tiny and very quiet because it’s low ‘rainy’ season.
Aparently it’s busy when it’s all dry and brown, although it is
slightly cooler than now apparently. It is hot here!

Amed is supposed to be renowned for snorkling, however, the sea was
quite rough and a bit dirty most of the time we were there. Jen even
scraped her bum when the waves attacked when we tried to snorkel the
Japanese ship wreck – we gave up shortly after.

We did get one morning when we were able to do 2 hours of snorkling
right off the beach in front of our hotel. The visibility was
incredible and we saw even more different fish than in Thailand. We
even managed to spot 2 reasonable sized turtles where it got deep.
Fantastic!

Otherwise we spent our afternoons by the pool reading and trying to
keep cool. Last night was a little more tense after we found a huge
but apparently harmless spider in our room – Ben screamed like a girl
and jumped on the bed to avoid it’s scuttling but bravely removed it
shortly afterwards. Jen stayed within the safety of the mozzy net.

Now in Candidasa further south after trying to batter down the hotel
prices which are surprisingly expensive even though it’s dead
everywhere. We have a fairly ‘expensive’ ($20 a night) hotel but it’s
gorgeous and incredibly luxurious to us. Can’t escape the taxi and
massage touts though, even around the pool!

Well we did exactly what we planned, which is not much.

Jen had a full body Balinese massage and I had a foot massage and a
haircut. The haircut was particularly fun when the hairdresser took a
loose razor blade to the back of my neck. Good cut though 🙂

Today we went on a very hot but extremely rewarding walk through rice
fields and villages. The kids here are so friendly and are great to
shout hello to and exchange names. They find it very funny, especially
when they find that our names rhyme.

We are currently sat in a place called Kafe. We have been here for
some food every day as it is Bali’s answer to Zeffirellis, for those
of you who know the legendary cafe/restaurant in Ambleside. They have
tasty healthy savouries and yummy homemade cakes just the same.
Unfortunately there’s less rain so less of an excuse to stay here for
whole afternoons!

Tomorrow we plan to head to Amed on the east of the island where
supposedly it is very cut off, so don’t expect too much news from us
for a few days.