30 Days in Bali

My next stop in Bali was Ubud. I loved it! The place I was staying 'Ketut's Place' was really nice. I had a room at the top which overlooked the rice fields. Each day you chose your breakfast, the time you wanted it and where you wanted it. I chose mostly to have it on my balcony, although I had to set my alarm to make sure I was up in time! I was only supposed to stay a week here but 2 weeks later I was still reluctant to leave. It was just so chilled out and the family who ran it would fall over themselves to look after you. Needless to say that in the second week, when I went to ask them a question, the first words out of their mouth was 'beer?' haha!

Breakfast on the balcony

Sunset...view from my room

Most days I just hung around the pool or went into town for a wonder. Not a lot of interesting things to tell you sorry. After a few days I started talking to a guy from Belgium and a guy from Hawaii (sounds exotic but trust me when I say he wasn't!). We hit it off....the Hawaiian guy and myself and, well, you know.....needs must sometimes lol! We also got talking to 2 Dutch girls who were lovely and went out for a few dinners.

Religious springs

Another temple

Rice terrace

One of the best days was when I went to the Wildlife park and got to hold an Orangutan! Since I wasn't going to Borneo now (because of the fighting there) I decided to go here instead.  I was happy to go after my pictures but my driver had never been there before so it was like having a kid with me.  He was so excited so we did the whole park and I turned into his photographer.

Fire & Dance show

At first, when my week was almost over, Ketut told me about the Balinese New Year happening on Sunday and Monday and what happens. This is why I decided to stay 3 more nights at first. New Year's Eve was the parade of the Og Og's. A massive event where each village made a monster to parade around Ubud then burn them to warn off evil spirits....(there big on black magic here).

An Og Og

No trucks here...just people carrying them and dipping under the power cables above....er Health & Safety??? lol

The parade was fun and the town was packed out. Brian, Bart and I grabbed some dinner and headed back, ready for the lock down. Yep thats right, on New Years Day the doors to the hotel are locked and no one, not even the locals, are allowed onto the streets. No business' are open and even the airport is closed! If you do venture out then you are fined heavily by the police. You even need a special note to go to the doctor with an emergency! Also, there was no cooking allowed after 7am and before 6pm so we were told to stock up with snacks a few days before, although, it wasn't like we were gonna starve so I didn't bother. I thought everyone would be at the pool and we could have a few drinks and play some games but no one was around, so I just sunbathed all day alone. At 6:30pm we all met in the restaurant to have our dinner...by candlelight. Yep another thing your not allowed....light. It was a good job that I had a torch on my phone or I would definitely fallen into the bloody pond on the way back to my room. The next day, Bart, Brian and the Dutch girls were leaving. I'd decided to stay on for 2 more nights.

When it came to leave I had decided to head for the north coast and the town of Lovina. My hotel was isolated with only the odd small shop nearby so I wasn't to happy not to be able to go for a wonder. I did do a trip just to get out one day but it was the same as the other's...temples, hot springs, rice fields, etc. The hotel was lovely though. Only 9 rooms and my bathroom was outside....with a bath tub. So, I got myself a bottle of wine, made bubbles from my shower gel, set up my music and reception helped me out with some candles. It was lush! Even sent some naughty pic's to Brian to show him what he was missing haha! He was in Lovina too (I thought he was in Amed so no, I didn't follow him!) and arranged to meet me for 'dinner' Monday night. Well, that never came off and I was a little pissed that he never even emailed me....until the next day. By then I was already on my way to Amed and he was gutted haha!

Trip to the turtles

Arrived in Amed, in another secluded part of town, but the hotel was AMAZING! It had an infinity pool and that and my room overlooked the sea. Again, I didn't do much, just relaxed, sunbathed and read books. Bliss.

Hot Spring

I had 3 nights left in Bali before my visa ran out so I decided to head back to civilisation and somewhere close to the airport. Sanur was my last place to stay before I headed off. Just having shops, bars and restaurants close by was a big plus but also my room had a TV. Its not really bothered me not having one but its great to be able to watch my Law & Orders' and a few films of an evening.

5am sunrise in Amed

My finances are running seriously low now and I don't know how much longer I can stay out here. I've been trying to mentally prepare for my trip home. It sounds like wasted energy but I need to do it. I need a plan of action to keep me busy so I don't fall back into the dreaded 'depression' when I get back to reality. I've been off my tablets since last October and i'm determined to stay off them. If I haven't needed them out here, alone in the middle of Asia with only myself as company most times, then I shouldn't need them when I get home.

As part of my plan, I've been looking at jobs available at home. I know i'm never going back to Thomas Cook that's for sure. I came across some in Manchester...Hotel Event Management. Sounds like fun and i've always been interested in running events since college. I know these will probably not be available when I get home but its a starting point. After 6 months out here I have finally found something that I want to do!!

Anyway, I'm off to the Philippines tomorrow. I'm hoping for 6 weeks but maybe only 3....we'll see. I'm meeting Ruth's friend out there called Leila so it'll good to see a familiar face at last.