already i miss the all too familiar sounds of "transport! transport!" the trip was great! 3 weeks wandering around Bali w/ our home base in Ubud. the monkey forest in Ubud was quite an experience. i've never seen so many! the mothers carrying their little babies around were so adorable! it was especially funny when 2 monkeys would try to pick a tourist's pocket. the tourist of course has a banana (don't make the same mistake, don't buy bananas or peanuts to feed the monkeys because they can get violent around food) and the monkeys eventually win. bargaining was alot of fun once i got the hang of it, i tried to bargain in indonesian, i got laughed at quite a few times because i said something wrong but it was fun learning the language. i strongly recommend travelling the backroads if you're not in a hurry. less tourism and alot of beautiful countryside, most everyone is friendly and will smile and say hello as you pass by. we went to Mt. Batur...so pretty! the hawkers there are horrible...we went down the road past all the hawkers but were found by two little girls who couldn't have been more than five trying to sell us pencils. we ended up giving in and got pictures and pencils out of the deal. our trip then took us to Padangbai. gorgeous beaches and great hiking. just taking a walk around the cliffs we found a nice secluded black sand beach. Blue Lagoon has some very nice fish and coral but the current and waves can be very strong so be careful. i got hit by a large piece of coral from a wave and ended up with a bleeding ankle. the nightlife there..well there really is none. the most excitement is probably watching the ferry to Lombok leave. we went to Candidasa for dinners, a little more excitment. our trip took us then to Lovina with a stop at Tirtagunga andthe Water Palace. it was ok for a walk but not much else. we also stopped at a temple w/ a dutch bicycle carving which a little boy told us a story about. the 12 boys that followed us into the temple got rude after a little while so we had to leave rather quickly. Lovina was gorgeous. the dolphin trips were excellent and the snorkeling was ok except for the tiny jellyfish which stung us all over. we also went to hot springs there...i don't recommend it. its lukewarm water and the sulfur turns you yellow. then it was back to Ubud for last minute shopping and bargaining. although the whole trip was the best trip and the best experience i have ever had, the only downfalls were the traffic/pollution, the large holes in the sidewalk, the trash buildup, and the hawkers around the beaches. well that was a quick overview of my trip. hope u liked it.
~carebear