Firstly sorry for the delay getting the next installment posted but I returned to a huge work load at work and have been working some horrendous hours to catch up so this has been the first opportunity to type it up.
Wednesday 13 August
Today was a vege day and a chance to have a bit of a look around Sanur as we heading to Lovina the next day. We headed down to Jenny's shop at Sindhu Beach markets for a little bit of shopping. We didn't buy much as we had decided to leave most of our shopping for the last few days of our trip to avoid dragging it around with us. I purchased a great Dolce and Gabbana handbag and purse and a few clothes to keep me going as we bought the bare minimum with us. I am not generally a handbag person but sometimes they just jump out at you and beg to be bought. This was definitely the case with this particular handbag and you always need the matching purse to go with it. We also went for another massage, body scrub and hair creme bathe but can't remember the name of where we went.
Tonight we decided to head off for dinner to Kesuma's on the beach with Dave and Deb (friends of Ron's), Mandy and Chris (also staying at Ron's) and Ron himself. We had a great night however the turbines on the beach are really annoying. These turbines have no value what so ever that we could determine other than to create a really annoying humming noise that can be heard for some distance. We all had fantastic seafood meals and the service and staff were fantastic. The staff served us all with straight shots of Arak after dinner. Let me tell you I was sure it was going to come straight back up the way it went down. I am not a fan of straight arak but we felt obliged and Ron was making sure we all endured them even if he chickened out. We headed back to Sanur Beach Villas to relax around the pool while enjoying a few quiet bevies and chat under the tree of knowledge.
Thursday 14 August
Today was the day to move to Lovina in preparation for Distribution Day tomorrow. Made picked us up at 10.30 am and we set off firstly for Ubud. As Renae had never been to Bali before we headed for the Monkey Forest first. We paid our fee to enter the forest and we had only got a few steps before a monkey decided to jump on Renae. She nearly had a heart attack. It was quite funny. We did not have any food items so the monkey very quickly decided she was no fun and jumped off much to Renae's relief. We wandered around the forest for a while taking photos and watching others who were carrying food being accousted by the monkeys. I eventually was able to convince Renae to sit on the wall next to a couple of monkeys so I could take a photo for her. She had only just sat down on the wall when one jumped on her shoulder and the other on her lap. She managed to compose herself long enough for the shot but quickly got up afterwards. Upon exiting the forest we just stood at the entrance watching some of the monkeys run havoc in the neighbouring stalls. One cheeky monkey stole a chocolate bar from a stall before being chased out by the owner. He then cheekily sat on a flight of stairs next door and proceeded to unwrapped the chocolate and dispose of all evidence of his shop lifting escapades. http://good-timesDOTwebshotsDOTcom/photo/2589187160078547608qqvEoj Renae was amazed how the monkey appeared to know just how to unwrap the chocolate.
From here we headed for lunch to Made and my favourite eating place, Ibu Oku. I had forwarned Renae not to be pertubed by the way it look as the Babi Guling is just superb here. We all sat on the floor at a table and enjoyed the what I believe is the best Babi Guling in Bali at the best prices. http://good-timesDOTwebshotsDOTcom/album/565656591iKsJWF After lunch we headed across the road to Ubud market for a bit of a look around. I also was under strict instructions from my mother to get her a harmony ball as she just loves the one I got on a previous trip. Once again we didn't purchase much here. We just enjoyed strolling around seeing what people had to offer. I found the hawkers here alot more relaxed than previous years so visitor numbers have definitely increased. I managed to get Mum her harmony ball and also picked up a beautiful sarong for a friend.
From Ubud we headed to Tegallalang to do the customary rice terrace photo for Renae. While here we purchased a lovely wooden bowl and ashtray from the stall next to where we took the photo. When we had finished in the shop the hawkers were waiting in pray for us to attempt returning to the car. We did manage to make it back to the car without harm however they very quickly zoned in on Renae and she had some difficulty getting the car door closed.
We headed for Lovina via the volcano so Renae could get a couple of photos. Luckily Made knew just where to take us so that she was not accousted again by hawkers at this location and she was able to get a couple of good shots.
We arrived in Lovina and checked into Rambutan Cottages. This property is absolutely gorgeous. We had a deluxe room near the back of the grounds which was just huge. We joked that we could have fit an entire football team in the room with us and still had room to spare. http://good-timesDOTwebshotsDOTcom/album/565657299zYwcjV The room had a huge walk in robe which went to waste with us and a gorgeous bathroom. You had to step up to use the toilet so that quickly was called the throne.
We dumped our bags in the wardrobe, got changed and headed to the restaurant for a drink. We both had a Troppo Doppo which comes served in a coconut and as we were both a little peckish we shared a serve of nachos in the library area of the restaurant. As we were both tired and had a huge day to come tomorrow we opted to eat dinner in the restaurant that night. We were just about to move to a table to order dinner when a guy entered the restaurant and said to us that he had been warned about us two girls. It was very quickly identified that this guy was in fact Hools. We sat at a neighbouring table to Hools and his group and unfortunately as we were so tired by this stage we did not really chat that much. Richard also came down to the restaurant so it was great to also meet him. We struggled through a fantastic meal and retired to bed at 8.30 pm in preparation for the next day.
More to follow
Balibabe