Off to Indonesia - First stop Bali

Flight from Auckland, New Zealand to Denpasar, Bali.

For this flight we had to be up early in the morning 3:30am...I had 2 hours sleep as the hostel was so cold! Checked in did the usual airport things, like waiting then boarded our plane to Sydney. It was then a 7 hour wait for our connecting flight up to Bali. This was a long 7 hours but we had things to do; sort our photos, browse the shops, eat and then just wait. For me this was the longest connection time I've ever had, I got quite bored. Finally our flight was called and we were off to Bali.

We were lucky as we met a woman - Sonia, in the queue to board the flight in New Zealand. She was going to Bali and also to Ubud and she offered us to share a lift with her which she had already organised. It was great as we shared the cost. We chatted all the way from the airport to our hotel...she gave us some tips on where to go and what to eat. After checking in we went straight to sleep.

First day in Bali was spent wondering around the town...to get into the main streets of town we had to walk alongside the Monkey Forest, we needed to be careful of our hats and sunglasses as they are known for stealing them. We walked along passing by many shops, spas and restaurants. Our first stop was the spa, Joaquin had a snazzy haircut and I a manicure. As we went along the streets we were asked, taxi? Many, many times so much so I couldn't count the times.

Our second day was busy again we walked into town, did a spot of shopping and went into the market where everyone is trying to sell you something, haggling the prices. We took a wonder around Ubud palace, looked around a temple and then a visit through the Monkey Forest this time. We couldn't go in with our shopping bags as the monkeys think there is food inside and would rip and run off with your bags. Monty had to stay inside the bag too...otherwise he may have been decapitated or brought up feral with the monkeys. We popped all our shopping in the backpack and headed in. I wasn't to sure about walking through here, I saw a man get bitten as we got inside. Then another man a monkey climbed on him, one monkey stole some rubbish from someone's bag and then I walk pass a monkey who grabs my cardigan and wouldn't let go. I pleaded with him and eventually after a tug of war I won.

In the Monkey Forest there was a man with cameras attached to him from Google for street view. So in a few months you might be able to see me on there! 

In the evening we went out to a performance; Kecak Ramayana. This was a story about the death of Kumbakarna, this is an art form from the Balinese culture. There was vocal chanting throughout while the performers dance/acted out the scenes. At the end we saw a fire dance which is done to protect society against evil forces and epidemics, the dancer goes into a trance like state and then is able to walk over hot embers.

Our last day to enjoy Bali so we visited some temples. We hired a taxi which took us to Taman Ayumi Temple which was built in 1634 AD.

The next stop was Tirta Empul Temple, this is built on a spring and people enter the water as a tradition, take offerings to be blessed. Joaquín went in the water, you had to start at number one, put your head in the fountain for 3 seconds, splash your face 3 times and sip the water 3 times (you could spit it out if you wanted to) you had to do this at each fountain and there were many.

After making our way back to Ubud and having lunch we took a walk along the Campahan Ridge to see the rice fields. As it was our last night there we had another spa visit. This time we had a massage, I a pedicure and Joaquin a foot massage.