Sorry it's been so long...

Well it has been a long time since the last update, this is mainly due to Jess and Al being here and then moving back to Legian to meet up with the Vallenders. The past few weeks have felt more like being on holiday than travelling the world. It was brilliant to see Jess and Al and very sad to see them leave. I'm glad they came now and not in the middle of the trip because I think it would have made us pretty upset to have said goodbye to them knowing we wouldn't be seeing them again for months but as it is it's only a few weeks.

Sam had an amazing time playing table tennis with Al and his departure was softened by the arrival of the Vallenders and he has had an amazing time with them, spending a day at the water park, wandering the streets buying gifts and videos, eating loads of bad stuff...the usual 13 year old day to day activities.

We are all starting to wind down now as we think about heading home in a few weeks. Next week we will fly to Singapore and then back into Bali for a couple of weeks as we need to renew the visa. Half of us is really excited about coming back (I think Sam is even looking forward to going back to school!!) and half will be really sad to leave behind our nomadic lifestyle. I could quite happily move on to China or somewhere and spend another couple of months getting to know the country but there you go...instead it's homeward bound and there's lots of exciting things to look forward to when we get back.

It's a quick update today as yesterday I managed to get the dreaded Bali Belly and spent the whole day on the loo (lovely) actually it wasn't too bad as we have heard horror stories of people vomiting and sweating and shaking etc and fortunately I was spared all that. I now have anti-biotics and rehydration sachets which have made me feel much better and now I just feel a bit weak and pathetic...Will try and get back into the updating swing for the last few weeks and will update tomorrow.

Bali time...

Ohhhh....now I get the hang of Bali....now I understand. The reason that there isn't much to do in Bali is because there isn't any point in doing anything in Bali. That's not why people come to Bali. Bali is not about tearing around in a car to see the sights. It's about lying on a beach and then strolling along to a local cafe to buy a drink. It's about watching the ocean whilst gentle music plays in the background. It's about self indulgence and massages and reading books and smiling at people. And once you understand that, you understand Bali.

It's a different time zone to anywhere else. It's a place where you have to lose the watch and the urgency and kick back and relax and I can now proudly say that I am on Bali time.

Tomorrow we leave Legian and head to Balian Beach. I feel semi naked as we have handed our passports over to a guy in a visa place in order to get a visa extension. Handing your passports over to a guy who looks about 12 years old and who says 'yes, come back in 10 days and your visa will be here...oh, and your passports' is a little unnerving. Especially because this is Bali time and so 10 days could mean absolutely anything... but as I said, I'm in the Bali frame of mind now and so I'm not too worried, I mean they have to show up at some point....don't they??

So, this is just a short blog because I'm far to relaxed to write much and think I may have over exerted myself with all this typing so I'll just head back to the room for a little lay down and perhaps when I fell up to it a cocktail x

The future

We are now out of 5 star luxury and after a confusing day of driving to places we didn't like much and checking out hotels which were either fully booked or way too expensive we now find ourselves back in Legian in a small hotel called the Sari Beach Hotel. It's about 100m from our last hotel in Legian but is a completely different experience.

The Sari beach is a small hotel amongst big resorts. It has 24 rooms decorated in a Balinese style with small gardens attached to each room and sweet Balinese gates. That's the word to describe this hotel. It's very sweet. It's run by Balinese people and the best thing about it is that it backs directly onto the beach which means you can avoid the chaos of the main roads and the traffic and the people trying to drag you into shops. Obviously that's still there but you only see it when you choose to. So ourdays here involve a breakfast (chocolate pancakes) followed by schooling and then a walk along the beach, possibly a surf, reading/films and then a nice meal in a warrung. I'm not sure it's enoughto keep me occupied for too long but it's ok for now.

That's the thing with Bali. In the other places there were lots of things to see and because we had transport we could explore but here we are a bit stuck in the places we end up and the only option is to wander the streets, but they are so busy and filled with people and cars that it gets a bit overwhelming. We can't really rent a car because it's just not the best way to travel and most people hire bikes bus seriously they look lethal.

Our next stop is a small place called Balian Beach. Again it's a quiet area but I think a little bit more the true Bali and here we should see the rice fields and I understand we can hire bikes to get around whilst we are there. The place is a family run hotel and I have a feeling we are going to like it there. But what we are all really looking forward to is the arrival of Jess and Al. For Sam it's like Christmas and he is counting down the days until they arrive. Trying to make the time seem shorter, 'Well we don't count today and the day they set off so that's only 15 days to go...oh, and we sleep for half of it so that means that we can half the time again....' you get the picture. So we are all looking forward to the 20th.

Between now and then we are going to Balian for a week and then we have to come back to Legian to get our visas renewed for another 30 days. Then we have 6 days and then over to Sanur for two weeks with Jess and Al. Then we are booked back in at the Sari beach as the lovely Vallenders will be here from Australia and then we have to fly out of the country and back in to get a further 2 week visa renewal....and then we will be heading home!!! God the time is just flying by and I think the next few weeks will whizz by. People keep asking if we are looking forward to coming home and I think we are, we are all looking forward to seeing friends and family (and horses) and have lots planned for the future.

Am sat writing this in a cafe with Indonesian music playing in the background. I think it's called the Gamelan. The beach is right in front of me and the usual palm trees, umberellas and blue skies...actually although we are looking forward to coming home it might not be long before the novelty wears off!!!

Pic attached of me and Will in infinity pool, arty pic taken by Sam with fountain of water in foreground!!!

Ulu Watu

Today we move from our little hotel in Legian to a swanky new hotel near Ula Watu. (Blue Point Bay Villas - have a look on the internet it looks AMAZING). In some ways it will be sad to leave our little hotel where everyone chats to each other around the pool and the people are super friendly, but in another way it will be good to leave the hustle and bustle of the streets and the hoards of tourists.

Yesterday we got a taxi to Kuta so that Will could buy his reef boots - The taxi took a long time to get there even though it was only a short walk away but the traffic here is horendous so it took forever. The good thing was that we got to chat to the driver, who is probably the first true Balinese person we have properly chatted to. He was telling us that there are thousands of Aussies here and they don't give themselves a good name (think Brits in Spain) the only difference is that the lovely, gentle, Hindu Balinese don't get cross when a drunken Aussie, steps in front of his cab and wees, the Hindus believe that the tourists are their masters and just look on with sad amusement. Kind of like when your Mum says, 'I'm not angry, just disappointed with you.' He also told us that the Aussie women proposition him but he is very happy with his Balanise girlfriend (who basically isn't a slapper!)

When we got to Kuta we walked down a little road called 'Poppys II' where there are lots of second hand surf shops. We were probably there for 10 minutes before Sam decided that he might puke! Poor Sam has been suffering with 'something' for the last couple of days and has spent most of the time in bed watching, you guessed it, 'Harry Potter.' But thank the lord, by yesterday evening he was back in the pool playing with Will and that evening ate a massive steak. I think it was just the heat and perhaps the food that effected him but thank god he hasn't got the dreaded Bali Belly.

We have just finished brekkie and are off soon to get a taxi for the hours drive to Ulu Watu. Pic attached of Sam in his work suite when we built Chris's decking. Will update later from our hopefully luxurious surroundings.

Legian

Bali is a mixture of lots of things, there are beautiful buildings, surrounded by balinese statues and each morning, the people leave offerings of small baskets of flowers and food for the gods, however, these are soon trampled by the hoards of people who walk through the streets looking for a bargain, a fake handbag or a huge, carved willy!!! The people who own the shops are desperate for your business and literally drag you in off the street, we walk along and they shout, 'G'day boy, howya?' it's wierd, they have a kind of fake Aussie accent. This is because there are so many Aussies here, Bali is the Aussie equivalent of Spain and as a result has a similar feel. A strange mixture of cultures. The shop owners leave their shoes outside their shops and the tourists trample through in their flip flops. There is obviously a lot of religious belief amongst the Balinese but again this is diluted by the Bintang Beer swigging tourists. Kuta is busy, super busy, the busiest place we have visited so far. The streets are far too small to hold the amount of tourists which are crammed into them.

But there is also something quite beautiful about Bali. Although the people are pushy, they are also incredibly friendly and can't do enough to help you. They are also very interested in where you are from and your relationship, 'Are you married? Have you only one son?' are questions we have been asked a thousand times, it appears the Balinese like to know exactly where you fit into their social structure. Being married is fine (we say we are) and having only one child puzzles them! The weather is beautiful and once you get away from the bustle of the streets it's magically peaceful.

Today Will went for a surf on Legian beach, which is a long beach which stretches for miles. As you sit there planes come over the water and almost touch the sea as they cruise into the airport. Me and Sam walked into a big resort hotel and sat around the pool, hoping no-one would ask us to leave. I walked to the attendant to get some towels. 'What room?' he asked. 'Ummmm 20,' I said thinking it may have only been a small boutique hotel, 'Ok, 325.' thankfully he didn't understand my accent, gave me the towels and Sam and I spent a nice couple of hours lazing around the pool in one of those swimming pools which overlook the ocean. Lovely. Then we went for lunch and all had Nasi Goring, which is rice with chicken and egg and a couple of drinks for the equivalent of £7. Finally we braved the streets once again as we tracked down a pair of trainers for Sam. He grew out of his a while ago but we have made him wait til Bali as it's so much cheaper here.

The picture above is of us all in our finest clothes, dressed to the nines for our night out at Sydney Opera House!!

Bali

We have arrived in Bali in one piece, The flight was fairly uneventful (except for the lady who threw up loudly infront of us as we started to eat our lunch!). We were treated like royalty on the plane and were given a free fleecy blanket, toothbrush etc and treated to a hot meal when no one else was. The reason is that we are on the round the world ticket and this seems to entitle us to special treatment.

Getting out of the airport was a culture shock, the weather is hot and we found a taxi and loaded all the bags in and asked him to take us to the hotel in Legian which we had pre-booked, it's called the Sinar Bali Hotel and was well rated on trip advisor and the only place I could get for the three of us for less than $50. We drove through the streets which were filled with people on mopeds (hundreds and hundreds of mopeds) and the sides of the streets are filled with little shops selling shoes and souvenirs. Finally we pulled up a little side street and to our hotel.

The hotel is actually about 28 rooms all built around a large pool which has a bar in it. The rooms are a bit basic, small telly, air con and a bathroom, but it's a nice quiet location away from the hustle and bustle of Legian main street and the beach. After we dropped off our bags we went for a walk and got completely lost in the small windy streets, people come out and grab you and try and pull you into the shops to buy things and if they don't have what you want, they take you to their friends shop instead. After a while it's a bit wearing... So after a crazy afternoon adjusting to the new culture we finally found our way back to the hotel and had a quick shower. Now we are sat in the restaurant about to sample the local cuisine and hopefully avoid Bali Belly (keep your fingers crossed).

One fabulous thing about Bali is that it's so cheap. A main meal costs 30,000 RP which is the equivalent of £3!!!! A massive change after the expense of Australia where a main meal would cost £20!!!! So that's brilliant because we should make up the dwindling funds. We are booked into this hotel for the next three days and then we may head up to Semenyak which is a quieter area of Bali, this is super touristy and a bit too hectic for our laid back schedule.

So we are alive and well. We had a fab time with Charlotte and Neil and their lovely family and miss them already. Thanks again for having us guys and hope you can make it to Bali for a few days!!