Sunday 20th January 2008

We were leaving Ubud today and getting a shuttle back to Kuta, so we got up at about 8am so that we could shower, pack our bags and then have our breakfast in plenty of time. We said our goodbyes to the lovely staff at the Hibiscus Cottages and then walked round to the internet café to pass the time before the bus picked us up.

No sooner had we got to the meeting point, the mini-bus, which wasn't very busy, turned up - so I thought we'd have quite a pleasant journey back to Kuta... I was wrong! The mini-bus took us to a central bus station in Ubud, where we were bundled onto a larger bus with LOADS of people, with LOADS of bags. This bus wasn't too bad and after about 20 minutes it screeched to a halt and we were all rushed off and on to another - I can honestly say, it was like we were hostages being transported somewhere - plus the new bus was rubbish. It had no air-conditioning and the windows were falling out - it was like a prison bus!

Finally, at about 1.30pm, the journey was over and we could finally stretch out again and walk around. The drop-off point wasn't far from our new hotel so we walked round. The weather was really nice today - probably the nicest we've had in Bali (every day has been really hot, but today there was no cloud), so we checked into the Hotel Arena and then spent the afternoon relaxing by their pool.

This evening we got ready and then went off in search of food. We walked for quite a long way - down all the little alleys - no longer scared of Bali at night. We found a nice little place that was quite empty and went in there. We chose some proper Balinese food and it was quite a shock when it came out. Nikki had Red Snapper (basically just cut in half, cooked and put on her plate... eyes and all) and I had duck. Both were delicious, although I had to cut Nikki's up for her because, like a child, she didn't like the look of the head!

Australia has had three weeks of rain... looks like we came on holiday to Bali at the right time!