Well, time for another update, it must have been at least a week since the last one !So its now saturday night - sad i know, but theres not a lot else going on, and to be honest, everyday is a saturday when your on holiday. So, anyhow, this is what ive been up to.

I arrived into Bali after a 7hr flight stopping via Kuala Lumpar and was charged with being a day over my visa opps!!! and then my bag being 7 kilos over - jeeze, it must have been those cheap dresses in thailand! So i paid the extra money and got on with it. So I stayed at this hotel just off the main surfer dude street, called Banasari (THATS SORT OF WHAT IT SAID IN THE LONELY PLANET!) but, wasnt that hot, you could call it a little on the basic side, but it was fine for the time being, dumped my bags off and took a goosey gander down the main strip. It didnt take long until i came across the big memorial that stood in the place of 'Paddys Bar', which was one of the bars blown up in the 2002 bombings. That was pretty eery to see the empty space where it had once stood especially as when i went past it, it was night time and was heaving.The people were starting to fill into the clubs, so i got a sense of what it could have been like to be there.

The next day i walked for miles around Kuta Beach to find the shopping mall. I couldnt believe my eyes when we drove into Kuta Beach the night before and i saw "Topshop' lit up in all its glory outside the main shopping mall. I was so excited that i spent the day looking for it. It was sunset by the time i found it. Hooray! But due to my bag being over weight, i could only buy one thing. Whats a shame. So, I went for the most 'surfer girl' like top there was, in the hope of fitting in more with the local surfer kids!

The following day, I arranged a trip to see some temples. Im uite amazed that after 2 months of being in Asis im not quite templed out yet, but im sure it wont be long until i am! So, first we visited the Royal Family Temple. It was very nice, but the guide we had was in training and could speak very little english, so thats all i learnt about it. Then a mountain lake called Bedugal, which was up on the volcano, so as it was inland and above sea level, i felt at home when the temp dropped to a cool 20 degrees - lovely! Then we headed south of the island to see the sunset over Tanah Lot Sea Temple. Little did i know that the next days trip would be more of an adventure and not quite as organised.

So, Wayan, my driver arrived at 8am to take me around various spots around the island. Although i hadnt quite realised it was just me, so, i had a private tour. Wayan, was a little odd to put it mildly. I think he had a nice heart but, blimy, it was hard going talking to him. I bought a painting of man in the street - only a small drawing of this funny monster called a BARONG, which is a baliense dance. Except Wayan was worried i was going to tell his boss in passing conversation, that i bought it, as he would think that he'd earned commission of it. I swear i had to say about ten times, its ok, its our secret. But he still continued to worry. I think he was worried about losing his job. Anyhow, i bought him 'pig and rice' as he called it - its called Babi Guling, an Indonesian dish of pork and rice, but with our translation problems from time to time, he didnt understand what pork was. So, i kept it simple. After being taken to see the Batik factory, Jewellery factory and Bali Bird Park, we made our way to Kintanami. Its the volcano which errupted in 1989, and it looked amazing, except it was foggy, and somehow he'd forgotten to tell me that if we got there to late in the afternoon, we wouldnt be able to see it! Great! So, i took a photo anyhow, just because it took so long to get there. And i was so sad to see a dog on the side of the road with both its back legs broken. I was in such distress seing this poor doggy lying there quivering. I asked a local why no one had taken it to a vet, but they just laughed at me and said that no one owned it and it cost them 50 pounds to take it to a vet. So i contemplated it for a minuate and then i thought, well, even if i did pay the money to take it too a vet, what would happen to it then? So i left the poor thing there and hoped i wouldnt get bad karma - but i think i did a few days later! Then, our final stop of the day was the holy springs, where, i looked around at sunset, and Wayan the driver, prayed continuosly. I really think he prayed to make sure i didnt tell his boss about this painting he was worried about. They tend to stick rice to their heads and neck and place petels on their ears as part of the praying ritual. Except, when your not used to seeing it, it looks like they are messy eaters and you want to go and wipe it off. Wayan, appeared after being in floods of tears from talking to the gods, so i just let him got on with it. Thankfully, i arrived back safe and sound, but what a day that was!

The next day, my new driver, Wayan (are you noticing a pattern here? - Wayan is the first name for a boy, so as you can imagine, there are alot of Wayans about!) took me to see the Kecek and fire dance at a holy sea temple, Ula Wata Sea Temple. That was nice, until a monkey tried jump on me, then i decided to watch c*** fighting. Curiousity got the better of me, and after watching the feet of the chickens having knives tied to them and the first round where one of the c*** had its leg broken and dangling off - i nearly passed out at all the blood. So, decided to go sit down and enjoying the Kecek show which involved lots of nice dancing and'chatter chatter' noises!

So, then i decided to try my hand at a little surfing. Thia is where i think the karma came into play. I quickly realised that it wasnt my thing at all and came out with more wipe outs than waves and scrapped my knee on the bottom of the sea! The next day, i went to the bird farm and had a parrot put on my shoulder which then bit me! The day after that, i decided to go and take rest in the nice quiet mountainside town called Ubud which is famous for its Art Musuems, where i got a throat virus / infection and had to rest for 2 days in bed. Then, just when i thought it was safe to venture out of my room, i slipped and cut my ankle! Jesus, i figure, the gods in Bali dont like me that much, as the water didnt, the birds didnt, the air didnt, and the land didnt. So thats it, im leaving for Singapore tomorrow.

I had a nice time, but ready for a country that loves me abit more than that!

Well, thats it for today. I will write more soon.

Love to all, love Adele x