Bali Bali Bali Bali!!!! Yay yay yay, I made it, I made it, I made it... I walked off the flight, the hot Balinese air hit me, my iPod playing and I was smiling. I went to the visa desk (penniless), turns out I needed Indonesian Rupiah to pay for my visa, opps. I had to leave my passport with them and walk out past baggage claim to the ATM to withdraw cash. After that was all sorted, I happily walked through customs and jumped in a cab to Kuta - despite several men trying to rip me off at first, I managed to bag one who was a lovely guy and charged the right price. I felt like saying to all the ones trying to overcharge me; I've just been to India you know, the hub of bartering!! The taxi guy was very sweet, asking questions about my journey and telling me things about where he's from; my first real interaction with a Balinese person and they were just as genuinely nice as I imagined. I had arranged to meet Bryony at a hotel there, I met Bryony in Thailand then we met up in Vietnam too. Really nice to see her again and so much to catch up on, following a quick shower we headed out for a drink. Kuta had been described to me as the Koh Samui of Bali so I knew what to expect but I had also been told its a must visit for a few nights for a good party. Although dangerous because I hadn't drunk in a while. The first place we went to was really loud and we could hardly hear each other speak so we moved onto somewhere quieter so we didn't need to shout. I was a walking zombie from the flights so we got a nibble to eat and then headed to bed.

I woke up feeling like a new person the next day, ready to tackle a hard day laying on the beach. We walked through the dinky back alleys and streets of the poppies lanes, I was recognising stuff that Nelen and Christa had previously told me about - they're my Indo Guru's, I have lists of recommendations from them, even a hand drawn map from Nelen! I finally bought myself some new sunglasses, I hadn't had any since I broke mine on Koh Rong (Cambodia), I've given myself wrinkles from squinting so much in that time. The beach was lovely and known to be the best beach in Bali, the sea was full of surfers and the sand was full of spectators. We laid out our towels, made head pillows out of a mound of sand and instantly relaxed. Amazing to watch all the surfers, couldn't believe how good they KL were, instantly put into perspective how bad us girls were in Agnes Water (Australia). I tried to go for a swim but the current was so strong that I didn't fancy my chances and just paddled. After a couple of hours, clouds gathered in the sky and rain soon followed, beach time was over and it was an excuse to find some lunch. I've vowed to eat better this next month, I cannot enter the UK carry this extra weight so I opted for a Greek salad (Nelen - we went to the Greek place on your list!). When I was in India, I promised myself a pedicure when I got to Bali to make sure all the dirt and sewage was fully scrubbed off my feet so the bad weather made a good time to go. Bryony treated herself to a massage too so it was a mini pampering afternoon. Glad that we did too because there was a full on storm outside. At one point, there was a clap of thunder that was directly above us and I've never heard anything like it in my life, everyone in the salon froze in fright. The noise was so loud, I immediately thought of the terrible Balinese bombings that took place in 2002 and I had a feeling that the beauticians thought the same thing. Complete with sparkling toes, we went back to the hotel room and sat out the rain, our hotel room was really nice though so it was quite nice to put on the tv and catch up on blogs etc. Although the only English channel was cartoons so Mr Bean and Tom & Jerry was playing in the background. Later that night, we met up with a bunch of people Bryony had met before I arrived. We went out for dinner and then headed to Sky Garden bar, they have an open bar from 9pm-10pm - dangerous. It did make it a cheap night though, only bought one drink after that. It was really strange to be back in that environment, completely different contrast from the madness of India. It took me a little while to get in to it, and I didn't feel comfortable for a while, plus it's weird meeting new people again, I'm slightly out the game a bit because we didn't really meet anyone in India. I relaxed by the end and had a really good night.

The next morning, I was hiding under the sheets, not wanting to wake up. Sadly I had no choice in the matter because we had to check out of the hotel. We grabbed a jaffle (toasted sandwich apparently) for breakfast, slowly packed up and jumped in a taxi to Ubud. Luckily it was air conditioned, dogs die in hot cars. I liked the taxi ride though, I got to see loads of the island on the journey. An hour or so later we arrived in the spiritual capital of Bali... Ubud!