I'm writing this listening to frogs, crickets and cicadas, overlooking rice paddy fields in a gorgeous little bar area illuminated by fairy lights. I can only see lights reflecting in the rice paddies as the sun has already set. Above me is a canopy of stars in a sky now perfectly cloud free, despite the afternoon downpour and loudest and longest thunder I have ever heard.

Bali, or Ubud, as this is the only bit of Bali we have explored, has exceeded our expectations. I expected it to be full of pissed up Aussies but Ubud is actually far more cultured and chilled with a bar and restaurant for every day of the year- probably. It's a massive improvement on Myanmar's culinary offerings.

Our days have been filled with gorgeous breakfasts on our terrace overlooking a stunning little pool area, followed by a few hours walking through villages and rice paddies on the outskirts of Ubud. The scenery is as tropical as I envisaged. Lush fields bordered by palm trees, being worked by ox, hand held ploughers and men and women in conical hats, usually yielding a small sythe to harvest the rice.

My breakfast tended to be preceded by a morning yoga class. In an afternoon, when not exploring the different cafés and drinking amazing iced coffees made with ice cream, we were playing in the pool which we had to ourselves, or reading on our terrace. I indulged in an hours massage one afternoon and it cost me £5!! If I'd discovered this on day one, I would have had several more.

Bali is proving a lot more relaxing than Java and it actually feels like we are on holiday and not travelling; which is exactly what we wanted for the last two weeks of our honeymoon.