Today will be out last full day in Bali before we head to Perth. So, what have we been up to?
Just been chilling out really. Went on a tour of Southern Bali with a driver yesterday. Lovely little fella who Anna wanted to adopt. He was less than five foot tall and just kept laughing all the time. In the land of the midgets, the tall white man is.......... just a Lurchio really. We couldn't understand a word he said, although to be fair, his English is much better than my Indonesian.
Visited a couple of Hindu temples - Taman Ayun which was set in nice gardens and then onto Tannah Lot (or in my case to Tannah Not - geddit?). Almost made the mistake of saying to the driver "Camelot please mate".
Tannah Lot was set in a stunning landscape, built into a rock, on the jagged coast with "high water". Unfortunately as a non Hindu you can't actually go inside the temples, just walk around. This spared me having to put on a Sarong, which would have been, like, Sowrong.
Still, it was nice to see and our guide explained the rituals. There are plenty of gargoyles outside the temples and when I asked what they were for he said - "Security - like on your hotel".
Our intention was to watch the sunset by the temple, however, the clouds drew in and so we made our way back to the car with the driver. The poor sod works seven days a week, twelve hour days, so we gave him a "big" tip - about £5, Anna was shaking handing the money over. So next time your moaning about work, remember this guy, or the poor sods tending to the paddy fields.
Having seen a bit more of the island, they basically "do" tourism, rice cultivation and art. That's it. So if you can't paint and don't fancy being stuck in a field 12 hours a day - you have one option.
Seminyak is upmarket but there is some pretty extreme poverty just a couple of miles away which we drive through. Spotted a shop selling bottles of "Absolute Vodka" with a browny green liquid inside. I dread to think. Still, the people don't seem to let it get them down, although it is a hard life here and it must be a struggle.
Went back to Nirvana restaurant last night and it was very good. BJ score of 4. Food was fine but the highlight was the entertainment - the fire eater was on again. It was a girl who basically plays with fire whilst dancing to traditional Indonesian folk tunes such as "I'm sexy and I know it" and "Smack my b**** up". An Aussie Lad was walking past the restaurant just when she was hitting her punch line and she turned around to him and just said "I'm sexy and I know it" with two hoops of fire around here. He was laughing that hard I thought he was having a fit. The guy was bloody good as well - doing all kinds of mad tricks.
Funny moment when the girl got two of the customers up - an Aussie and an oriental guy to do "Gangham Style". The oriental guy was getting just a bit too much into it, if you know what I mean. It was like this was the moment his whole life had been building up to. Whole place was up and the waitresses were loving it. Funny stuff.
Then onto Ku De Tar to pose. Looked ace at night. Low lit, strong waves bouncing right up to the restaurant, sea spray rising high to the heavens like a phantom mist emancipating the spirits of all of us present. Or, as Anna put it "I feel sticky ere with the sea salt and my hairs like hay". Who said romance was dead?
Back to the hotel, ignoring the beeping of the taxi horns offering us a lift back.
At the moment, myself and Worzel are chilling by the pool having a drink. Off for a walk shortly then maybe a massage.....who knows?