Hey guys,

Well when we left you we had just arrived in Kuta on Bali and got ourselves sorted with a hotel etc. We spent 3 nights there and have now moved up to Ubud further north on the island. We are now also a threesome with Gemma meeting up with us in Kuta!

Kuta is only a small place that has expanded with mass tourism and now covers the adjoining towns of Legian and Seminyak. It is also nothing like the rest of Indonesia much more like a Greek island (think Malia just in the southern hemisphere). The town is completely westernised and packed full of bars clubs and shopping places which was a welcome relief at first.

Me and Katie spent our first night relatively chilled out and after spending the early evening by the hotel pool then we ventured out for some food and a few drinks before checking out the nightlife. Most of the tourism here comes from Australians on holiday so that allowed us to buy some relatively nice western food (well technically Mexican) and made it very easy to find things because everyone speaks at least a little English here (although there are literally hundreds of touts trying to persuade you to come in their bar/taxi/shop which gets a little annoying when you are just trying to walk down the road).

The next day we got up and at first carried on taking full advantage of the pool until the heat got too much then we decided to venture out to get lunch and check out the beach. The beach here is world famous for its surfing so we were unsurprised to see the beach lined with surf boards and loads of people riding the waves on the sea. We don't really have time to try the surfing here and I'm pretty sure I would be awful at it.

In the evening we went and grabbed some food and then set off walking to the airport to meet Gemma off her plane. The airport is only a 45min walk from the centre of Kuta and we had no bags to carry but we did get some odd looks from the taxi drivers as we walked into the airport, it is obviously not done often. It was so lovely to see Gem; once she was all sorted we got a taxi back into town to near the hotel. I think it was a bit of culture shock coming straight from OZ to here with its dirtiness and hundreds of scooters everywhere but she soon got used to it and upon discovering the taxi is only 80p and that food tends to be £1.50 for a good meal I think she started to warm to it. As it was almost 11pm by the time we got back to the hotel we decided to have a few drinks and a catch up on the balcony rather than venturing out. It somehow ended up been 3am by the time we went to bed anyway!

The next day the 3 of us spent the morning sunbathing and lying around the pool before heading out on a lunch and shopping mission. Gem got her first Indonesian food and I got a new t-shirt which I was starting to desperately need and then we headed to the beach to check out the surfers. In the evening we decided to make a night of it and after a few drinks in the hotel room with the duty free, we headed out in Kuta and went to a few bars which seem to have permanent happy hours and then a club.

The next morning, feeling slightly worse for wear, we got up early and checked out as we needed to be on the bus to get to Ubud. The journey itself was relatively painless much too all our relief and we got to Ubud in no time.

Ubud is completely different to Kuta, it is famed for its crafts and Balinese cultural heritage. We didn't have any hotel booked here so we left Katie with all the bags well we went on a hotel hunt which didn't exactly take long as Ubud is not a big place. Once we were all sorted we went out for the afternoon to do a bit of gift shopping and check out all the fantastic crafts they sell. A bit later in the afternoon the girls took me for a massage, the other activity Ubud is famed for which was really good fun (although slightly painful in parts apparently - quote Bruce 'she was bloody rubbing guava on my boobs!'). I'm not quite a pampering convert but it was quite good fun although the hitting was a bit un-necessary but I found the whole thing really relaxing.

We are staying here tonight and tomorrow before heading off to the Gili Islands which we're all looking foward to as it's known as a bit of a tropical paradise. So will keep you all updated as we go.

Lots of love Martin and Katie (+ now Gemma)