We left Hong Kong on a high and it was with heavy hearts we boarded the plane for the 5 hour journey to the final destination on the trip??Bali. As usual we walked off the plane into the beautiful sunshine and we knew this was going to be a relaxing 16 days. The hotel (yes our first hotel we were so excited!) had a swimming pool, a restaurant, Sky TV (we grew quite the bond with the E! channel, I could tell you anything you want about Jessica Simpson) and our very own en suite! All for £7 a night!

 

The first day was Valentines day! As long staying residents of the Green Garden hotel we were given a free (yes free!) 2 hour massage and body scrub and what better day to indulge then Valentines day. It was so lovely! One of the strangest parts of the trip also occurred after the massage when me and Katy were given a rose petal bath?..together! I also treated myself to a £5 haircut and a £2 steak dinner (yes I remember how much everything cost cause it was so exciting to be able to afford such luxuries). After our spa day we went to the beach for a walk and came across the burial of a dead turtle and it was massive! It took 4 grown men to roll the thing over into its grave. Its not often you see a turtle, no matter a dead one cause don't they live to be about 100 years old? Not that I was glad but I did appreciate how rare what I was seeing was.

 

17th Feb was my birthday so we decided to take a trip to the much recommended Dreamland Beach and my god I have never been so hot in my life! I could not breath I was so hot! We tried cooling off in the water but the waves were crushingly high and we thought our parents would not appreciate one of us drowning having got through the rest of the trip safely, so we just laid all day baking. In the evening we went out for cocktails and did what we did best - got drunk.

 

After a few days of lazing round the pool, applying for jobs in the internet café and watching far too much MTV we decided we needed to do something constructive and went to watch a traditional Balinese dance. It was amazing watching the way the ladies bend their bones (literally) to look as fantastic as they do when they are dancing and the costumes were beautiful. We then went to a village to see some traditional rug making (yes it was as boring as it sounds) and then to Bali zoo where we got up close and personal with some lions. The local temple was next where we wondered around the grounds taking in the beautiful scenery. Lastly we headed to the famous Indonesian Volcano where we had some dinner whist enjoying the sights (but not enjoying the rank food!).

 

After a busy cultural day we decided another beach day was in order and headed to Kuta beach??maybe we had become beach snobs but we were not impressed!! You get hassled a lot as well by the people in Bali as it's so poor out there and they see tourists and pound signs flash in their eyes - I have never felt so hassled in my life! Well apart from when I am babysitting at home!!

 

After another few days lazing around the pool eating far to much food we decided to do another day trip and this time headed to Turtle Island. We took the glass bottom boat (which I got to drive, they guy who was supposed to drive it could not be bothered!) and we arrived at this lovely island to be greeted by a lovely man who was to be our guide. Fighting out way through the Japs and their video cameras we made our way to the Turtle sanctuary where we got to hold and feed them before making our way to the bat cages! Those things have very scary teeth and we were a bit nervous about holding them but they can't be worse then snakes and crocodiles can they? The eagle I got plonked on my shoulder did freak me out a bit though! After a refreshing fresh coconut we headed back inland to prepare for our wake boarding and water ski lesson. Now most of you will know I am not the most coordinated person that ever lived but I wanted to give it a go and it was good fun! I don't recall actually managing to stand up on the thing but I do remember swallowing a lot of salty water and they instructor laughing his head off at me and Katy and asking 'why' - I don't think he meant why are you so good at this?

 

Exhausted from out busy day another day by the pool was needed - Katy even got chatted up a few times! We took a walk to the beach (maybe we were feeling romantic after our shared bath) and were lucky enough to get there in time to see a spectacular sunset and a very interesting Balinese woman who was collecting plastic bottles with her feet and balancing them in a basket on her head.

 

In the last few days of our holiday we ate a lot, walked a lot (mainly to bakeries and shops - we got lost for 45min one day and our feet were killing us), swam a lot (Katy tried to teach me how to dive - unsuccessfully) and chatted a lot. We knew we had to enjoy these last few days as jobs were already lined up for when we got home and we knew we would probably never experience this type of freedom again - a night out was in order! We got glammed up (as glam as we could get out of a backpack) and headed to Bounty's - the famous and much recommended disco! We drank far too many cocktails and had dance offs with the locals. On the way home at 3am Katy decided she wanted to get into a bin (what is it with her and bins? Queenstown Kate?)  then thought it would be funny to push me in a puddle. We got back to the hotel pretty rotten so decided the best and easiest way to get clean was to get in the hotel swimming pool fully clothed - therefore managing to wash ourselves and our clothes at the same time (you pick up these little tricks you see).

 

Our last day was a sad one so we comforted ourselves with a curry and some local beer and chatted about how cool our trip had been. One last E! documentary before the long journey home - but what a journey it had been.