We had booked on to a big speed boat to get back to Bali. We waited on the beach and an hour after it was meant to leave it arrived. They hooked a ladder over the front rail and everybody got off, we then climbed the ladder and had to walk round a thin ledge on the side of the boat to get in at the back. It seemed like a nice boat with sofas inside that could seat 70 people and air conditioning. Shortly after we set off the air con stopped working and the temperature quickly rose. Everyone was dripping in sweat, Pete managed to squeeze outside with a few others but they were quickly asked to go back inside. It was so uncomfortable and sitting on leather sofas really didn't help, luckily they fixed it and it finally cooled down. We took a minibus in to Ubud and a taxi to our hotel.

Ubud is about an hour inland and is probably the most cultural place in Bali, there are lots of temples and old Balinese buildings that are very pretty. It is also a very arty place, there are hundreds of shops selling all different types of arts and crafts from sculpted masks to paintings to carved wooden penis bottle openers.

Our taxi driver didn't have a clue where our hotel was but after asking at least 10 locals he found it. It was a beautiful place, we had searched the Internet and read thousands of reviews to find the best place for the money we wanted to spend; our budget for a hotel had just gone up! We had one of their basic rooms which was very nice, at the back of the hotel there was a beautiful pool and restaurant that looked over the rice paddies. It felt a little odd standing watching the women working so hard in the fields in the blazing sun whilst we were relaxing by the pool but we had no choice. The hotel grounds and views really were amazing.

The place we had booked was out of town but we were told it was only a fifteen minute walk. We decided to try it walking up a busy road with no foot path, after half an hour we stopped at a brilliant Mexican restaurant and after some amazing taco's and enchiladas we continued in to town. In total it was a good forty minute walk. We had a look round and grabbed a drink before getting a taxi home.

We decided to hire a moped the following day just to get in and out of town. We headed in and started looking around the shops, they sold some beautiful crafted items which we bought a few of. We had to take shelter a few times when the heavens opened but this was a great excuse to get coffee and cakes.

We booked on to do some white water rafting the following day. We were picked up early and driven an hour out to the river. After being kitted up and briefed we had a little practice in the boat on dry land before heading in to the water. There were four people in a boat and we were teamed up with a Japanese couple. We took the front seats and paddled hard through the rapids, it was great fun, we got rather wet and the water was freezing especially when our guide steered us under the waterfalls. We soon found out that the front wasn't the best place to sit, the Japanese girl smacked Kate in the side if the head with the handle of the paddle, it seemed she put a lot more effort in to that than she did occasionally dipping the other end in the water. After we swapped with them at the half way point Pete realised that most of the time when she was paddling she wasn't actually putting her paddle in the water, just making the motion whilst resting it on the side. It was slightly annoying as our arms were aching so much but we found it quite funny, we really don't think she understood what the paddle was for.

Anyway, we continued our trip down the river, occasionally getting stuck on rocks and smashing in to the sides. We then got to a calm section where our guide explained how we should sit to go down the dam. There was a 4 metre drop coming up so we had to sit on the floor of the boat as he paddled us over the edge, it was great and as we hit the bottom the boat literally bent in half, luckily there was a photographer at the bottom so we have some great photos that will be uploaded soon. Once we reached the bottom we had a big buffet lunch before heading home to relax by the pool.

Other than chilling by the pool and rafting our time here was spent wandering round the shops, have tea/coffee and cakes or sitting in a bar.

Ubud was a really relaxed place and we just loved chilling out there. We even found a deli that did real cheese and salami which helped.