So onwards to Bali,

Bit of a hectic day I may add. There isn't a direct flight from Borneo to Bali so we had two flights on back to KL :( then to Bali.

It was one hell of an early morning getting up at 3am to make the trip back to the airport. Luckily we had a lovely hostel owner who sorted out a taxi for us and didn't charge us as much as others would have. The night before we had had a lovely dinner out in anothe funky place but it was up early to head off and make the most of our time. We arrived in KL no problems and had a 3 hr wait till the next flight which wasn't so bad. We had to get a bus over as we were at the wrong terminal but that was ok. Check in all going wel until our flight got delayed by another 3 hours :(. So we got some free food vouchers and then found somewhere for a quiet nap. To be fair this killed a lot of our time. We were a bit worried at one point as they cancelled the flight. They hadn't they just put that instead of delayed. What was a bit bizarre about the airport was that you could get a bus over to the other terminal to do more shopping! Bit weird but defo speeded up the time wandering around there and actually the extra 3 hours on top of what we had waited went by pretty quick.

Our first stop in Bali was Kuta, very touristy and obviously a big holiday spot. It nice enough and you can get all your home comforts but I like the quieter places where there isn't a McDonalds, Burger King and Starbucks on every corner. Although I must admit I did like having a wander round Topshop. We spent the next day on the beach as we had gotten in in the evening the previous day. We were already planning our next move. Kuta has a nice beach but it's not the real Bali that's where we wana be. So next stop Ubud.

Bloody love Ubud if not for the funny sounding name. As usual we boarded the bus with nowhere to stay and told the driver to drop us somewhere cheap. I think he in fact dropped us at the cheapest place yet it was lovely. We had a lovely room with an ourdoor bathroom which was quirky but I feel in love with it. A lovely porch to sit on and have brekkie and the room was nice and big. It must be one of the nicest places I have stayed. It was good because the previous place I made Darren stay was on the lower end of the types of places I had been staying so it was also nice to show him I haven't been slumming it the whole time. Ubud is an awesome place to chill and do nothing and that first day that's what we did- nothing. Just wandered round the shops, ate and drank in the sunshine.

The follwing day after a lovely long breakfast on our porch we headed into Monkey forest. Well we tried to. We weren't sure how big it was so took some food and water with us, however you aren't allowed it in. Seeing the monkeys all gathered round the entrance grabbing food you can see why. I even saw a monkey steal some bananna's from a lady selling them. So it was back to the porch for lunch. We had just eaten Peanut Butter sandwiches and I was a little worried one may jump me because they can smell it lol. Monkey forest is amazing. There are 300 monkeys there and they are literally everywhere. You are just walking amongst them, watching them, they might come and sit next to you or jump on you. We saw one girl get jumped on by two monkeys that were fighting, they were using her as a pole to run up and down in their fight. They were grabbing her hair to hold onto- it was a bit scary. Darren and I slowly backed away from the crazy monkey's and continued onwards. We saw a lot o them grooming each other and so many baby monkey's. It really was a highlight of my trip to see them up that close and personal was incredible. We spent ages just sat there watching them and there was so many of them. They kept making me jump when they walked past me. I would be quite happily walking along and all of a sudden a monkey would stroll on by past my feet. Just incredible. Best day ever and so happy I got to do it with Darren as he loves monkey's. Got some great pictures to show my lil bro who is also monkey obsessed. That night was filled of nothingness but good conversation and chilling.

Ok so with it being so hot we decided to treat ourselves to paying a smidge more and getting a room for the night with a pool. The plan was to just chill out, soak up the sun and swim. Haha, typically it wasn't as hot that day but we still acted like children playing in the pool, not caring if it was a little cloudy. However the rain was yet to come. Went our for dessert at a place called the 3 monkey's as dinner hadn't been great but oh my life the dessert made up for it in this place. We wish we had gone there for dinner. We had dessert, a pot of tea and ........ a thunderstorm. It was really scary at points, the storm was right above us and the noise from the thunder was so loud. The rain was pouring, the sky lit up with the lightning and I actually saw a lightning bolt in the sky which was something special to see. It was pretty funny but also very loud and just knew walking home was going to soak us. I think I actually laughed the whole way home. Darren had grabbed a newspaper from the first place to the 3 monkeys to keep me dry but nothing was going to keep us dry this time. Darren kept shouted watch for puddles but what was making me laugh was the streets were gushing with water. Never seen anything like it, luckily we lived nearer the top top of the hill but the streets had turned to streams and we had to wade down the road to our hostel. We were both in fits trying to walk through this water, it was coming up to my shins it was that deep. Never mind avoiding the puddles- there was no avoiding it. It was like walking through the shallow end at a swimming pool. By the time we made it inside we were soaked- I looked like I had just gotten out of the shower and we were sliding all over our hostel floor. Our floor was so slippy I am amazed one of us didn't fall over. It was a very funny time though and the storm was awesome to see but also nice to be inside and dry.

It rained most of the nigh but that morning we were of to Canngu to Echo beach for a couple of days. There isn't a bus that goes here so it was taxi time and I bartered like anything and got our taxi down to a much better price. I do love bartering, I have gotten so much better at it on this trip. Thing is when you know what your talking about as well they find it harder to argue. I knew the distance to this place and knew it wasn't far from Kuta and wouldn't except anything more than what you would pay to get there. Yeah I won- go me. Anyway we arrived at Echo and pitched up at this nice little place not too far from the beach. I wouldn't really say Echo has a beach as it is a great spot for surfers but the atmosphere there is lovely. There are 4 or 5 main places to eat there and everyone is just chilled out, which is what we planned to do for the next three days. We had booked ourselves somewhere with a swimming pool for the next two nights but our first night was spent sitting over looking the sea soaking it all in.

The guy had been so friendly at our first place I felt a little bad leaving but oh well to the swimming pool. However the night before he told us where at ATM was- urmmmm there wasn't one it was in the next town. So we had little money to survive on but all was well as we found a place to eat that takes card so that was pretty much where we ate.

Our next place was lovely another outdoor shower- I love them and TV to watch films and night. We spent the day in the pool trying to drown each other and messing around. It's a lovely infinity pool and a great place to do nothing. You will notice a theme for Bali. Another down pour that night but we made it home just in time and watched it from the rooftop area. Our last day here was spent doing the same as yesterday, dirty dancing lifts in the pool, handstands, more ducking each other under and card games by the pool. Its so lovely and quiet here you really feel like you have dropped off the map. Our hotel overlooks lovely rice paddy's and there are cows wandering around in the roads that we named. The only time we really moved was for food down at the beach and that has a glorious view. Your right on the edge of the water and all these big waves come crashing up beside you. We had the best dinner that night as it was a bbq. So tasty with lots of different sauces for your salads ( I am addicted to balsamic vinegar ), the usual bbq stuff with amazing fresh seafood. You order as much and eat as much as you want. Such a good meal and a lovely way to spend our last night. Again we got home in time for the down pour that seems to happen every night but this time it kept causing power cuts in our hotel. We were slightly gutted as we thought if we had stayed that little bit longer, when the power went down we could have legged it without paying for dinner but oh well. The wind was really strong and the whole place was pitch black. But never fear for the back generator's were near and it wasn't long before we had light again. Safe to saying going to the toilet was interesting that night as it was so windy it kept blowing the rain into our bathroom and the floor was always wet. The power did go out when I went to the bathroom which was a bit freaky and then I couldn't open the door due to the wind blowing it shut but all was ok and it was just funny. Our hotel didn't have too many people in which was nice for our last few days together as it meant everything was lovely, quiet and chilled. Such a lovely place, so cool to sit and watch the surfer's in the sea. Beautiful time here regardles of the odd weather.

The next day was heading back to Kuta to say goodbye to my lovely Darren. Once we got back I found myself a room and got my boat ticket out to Gilli for the next day, then it was lunch and off to the airport. As I write this I have just returned and am on my own for the last 10 days of my trip. Can not believe how quick it has gone but am excited to go to Gilli islands. I just hope the weather holds up as it has been raining today. I want to go back with a tan but at this rate it's going to fade. Keeping my fingers crossed for nice weather.

Take Care everyone xxx