Our plane landed in Jakarta on time - unfortunately because it meant we had a wait of at least 5 hours before our onward flight (provided it was on time). It was even more unfortunate because E was beginning to feel unwell (upset tummy). Jakarta airport is better than many we've passed through but the domestic terminal waiting area is essentially outdoors where locals and travellers, like us, were thronging about waiting to check in for flights later in the day. There were loads of eating places - which E didn't want to know! - and many offices of Indonesian airline companies.For independent travellers, this is a great place to land because you can then choose between a myriad of cheap airlines (cannot comment about safety however!) to access all points in the Indonesian archipelago even on flights on the same day. As E became more and more uncomfortable (M too was by now having an occasional minor stomach cramp), he started to check out earlier flights to Bali. A Sriwijaya flight was due to leave at 1:50 so we bought tickets and we were off.He certainly thought it was worth it to be in Bali and in our accommodation a few hours ahead of our scheduled arrangements.

We had arranged accommodation in Ubud which is about an hour's drive from the airport. It rains in paradise - yes really, it does - and we arrived to leaden skies that soon opened to torrential rain. Shortly before landing, we'd flown through some really rough weather with some of the worst turbulence we'd ever encountered and we believe that this weather had now arrived over the Denpasar to Ubud road. Bali hadn't originally been on our agenda for Indonesia (too obvious and touristy) and as we drove through what seemed to be miles and miles of built up area in the pouring rain, with E feeling thoroughly miserable, we wondered if our decision to come here had been a mistake. But as we headed inland and further from the main tourist area the surroundings became more rural and the villages we passed through had character: Hindu temples were dominant amongst other building each village displaying evidence of its own particular craft (ie stonecarving, woodworks, metalworks, etc. We then arrived in Ubud turning off a serious of narrowing side roads, through padi fields,interesting buildings and heavy vegetation to shortly arrive at our destination - Alam Indah and truly we had reached paradise. It is so hard to describe to give a true feeling what this place is like but Alam Indah means 'beautiful nature' and it is described as a being "10 accommodations built in traditional Balinese style set amidst lush gardens and idyllic views".We agree so have a look at their website www.alamindahbali.com and see our Bali photo album.

E was in bed by 7pm and although he had a restless night's sleep awoke at 9am feeling much better. He'd stuck to sipping water and some rehydration fluids over the last 26 hours and had recovered. We agreed that this was truly a magical place and decided there and then to stay on and base ourselves at Alam Indah for the whole of our stay in Bali - the staff are so charming, calm and friendly; our room (although we will need to move rooms midway through our stay) is oh so comfortable; fresh fruit, flowers, and scented coils are delivered to our room; the swimming pool is so inviting; it is so accessible to the bustling and lively village centre; etc, etc ...........................

The Sacred Monkey Forest Sanctuary sits between Alam Indah and Ubud and on our first day we set off, a little apprehensive after our encounter with monkeys at Bukit Lawang. The Sanctuary is a remaining small tract of jungle surrounding a series of Hindu temples and the monkeys were very much in evidence devouring the fruit provided by locals and tourists.Halfway through, there is a small pond which we understand was put there for the monkeys. Well we were treated to a display of monkey frolics exactly like small children we'd seen all over Asia.The monkeys ran up branches and dived, did backward flips, leapt, belly-flopped, into the water. Drenched monkeys then careered around watched over by stern looking parents!

Ubud certainly has plenty of character with an excellent range of shops selling traditional and modern arts and crafts, galleries, temples, and restaurants/cafes. Our exploration was brought to a halt when we decided the call of the swimming pool beckoned. That evening we went to a traditional Balinese - Joged - dance performance at the nearby Laka Leke Restaurant. Food was a delicious Balinese buffet with our first taste of Balinese rose wine (which was surprisingly good).The dancers were quite beautiful and performed a number of dances the final one being where members of the audience were invited up.It was a really good night out but unfortunately the next morning M, who'd been struggling on with a slightly gippy tummy, felt much worse.She did, however, manage to keep a badly needed hair colour appointment in the morning, which left E free to wander around the book, music and DVD shops to his heart's content (we now have a few more to add to our 'home' entertainment stock). After a lazy afternoon with M lounging on the terrace and catching up with lost sleep we went up town for a meal at Lamak Restaurant.The decor was stylishly modern within a traditional Balinese setting and the food was delicious.E had he chef's tasting plate: sweetbreads, spicy tomato consommé, mandarin sorbet, wagyu fillet steak - all absolutely excellent - finished off with a disappointing baked Alaska.M stuck to a simple red wine risotto, which was very tasty indeed.We also sampled some excellent Chilean red wine, and E had his first taste of Storm beer which is brewed in Bali - by his ' mmmmm!' itwon't be his last.

The next morning we were met by Darta, a local man who took us on a guided walk through the beautiful rice fields which surround the town. He was extremely well informed and we learned much from him about the Balinese culture.With the very relaxed ambience of Ubud the days seemed to follow much the same pattern: spending the mornings exploring Ubud, including visiting the interesting Royal Palace (where the royal family still lives) and Puri Lukisan Museum (which is set in beautiful peaceful gardens and contains a wide range of Balinese arts), with afternoons cooling down at the pool, accompanied by afternoon tea and cake. Ubud also has loads of good restaurants so we were never short of somewhere good to eat.But we didn't just spend our evenings eating. Ubud is renowned for keeping up the traditions of Balinese culture and every evening there are dancing displays around the town.We particularly enjoyed the exhibition of the Kecak, Trance and Fire dances which are accompanied by the voices of a 100 strong male choir.Kecak tells the story from the Ramayana of the kidnapping of Sita by Rahwana; the Trance is danced by two young girls who do it all the way through with their eyes closed, thus miming being in a trance.It was amazing that their timing was spot on all the way through; in the Fire dance a man, supposed to be a horse, dances over burning coconut shells in his bare feet!

Now it was time to do some exploring further afield and rather than go on organised tours we decided to hire a car and drive ourselves.At 100,000 Rupiah (about £6) a day we thought we had a real bargain.Our Suzuki Jimmy Jeep was a bit of a smelly old jalopy (well what do you expect for six quid?) but it got us no bother up to the north of the island to Gunung Batur, a still live volcano.The scenery on the way was beautiful, from the coconut palm fringed rice fields through typical tropical jungle to cooler temperate forest as we climbed higher into the hills.Eventually we took a right turn on to a road running along a ridge which revealed the most spectacular views of Gunug Batur and Gunung Agung towering over the lake (Danau Batur).Plunging down a narrow twisting road brought us to the lakeside, the drive around which took us through chunky, lumpy lava fields. We contemplated doing the climb up to and around the crater of Gunung Batur and made a tentative arrangement for the next day with a local guide.Next morning, however, we realised that it would be a climb too far and decided instead to explore a bit of eastern Bali. We jumped into the jeep with the aim of getting to the coast in the area of Padang Bai, from where the ferries leave for the island of Lombok .On the way out of Ubud we stopped at a local bookshop - and the car broke down and just wouldn't start.It was lucky that it happened in town and a quick phone call to the car rental company soon had us a replacement, and an upgrade at no extra charge to boot.

The drive to Padang Bai took us through constantly built up areas until Semarapura (a very attractive city also known as Klungkung), after which the scenery became more rural with attractive hills on the left and the sea on the right. There isn't much to see at Padang Bai as it's very small, but it has a few shops and cafes lining the main beach and a nice atmosphere about it.However, we turned our back on the main beach and trudged up the hill and down the rough steep track on the other side to find the little secluded beach of Bias Tugal.Other than the sand and sea it has only a handful of thatched shacks selling food, drink and sarongs.It was lovely to spend a couple of hours just lazing in the cool, crystal clear shallow waters.We were told that this will all soon change with the building of a hotel.It's a pity but we guess that's progress and we're glad we saw it as it is now and before it all changes. By this time E had become so used to the car and the roads that he was now driving like a local and consequently we got back to the Ubud are earlier than we expected.So we decided to branch off up the road to Tampaksiring to visit Guning Kawi, one of Bali's oldest and largest ancient monuments which is set at the bottom of a lush green valley and surrounded by steeply terraced rice fields.It consists of a number of large shrines cut out of the sheer cliff face.It's thought that they are memorials to ancient Balinese royalty.

Day three with the car saw us heading north east to the slopes of Gunung Agung, the highest mountain (3142 m) and most dangerous and destructive volcano on Bali, to visit Pura Besakih. This extensive complex of 23 separate, but related, temples is Bali's most important temple - 'The Mother Temple'. The drive there took us past Semerapura again, but there we branched off up a side road which took us on the road to Sideman and through the most marvellous scenery as we climbed north and up the lower slopes of Gunung Agung. It was the day of the Galungan-Kuningan festival which is held across the whole island every 210 days to celebrate good over evil.The Balinese are very true to their Hinduism and the festival is very much based on religious observance.The people were dressed in their 'Sunday best' (the men dressed all in white and the women in beautiful, colourful sarongs) to visit and pray first at their family temples then at their local village temples. As we drove across the island a couple of days before the festival, everywhere was a hive of activity with people making the street decorations.These consisted of bamboo poles about 30 feet long which were decorated all the way up by hand-made garlands made from dried grasses and flowers.Each pole took about two hours to make and hundreds of them lined the streets.It was clearly a labour of love - both for those making them up and for those digging the holes in the side of the roads and planting them securely in position. On the day of festival itself there were a couple of street parades in Ubud, which we missed as we were out of town, but other than that it was a low key, mostly personal and religious affair.

That evening we had our own festival with a visit to Mosaic a restaurant one of Bali's top eateries. Although we had a lovely meal it was, sort of, over the top with too much richness in every course - it needed a better balance with some fresh salad and sorbets between courses. Some of our other meals at local restaurants were overall much better in terms of food and value.

The next day it was hard to say our goodbyes to Alam Indah and the staff - we wish them all well and hope we can return some day.They were really lovely and looked after us really well - especially with helping M to get antibiotics to sort out the tummy bug she had been struggling with since we'd arrived in Bali.

E M xxxx