A little later than advertised (this being Asia!) a partly-full minivan arrived to collect us plus one other passenger before heading to the shuttle bus company's office.

We waited with many others for the arrival of a bigger bus which eventually arrived. There was however no room for luggage and also no staff directing operations (although plenty milling about) so bags were being piled on seats needed instead by passengers. The staff finally took control and re-packed all the bags in such a way all passengers got onboard and we were on our way.

One hour later and after a fairly squashed ride with only half a view due to the mountain of bags we arrived at Ubud. Some passengers were continuing to Lovina and Padangbai but even they had to change buses.

Grabbing our bags relieved to be out of the chaos we quickly found a room. Next door to the shuttle bus office in fact. Fitted our requirements perfectly and saved us a search in the heat of the day. So we dumped our bags and taking a seat on the veranda we poured ourselves a free cup of tea and relaxed.

For the rest of the afternoon we wandered into the main part of town. There are many art studios, handicraft shops and some very nice clothes shops selling a mix of the traditional with a twist of the modern and batik is sold everywhere in town. Kirsty was, once again, in her element with all the "stuff"!

There are also many cafes and restaurants catering for every budget and seemingly every type of cuisine. Neil was in his element!

Yet for all this or maybe because of this, the place has a very relaxed feel.

Once we hit the main street we went to a local buffet-type place for lunch. A Padang-style restaurant but with a western twist so instead of choosing the food out of the window it was done inside in buffet-style troughs. So good to get an explanation in (albeit broken) English of what each dish was. It was genuinely delicious and filling!

Our aim while here is to do the cookery course that our friends Leanne and Martyn contributed towards as a wedding present so, although we had a strong desire to do it at a certain place, we kept our eyes peeled for anywhere advertising cooking courses and grabbed leaflets if we could.

On our circuitous walk back towards the house, we also passed the Monkey Forest Reserve where the monkeys hang out. There were many local women offering us bananas to feed the monkeys but we declined, deciding we may visit later in the week.

Returning to the house and once again relaxing on the veranda we mulled over our cookery course options. We also discussed how we would get to our next destination of Yogyakarta (on the adjacent island of Java) as seemingly all transport links go via Denpasar meaning we would have to go back on ourselves slightly.

Decisions made and a nice relaxing afternoon done, we went back to town to book our cooking course (deciding on our originally determined place) spying a number of monkeys in and around the road. Dinner was at a recommended Italian the other side of our house from town where the food lived up to its billing - the pizza was fantastic!

We woke up and made ourselves known to the staff at our house by sitting on our veranda with a book and a cup of tea from the newly replenished thermos. Breakfast was swiftly brought to us, banana and fresh coconut pancakes with marmalade and a bowl of fruit salad. Yum!

After eating I attempted to take a shower but was not happy that there was no hot water available. In Indonesia basic rooms come with cold water but we had been told that the price of our room included hot water. Kirsty went and told reception who told her that a new gas canister was required or something similar.

I also then stormed out to inform him that I wasn't paying for something I wasn't getting and asked him how long it would take to fix. All he could say was "soon" and I rather petulantly sat down to wait for some evidence of progress. I only lasted a minute as rather evidence arrived in the form of a man in overalls and within 30 minutes hot water was restored.

Walking up to the town our first task was to find Honeymoon Guesthouse where our cooking course takes place tomorrow. Happy with where we were going our activity for the day of a walk in the country could begin. This walk took us over one river and carried along northwards the ridge known as Campian Ridge between two rivers.

The views were amazing all around although I spent a fair amount of my time looking down at my feet following our discovery of a couple of monitor lizards in our first few steps. We also passed the biggest spider I've ever seen cooped up in his web hoping to catch some prey.

A couple of miles in and we came across a simple traditional village known as Bangkiang Sidem. It was simple and slow moving (personified by a young boy trying to fly his home-made kite in a nearby rice paddy) but who knows how long it will stay like this as building work was ongoing to build a 48 room hotel complex in the village.

At the edge of the village was a café where we had a coffee and a coke and enjoyed the vista across rice terraces from our own personal bamboo hut-type thing (see the photos!)

We continued westwards and, although walking along a road, enjoyed the downhill section to a small bridge before a wickedly steep bit followed into the next village. As we climbed uphill we passed an older lady in traditional dress heading down towards the bridge carrying a tray of offerings for the gods on her head. She smiled and greeted us as she went - it was heart-warming to be acknowledged like a local.

The village at the top of the hill, called Payogan, was full of the locals going about their business. As we walked by, they eyed us with something akin to suspicion but as usual a smile and a "hello" went a long way to melting away any unease and also garnered a broad smile in return.

There were a number of dogs lying around some of them barking crazily and some too hot and bothered to do anything but lie and sleep but it was still an anxious walk for Kirsty. I was intrigued by the motorbike stalls by the side of the road serving bakso ayam (chicken meatball soup) - I would have loved to have tried some but I wasn't hungry enough!

Turning left at the end of the village we returned to Ubud walking through a new area of town full again of art studios, galleries and an art museum together with bistro-style restaurants cheek to jowl with wine bars.

We walked through Ubud returning home grateful to be able to put our feet up and have some more tea!

We spent an hour or two relaxing before venturing out for some dinner. It had started raining after we got back but was still more of a mist of moisture than anything else as we stepped out but the temperature had dropped considerably. Dinner was in a local restaurant, nasi goreng for Kirsty and chicken curry for me.

A very nice lazy day followed. After showering and getting ready we opened our doors and stepped onto the veranda to enjoy another fresh thermos of tea that was waiting for us. This was swiftly followed by breakfast which was the same as yesterday's at our request.

Then began our walk to our cookery course. Feeling slightly nervous (like the first day at school!) we arrived around 40 minutes later to join those who had already arrived to enjoy a cup of ice hibiscus tea while waiting for the rest of the class.

The class consisted of around 20 people, the majority older (unsurprisingly) Australian (unsurprisingly) and women (dare I say unsurprisingly??!). After a quick introduction by all of us, the Balinese chef first showed us how to make hibiscus tea, a pretty cool colour change happens during the process and a nice drink to boot!

Next up was a show and tell regarding all the herbs and spices used in Balinese cooking. And there are a lot by the way!

We then moved on to the demonstration table where we were shown how to make Rujak, a sweet and sour salad which was made in three incarnations, one with one chilli, one with two chillies and one with shrimp paste. Apparently Balinese people have it with even more chillies but it was plenty hot enough for us with just two.

While we were doing this another chef was busy frying some krupuk (prawn crackers) which we snacked on throughout the day.

Next was some peanut sauce which we were much more hands-on with. Grinding the peanuts in the "Balinese food processor" (aka pestle and mortar) and chopping garlic, shallots, carrots and bok choy. The ingredients were then put together to make a delicious peanut sauce which was mixed with the recently-made chicken and tempe satay sticks before being grilled over some hot coals.

The last thing we made was nasi goreng, literally fried rice with some chicken in this case. We all had a go behind the wok before the rice was ready and the food was all brought together for our lunch feast.

The meal was rounded off with Kulak, fruit in coconut milk for dessert. The food was all totally amazing and it was a great experience to learn so much about how to make the food especially as we had eaten most of it before. And we left with recipe cards to be able to re-enact the dishes at home! Thank you so much to Martyn and Leanne for the wedding gift.

As we left the class the heavens opened and so our proposed trip around the market was curtailed and we walked home to the safety of our room.

Having exerted ourselves in the morning cookery course we decided to have a lazy afternoon on our veranda reading, chatting and surfing the internet.

At around 7 we went out for some dinner and having had an Indonesian-style feast for lunch opted for pizza and pasta for dinner, which was almost as good as our lunch!!

A thoroughly forgettable day followed (they can't all be great!) as it rained non-stop all day. After our usual breakfast we were left scratching our heads as to what to do in the rain. Instead of making a decision we just enjoyed the status quo of sitting, watching the rain come down and reading our books.

At around midday we finally got moving, firstly sorting out a lift to the bus station in Denpasar tomorrow. We have booked the bus-ferry ticket from Denpasar to Yogyakarta on neighbouring island Java tomorrow afternoon but had no way of getting to the bus station until our hostel owner very kindly agreed to drive us the hour or so to Denpasar.

Next we walked into town with kagoules on heading for the bookshop. When we arrived we couldn't find what we wanted and so continued wandering around near the centre of Ubud before finally deciding to avoid the rain for a spot of lunch hoping the rain would stop while we were indoors. We had returned to the Padang-style buffet from our first day and enjoyed another inexpensive but very tasty lunch.

With no sign of the rain abating after lunch we carried on ducking into the central market. The market which was mainly handicrafts and textiles, the usual tourist fare, was set up like a rabbit's den and having entered we were uncertain how to exit. The ground floor was a fruit market and the basement was a wet market which had finished by the time we arrived.

Walking around the market and around the streets of Ubud in general lay bare one of the most annoying features of other tourists. I know I'm English and therefore uberpolite but if I give way to let someone through, please acknowledge my gesture in some way. Manners cost nothing and if you can't manage a "thank you", a nod, a smile or any acknowledgement would be nice.

While I'm moaning I might as well carry on. The second most annoying thing is the "blocking the path and not having any self-awareness" trick. Look around once in a while notice whether people are nearby and don't block the way for them. We have to share the Earth with seven billion other humans so start being aware of others.

Once out of the market we danced through the puddled street to the Ubud Palace opposite. There were many local craftsmen making ornate decorations but apart from them and lots of tourists there was not a great deal to see. It wasn't helped as the downpour was somewhat torrential in nature making sightseeing difficult.

Damp and cold we decided to abort for the day and headed back to the hostel. We returned to our veranda, updated our blog and read while enjoying the comings and goings of other guests.

At around 6.30 we popped out for some food, opting for some Western fare to cheer us up as we were thoroughly fed up with the weather.

We had another lazy breakfast and spent the rest of the morning mooching around and packing before sitting and waiting for our lift at 1pm.

Bang on time the hostel owner was ready to drive us to Denpasar bus station so we jumped in his car with his wife and children for an authentic Sunday drive Indonesian style! Turns out he lives in Denpasar so was more than happy to give us a lift.

The bus station was nearly worthy of the name consisting as it did of rows of seats under a brick roof and not a lot else. Took us a while to work out where our bus was leaving from and, as we were early, another long wait began sitting on our backpacks. We were outnumbered by locals as the only Westerners around but what could have been an intimidating atmosphere was not due to the friendliness of the locals.