After the stresses of yesterday we decided to take it easy. Went native for breakfast - rice porridge and nasi goreng (rice based), not to be repeated. One of the big attractions of the town is the sacred monkey forest, so I felt duty bound to check it out. At this point we realized we had no plans for 2 days time so I left A-lo researching (good move as she has come up trumps so far). Lombok was looking likely….

Meanwhile, word was out that a friend of "Mr Robert" was in town and a driver presented himself to us in reception. He was offering his usual services to be on call at the hotel for the duration of our stay should we want to go anywhere.

The pocket of jungle set aside for the Sacred Monkeys was over run with small grey apes. Studied some grooming behaviour and a couple of very cute babies hanging on to their mama's tummies. I ambled down a track into the jungle to reach an Indiana Jones style temple with statues of giant serpents and lizards overshadowed by a huge banyan tree and dense air roots. The scene was completed by a steam running at the bottom of a gorge.

Doubled back to find another temple I'd heard about. The "deities" guarding the door were eating young children. Apparently this is tribute to Shiva, the god of death and destruction…..final stop to see feeding time monkey fight

Back at Kemenaka, Annelise was still in the reception area and had obviously established a good rapport with the staff…..

Had lunch in Café Wayern - I convinced Annelise that when in Indo we should sit on the floor at a low table…..despite threat of killer ants she humoured me and settled in to the act quite well. 2 more portions of rice later, including black rice pudding. I was craving some Ambrosia, but this variation was disappointingly bitter. A-lo stayed safe with spring rolls.

Was down to Rp700,000 in my wallet to popped to the cash point to pick up another mil….

More deliberations about our next location….ho hum….

As it was chill day, we returned to the hotel for a swim, sunbathe (too hot) and nap. I awoke from my doze and heard a splat on the floor next to the bed. "That's the noise a heard a few timed during the night" piped up from the other side of the bed. "Find out what it is!" It turned out to be a gecko which had fallen off the ceiling….uh oh!

Set off for dinner by the lotus pond and watched a Balinese dance show the other side of the pond. Quite amazing - what a romantic setting. The 30 strong orchestra was mostly quite old women, and dancers from the younger generation. The bird of paradise dance was my favourite, although the kids performing a rabbit dance, complete with bunny ears, came a close second. Definitely upstaged the food! Annelise continued her survey of Balinese spring rolls and satay.

On the way home we passed a bar with a great reggae band. As we didn't have to get up for work the next morning it seemed rude not to stop a while. The bar soon filled up and the dance floor filled with travelers reveling. There seemed to be a lot of slightly older ladies. Made a welcome change from the "smug retireds" scene in New Zealand. The band played a string of classics from Marley, Tosh and a bunch of artists whose names escape me, but UB40 covered them. In a shop departure, a different singer joined in and the band did a rousing rendition of Govinda, a fave track of mine from Kula Shaker's 1996 album K.

We were joined by a cool young couple - he 19, Dutch, nice handsome chap, surfer image, she 32 geordie. Transpired they had just met at the show we watched. She was spending her redundancy, he was 20 in 2 days. They were heading to the Gili Islands. If he played his cards right it looked like he might get a memorable birthday treat from Her Majesty's representative from Newcastle…..