Our next port of call was Ubud. This was a far cry from Kuta, in the sense that most places were shutting around the same time we would normally be heading out to start drinking. It was clearly a much more relaxed, chilled, peaceful & cultured village. Unfortunately this didn't put a stop to the hawkers trying to offer you massages or transport. The main attraction of the village was a monkey sanctuary. We paid a visit & it could easily of cost us our lives!! The monkeys had a very good sense of smell & knew instantly if people had food in their bags. Without batting an eyelid, they would casually climb up people & start rummaging through bags to get the food or anything else that took their fancy (shiny objects & dangly things). We took some photos in there, but when you look at them you can tell we were nervously watching the monkeys out the corner of our eyes as they snuck up on us. During our time in Ubud, we saw a hairdressers offering haircuts for 30,000 Rupiah (2 pounds). We decided to brave it & negotiate the English - Balinese language barrier. Thankfully we both came out with respectable haircuts & both ears in tact. Although she did get a bit overzealous & took off my sideburns!! During our stay in Bali, we had been informed that Saturday 5th March was the Balinese New Year, so we had been witnessing all sorts of preparations. On New Years Eve the villagers all gather in the central crossroads & parade giant monsters that they had modelled out of polysterene. We gathered that evening to watch the parade & although it rained, we stuck it out to celebrate with the locals. If only I could say that the following day was just as fun. New Years Day is known as 'Nyepi' (translated as Silent Day). This is a time for locals to stay indoors & reflect on the past year without doing work, pleasure or using electricity. This meant that we were confined to our hotel premises, we weren't allowed to make excessive noise & electricity & lighting was limited. This resulted in us spending the day by the pool, constantly clock watching & wishing for the day to end. We did however meet a group of Englich folk by the pool, some of whom were traveling to Kuta the following day. This prompted us to head back that way & recommence the drinking with our new found drinking buddies!!