Spent three nights last week in Granny’s Hostel.  It was a small but fun place, staff were really friendly and I got to know quite a few fellow travellers while there.  Most people were only staying one or two nights and then moved on to other parts of Bali.  The hostel ran a tab meaning any food or drink I ordered was put on my tab and I didn’t have to pay until I left, this turned out to be very costly.  One night in particular started with a few beers, but ended up being followed by drinking games and then a trip to a night club, this put a very large dent in my tab to say the least.

Myself and a few others at the hostel went to the beach one day and had a surf lesson (again put on my tab), this was awesome and we chilled with the trainers pretty much all day.  They showed us what to do on the beach then went into the water with us, holding the board each time and telling us when to stand up etc. (a bit like teaching someone to ride a bike, they would hold the back of the board “I’ve got you, I’ve got you, now go”).  I got the hang of it and think it is now a matter of practice.  We went down the next day and had another go, this time just renting a board and going at it alone, this was less of a success than the day before.

I moved to a hotel Thursday night and Helen arrived Friday night. Her 25^th birthday was on Saturday; we started the day with breakfast in bed, it was an Indonesian breakfast which strangely consists of chicken soup, rice, bread, jam and more chicken.  We then proceeded into Kuta town and had a second (proper) breakfast of pancakes and waffles then headed to the beach.

Naturally as I’ve now surfed twice I think I’m capable of teaching someone to surf, so we rented a board and I taught Helen what to do.  It was actually quite a success (if I do say so myself).  We finished the day with dinner at a nice restaurant where you sit with your feet in a pool (as you do).

We chilled on Sunday trying out some of the local food, including some mystery meat which they claimed was “chicken” and barbequed sweetcorn sat listening to the prayers for the end of Ramadan.

On Monday we got a coach to Ubud, which for a 2 hour trip cost us 50,000 Rp each, around £3.  Ubud is towards the centre of Bali and is considered its cultural centre.  Less partying and surfing, more temples and monkeys.

Yesterday we went to Monkey Forest, which is a forest… with monkeys.  The monkeys are small, ugly things which carry rabies and will think nothing of jumping on your back and trying to go through your bag (am I selling this to you yet).  That being said if you have no food and don’t get too close they leave you alone.  Below is a great picture of me sitting next to one, what happened next is it tried to go through my bag, then nearly bit me.

This morning we went on a 2am (2am!) hike up Mount Batur, an active volcano and the third largest on the island.  I didn’t realise just how active, the last time it went off was 14 years ago, but the guide assured us that if it was going to blow ‘he would get a call on his mobile first’.

The hike was awesome and some pics are below. We were picked up at 2am by the hotel owner’s “mate” and us wondering whether hopping into a van with a random Balinese man was a good idea. We knew all was well when he dropped us off for a banana pancake for breakfast, then hiked for approximately 2 hours under the stars, reaching the top just in time for sunrise, a few more bananas, and eggs (which some mountain monkeys were going ape for). Just to remind us how active it still is, steam emits from holes in the ground, which the guides used to cook our eggs. While we were eating, our guide got a call on his mobile, putting us all on edge wondering whether this was our last meal, but luckily it was just his mate calling for a chinwag. The hike was challenging, probably not helped by the fact it was 4am, but it was worth it.

We are recouping today and then getting a coach to Sanur tomorrow morning.  Sanur is a beach/surf/snorkel type place.  The plan at the moment is to stay there for 2 nights, then get a boat to Lembongan Island (again snorkelling/beach/surf) and lastly head back to the mainland – either Uluwatu or Kuta then fly back to Darwin on the 7^th August.