It was an early start today. We had to get down to the beach, hire a surfboard, have some fun and get back for our checkout time of 12 o'clock.
It was Christine's time to shine. With a big blue board, she entered the water. Unlike the previous days nice gentle waves, these were monsters! The undertone was phenomenal and it took all of her strength to stay in one spot. She had a ball and managed to stand a number of times. Darryl stuck to boogie boarding as he's had enough wipeouts on previous surf trips. If anyone wonders why the ocean has receded slightly, don't worry, Christine still has many litres up her nostrils!
Lunch was delicious and we tried a couple of new drinks. One was a milky cereal drink which tasted amazing. Another was a really strong ginger drink and it was so 'spicy' hot but really scrumptious!
Our bus to Ubud was about half an hour late and pretty packed when we got in. There was just enough room to squeeze our bags in! The bus had a large air con unit that last worked in the 90's so even with all the windows open, it was baking hot.
The traffic was chaotic to say the least but the journey was short and we arrived in good time. We tried to figure out a route to our guest house when we were interrupted by one of the many touts. He pointed us towards where we needed to head but soon returned with another man. The man claimed to be the owner of our homestay and offered us a ride. A little suspicious, we climbed in. Sure enough he took us straight to our homestay (his house). Not only was it a lovely little room but he had even completed, in advance, all of the paperwork we needed to fill in! Wow... such an amazing service ...
Exploring Ubud was a short affair as it was beginning to get dark. We had a quick look around the market and along the main 'shopping street'. Our next stop was food! There are many restaurants in Ubud catering for tourists, we found a small Indonesian grill serving chicken satay and dug in.
After our meal we splashed out on tickets for a traditional Balinese dance show called kecak fire and dance. The music was made by a large group of men (around 100),using only their voices. As they sing they all sit in a circle around a candle centre piece. It is also here where the main story and dances take place. The dancers portrayed the Ramayana (Rama and Sita), dressed in amazing costumes. Next, came an incredible trance dance. A pile of coconut husks were lit in the center of the stage. A dancer appeared riding a hobby horse and kicked the whole pile over. He then proceeded to kick the flaming husks around the floor and dance on them! Pretty impressive but surely his feet must hurt ... a lot! A great show which we really enjoyed
It was Christine's time to shine. With a big blue board, she entered the water. Unlike the previous days nice gentle waves, these were monsters! The undertone was phenomenal and it took all of her strength to stay in one spot. She had a ball and managed to stand a number of times. Darryl stuck to boogie boarding as he's had enough wipeouts on previous surf trips. If anyone wonders why the ocean has receded slightly, don't worry, Christine still has many litres up her nostrils!
Lunch was delicious and we tried a couple of new drinks. One was a milky cereal drink which tasted amazing. Another was a really strong ginger drink and it was so 'spicy' hot but really scrumptious!
Our bus to Ubud was about half an hour late and pretty packed when we got in. There was just enough room to squeeze our bags in! The bus had a large air con unit that last worked in the 90's so even with all the windows open, it was baking hot.
The traffic was chaotic to say the least but the journey was short and we arrived in good time. We tried to figure out a route to our guest house when we were interrupted by one of the many touts. He pointed us towards where we needed to head but soon returned with another man. The man claimed to be the owner of our homestay and offered us a ride. A little suspicious, we climbed in. Sure enough he took us straight to our homestay (his house). Not only was it a lovely little room but he had even completed, in advance, all of the paperwork we needed to fill in! Wow... such an amazing service ...
Exploring Ubud was a short affair as it was beginning to get dark. We had a quick look around the market and along the main 'shopping street'. Our next stop was food! There are many restaurants in Ubud catering for tourists, we found a small Indonesian grill serving chicken satay and dug in.
After our meal we splashed out on tickets for a traditional Balinese dance show called kecak fire and dance. The music was made by a large group of men (around 100),using only their voices. As they sing they all sit in a circle around a candle centre piece. It is also here where the main story and dances take place. The dancers portrayed the Ramayana (Rama and Sita), dressed in amazing costumes. Next, came an incredible trance dance. A pile of coconut husks were lit in the center of the stage. A dancer appeared riding a hobby horse and kicked the whole pile over. He then proceeded to kick the flaming husks around the floor and dance on them! Pretty impressive but surely his feet must hurt ... a lot! A great show which we really enjoyed
