After Gili we headed to Ubud. Driving through the town in the taxi I knew I would love it, there were loads of cute shops which I could spend hours trailing around. The guest houses were also so unusual, like little hidden narnias. We would walk through a door to mini temple/villages inside. I feel we saw almost all the guesthouses Ubud had to offer after being told 'full' time after time!
That evening we watched a traditional Indonesian dance show and let's just say they have a unique style of dance! Peculiar clangy music and the dances would do very odd things with their eyes. By the end when people dressed in bizzare animal costumes ran around as topless boys pretended to stab them, we began to wonder what on earth was going on! It was very interesting to see although I don't think that style of dance will catch on in Europe any time soon...
The next day we went to a monkey forest and after my experience of being intimidated by monkeys in Sri Lanka I was a little apprehensive.... quite rightly so! We saw many a person getting nipped by the monkeys and running of crying! Including Tristan....
The monkey forest has yet again shown me that I am definitely not at one with animals!
At the temple in monkey forest
We also managed to coax the guys into going to a 2 hour yoga class with us! Tristan was actually quite the yoga guru (huge exaggeration), whilst Steve on the other hand, lets just say I don't think he'll be doing it again.
After an intense class and being put to shame by men in tiny spandex hot pants, after months of almost no exercise I was in pain for days!
Ubud in the evening was really nice with lots of live music, we ended up stumbling across a band which was quite honestly amazing, the singer could rival anyone in the charts. We had a really nice night dancing (one I'd again managed to coax Steve, I clearly have brilliant persuasive skills) and listening to the band.
After a couple of nights we moved on to Kuta. It was far busier there with lots of shops, restaurants and bars, a little like a non chavvy and nicer Magaluf.
That evening we went to sky bar where we enjoyed an amazing buffet BBQ and unlimited beer for an hour for under £3! We then went back later that evening for an hour of free drinks. We got a little carried away and actually began timing each drink and slying two at a time to take full advantage!
For the rest of our time we chilled at the beach which had massive waves, and enjoyed watching the surfers. There was also a shopping mall which was really modern and had some really nice restaurants inside. When you've been in South East Asia for so long you come to really love any place that's westernised!
We decided to treat ourselves to Bubba Gump Shrimp restaurant which is based on Run Forest Run. I had some delicious fish and chips and they have a great system where when you want service you flip a card over on your table saying Stop Forest Stop and they instantly come running. Again, when you've put up with painfully slow service for months, it's the little things like this that are oh so exciting!
After 3 nights in Kuta it was time to say n emotional goodbye to Steve (and decent accomodation...) as he journeyed on to Bangkok to meet with his friends.
Tristan, Phoebe and I moved on to Pedang Pedang and were sad to find out we'd just missed out on the Rip Curl surf competition!
It was a very small place with only a beach was really pretty like a little cove.
After a night there we moved on to Ulawatu. It was a really cool place with all of the accomodation, shops and restaurant built going down the side of a cliff with a view of the sea. We spent a lot of time just sitting watching the surfers who were really talented!
We did however do one trip (much to my dismay) to monkey temple! I thought I'd be lucky enough to come out of monkey forest unscathed, so I was really pushing my luck!
The location was really nice though so it made the fear worthwhile.
Tristan even braved allowing a monkey on his shoulder! What a guy..
We then returned to Kuta for our last couple of nights and spent an evening enjoying the drinks at sun bar, and an evening in the town next door, Seminyak. It was a really chic town and every single restaurants as completely unique with a really arty design. It's definitely somewhere I'd love to return to when I have a little more money!
Before eating the best beef pie in the world.
Overall I really enjoyed Indonesia and after 2 weeks of beaches was ready to move on to a city.... Singapore!
Ciao for now x
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