the gilis

we have just had a great 4 days on gili trewangan staying at the pesona resort, a small hotel on the beach with a pool.
we were transferred from ubud by minivan to padangbai where we caught the fast ferry to the gilis.
1.5 hours to lombok then dropped passengers off at gili air, gili meno and finally gili trewangan.
good boat with 6 x 200 hp motors on the back.
we had booked at pesona after tripadvisor recommendations and overall it was great.
the bed had a slat base with boards on top which hadcollapsed. they brought in some temporary replacements and it was fixed the next day.
the mosquito netting on the windows was something special.
they had shutters behind the nets so they had cut slits in the nice new nets so you could open the shutters.

no motorized transport on the islands.  horse and cart or bicycle so we hired bikes for the day to ride the 7 km around the island.  long long time since Pam had ridden a bike so she fell off when she hit a sandy patch.  got bruised toes on left foot to show for it.    very sandy in parts so we walked the bikes about half the way.   stopped in the north west corner for a snorkel.  lots of fish on the reef but coral was badly damaged.
in the evening the market sqare was set up with local food stalls and tables.  choose your own fish or chicken and have it cooked for you.  or the standard indo food.
the next day was rough weather so we mooched around and found a padang restaurant for lunch.  rice with assorted protein - beef rendang, spicy eggs, fried chicken, tofu etc.  very tasty, and very spicy.  them back to hotel for a swim.
still rough the next day so we did a day trip to gili air, the island closest to lombok.  took island hopping ferry.  had a ride around island on a horse and cart, then walked to the northern end for drinks, lunch and snorkelling.

today we caught ferry to lombok and a bus to Senggigi.  will spend at least 4 days on lombok.   hope to go to flores on a very nice boat on 2nd may.  they need 10 people.  if not we will do a cheaper trip.

gili islands were touristy but much better than Bali.  too many tourists go to bali

link to photos

To see the photos of Bali, please click on the following link

To see the photos east of Bali, please click on the following link

ubud

have had a couple of lovely days in ubud.  have been walking everywhere and it is all up and down steps.
went to the museum yesterday and looked at a lot of old paintings, then ambled round the streets looking at things we are not buying. maybe on our way home. excellent shopping but it is all available in aus for a much higher price.
really quiet at night. there are not enough tourists here for the amount of accommodation and tourist operators.
today we went for a long walk, then saw an old silent movie from 1930's.

each afternoon we come home for a swim

tonight we ate duck.  duck spring rolls, duck and avocado salad, and fried duck with rice. very nice restaurant.

we have an early start tomorrow.  6am for fast ferry to gili trawangan.

we say farewell to bali for now

we have moved to ubud

yesterday we had a car and driver again. drove along the east coast from Sanur to Candidasa enjoying the view and being out of the rush.  stopped at the bat temple.  lots of people there making offerings at the temple and also at the beach across the road.
checked out the port of Padangbai where our ferry will leave from.   Nice harbour.   would have been idyllic before all the ferries. 
lunch at Candidasa at waterfront restaurant.
then headed to ubud to nick hidden cottages - our new home amongst the rice paddies . 
wow - ubud has grown!!!!
walked into ubud for a look around.  went to a classical dance performance.  very good.  more orchestra and dancers than audience.

more laziness by the pool.

we seem to spend about half the day at the pool.
went to nusa dua in the morning. beach ok there. 
dinner and sunset at jimbaran bay last night.  beautiful beach. lots of fish restaurants on the sand.
choose your fish and have it cooked for you.
peter had red snapper and 2 large prawns.
the prawns were butterflied and grilled. when they arrived there was only 1.5 prawns. a half was missing.  when we complained they brought another prawn.
we move to ubud tomorrow.

temples waterfalls and rice paddies

hired a car and driver yesterday.  headed north to the mountains.  stopped at a couple of famous old temples, Taman Ayun  at Mengwi  then Ulun Danu at Lake Bratan near Bedugul.  From there we headed west to Munduk.  Stopped at a lovely waterfall.  About 800metres hike down and a harder 800 metres up again.  Drove home through the rice paddies.  finished the day at Tanah  Lot temple for sunset.  We saw the sun going down, but not sunset due to cloud.  then we came home with all the other tourists in a traffic jam.
it was great to see some open land.   there is a lot of urban sprawl along the roads.  country roads were narrow and windy.  we paid $80 for driver and car for 12 hours and 200km.  got charged for parking everywhere we stopped - 20 to 50 cents.  also paid to enter temples - 2 to 5 dollars each.

today we have lazed around the pool, had a foot massage - $5 for an hour including tip.  food prices vary greatly depending on where you eat, but we can easily eat for $10 for the two of us.

have arrived at kuta.

we arrived last night from Darwin. 
had a look around Darwin with trish and will, then lunch from the markets which we ate at the park.
changed money at Darwin and became instant millionaires .  9,400 rupiah to the dollar.
denpasar airport was crazy. glad we had booked a driver from the hotel.   hotel very nice.
walked down street for dinner.  spent about $5 on meal of spicy fried chicken with tomato cucumber and rice, chicken prawns tofu salad and rice.  also 2 iced lemon teas.
just had a big complimentary breakfast and checking out free wifi.

we are in Darwin

arrived safely in Darwin 2 hours late after a medical emergency.
Plane was diverted to Alice Springs and an elderly man was taken off by paramedics to awaiting ambulance.
plane was refuelled and flight continued. Thanks Trish for picking us up at 4am not 2am

Bali and Nusa Tengarra

The latest adventure is about to begin!!!    7 weeks of new experiences from Bali heading east (to wherever we get to).  We have visas and flights to Bali.