Bali

After leaving the Gili Islands we went back to Bali, aiming to spend the majority of our time in Ubud. We had a pretty scary moment in the taxi when our driver tried to charge us more than the agreed price; I was so tired at this point that my argument back when he was asking us to pay more was "No! Just no!" while Katy quietly slipped the bags out of the boot. However, when we arrived at the place we had booked we all had massive grins on our faces because we had an incredible infinity pool and a huge room with our own television. We were enjoying this luxury after our shady accommodation on Gili Trawangan.

On our first day we pretty much just relaxed by our new pool which resulted in me getting bright green hair from the chlorine and burning under my nose producing what looked like a red hitler tash. After another day staying in luxury we thought we'd better look for something cheaper, and did we find it. We moved to some really basic rooms which looked pretty grubby but at three quid a night we weren't too bothered. This was until Luce and I came back to our room and found huge cockroaches running around; after seeing one crawling on our bags we all decided to cram into one hot room for the night. Katy, Luce and I were in one bed, while we pulled a sun lounger in from outside for Gwenda. It was certainly a travelling experience.

Because we are massive cheapskates we kept the room for another night anyway but kept ourselves busy by going to the huge Ubud market, getting some pampering for Katy's birthday and going to a dance show. The dancing included someone boogying around in a load of red hot charcoal which was quite a sight. In addition to this, we had heard quite a bit about the Monkey Temple in Ubud so took a trip there for Katy’s birthday. Luckily we had been advised not to buy bananas for the monkeys and on walking in, seeing a man with a banana getting piled on by some monkeys, I could see why. I know monkeys are supposed to be cute but I have to admit I found them quite scary. They were running around like devils in disguise stealing people’s things and jumping out of every little crevice imaginable. Katy also felt my distress after one monkey took a liking to her and was chasing her round tugging on her sarong. Needless to say we left fairly soon afterwards.

After leaving Ubud we got a taxi to Seminyak for our last night. At this point we had given up pre-booking accommodation as it had been so easy to find it. This was a massive mistake for Seminyak because it is quite an upmarket area and we trooped around in the blistering heat for hours trying to find a place. Eventually Luce and I waited with the bags and Gwenda and Katy went to find a place we had seen in Gwend's lonely planet guide book. When they came back they had got a taxi with them who had brought them back and was waiting to take us back to the place they had found. This taxi driver was insane. He couldn't even remember what day of the week it was let alone where he had picked the girls up from to take us back there. It was a stressful ten minute journey to the rooms and in the end we walked down the street to get there as the taxi driver couldn't understand a word we were saying but just kept grinning and giggling at us. 

Luckily the accommodation was perfect for us and within our budget so we left our stuff and spent the afternoon on the beach. In the evening Gwenda and I decided we wanted to try the local Balinese delicacy- Luwak Coffee. This originates from an animal called the Luwak which looks like a cross between a rat and a cat. The animal has a diet of coffee beans and when it digests these back out they are made into a different type of bean and turned into coffee. I have to say I was impressed with this drink- when you moved past how disgusting the idea of it was it was really nice, all the flavour of coffee but not bitter. 

This was pretty much the end of our stay in Indonesia. It was a nice relaxing time but we spent a lot of time relaxing and not doing many activities so unfortunately there's not a lot to say. The Indonesians were so nice and funny; when you walked past them in the street they would make jokes and wait until you laughed before bursting out into their crazy high pitched cackles which would get you laughing even more. It also seemed like a really diverse place with beautiful beaches but also amazing mountain scenery in places like Ubud. I think I would like to go back as a holidaymaker rather than a backpacker to make the most of all the trips and activities available.