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Right. This is it, the final blog of my travels, slightly overdue, but nevermind!
Where I left you last time I was arriving in Ubud, where we would all be for 2 nights, and then set off on our trip round the islands, Bali and Lombok. That evening we watched the final day of the premiership, where one of the guys in our group was a Newcastle fan, so he wasn't very pleased that they got relegated. The next morning we went on a 22km bike ride, (talk about easing you in gently!!!) which ended in a place called the Monkey Forest. All they were interested in was if you had food or not, and one almost made off with one of the girl's wallets, picked right out of her pocket! (I reckon they were trained to do that!) Then the rain came. It absolutely hammered it down for a good half an hour, soaking some people left behind in the monkey forest, which was rather amusing. Anyway we went back to Ubud and hit the markets, and then in the evening went to a religious dance / performance, which had lots of men making strange noises and waving their hands around. It was quite an event, with lots of dancers, in elaborate costumes, and it all ended with a man kicking a fire around made up of coconut shells, and dancing around in the embers. This was quite spectacular; his feet were black at the end of the performance! Next day we moved on to Sideman, and I was feeling the effects of the previous days bike ride with what I expect was heat stroke, with hot and cold fevers, and just generally feeling like crap. On the way to Sideman we went for a walk through rice paddies, and then for a swim in the river, which was cold, but refreshing! That night we had a buffet dinner with all sorts of Balinese goodies, and then we finished it off with a song and dance.
Next day we moved on to Mt Batur. On the way we stopped off for a scenic view of the mountain, where we pretty much got mugged by trinket and souvenir sellers. One of our group showed them who was boss by just shutting them out, which was harsh, but they were being really annoying. Once we reached Mt Batur, I went straight to bed as I still wasn't feeling great, so not much to report from there. The next morning the group went and climbed up Mt. Batur, but I stayed in bed and chilled whilst they were away. When they got back we headed off to some pools which were really nice and relaxed. I was feeling much better at this point, and the pools I felt did a lot of good. After here we headed to the most western point of our trip, on a hotel just on the beach. It was so beautiful, with black sands and all. I was tempted to stay up for the Champions League final that night at 3am, but decided against it. Manchester United lost anyway, so I didn't miss much. Snorkeling was the main event of the next day, but after going to the Great Barrier Reef Scuba Diving, it wasn't so great, and I was saddened to see so much litter floating around the reef. Nevertheless we had a good time, and I found the smallest Hermit Crab ever! I picked him up and he was my pet for all of half an hour. I called him Squishy! (Disney film, 'Finding Nemo' reference) On the boat back it was a bit rough, and somehow Squishy managed to roll from my hand, either in to the boat or in to my bag. I searched my bag later but never found him… That night we stayed in Lovinia, which was a nice seaside town, but in Bali you are never far from the sea! The next day we went on a walk to see a waterfall, and a coffee plantation, and then we went to some hot pools which were lovely! That day though I started to take my Malaria tablets for the Lombok part of the trip, and their reputation is very much deserved! The following day we left Lovinia and headed back to Ubud for the final night of the trip. We all just chilled out at the hotel and went and explored the markets, and had a nice meal out as our last night as the current group. That evening we watched the FA Cup final, which was a laugh.
Next stop; Lazy Lombok!
We got the ferry over there, which was very long and hot, but it absolutely poured down as we entered the harbour. On the way to the hotel we passed a wedding procession, which blocked half of the road as these events are massive in Indo, where in fact the groom and bride walk separately, and where the groom can have a good time, the bride has to look sorrowful as she is 'leaving' her family. Bit of Indo-knowledge for you there!
The next day we went to Kuta-Lombok, not to be confused with Kuta-Bali which are almost worlds apart. Very few roads and houses, but an amazing white sand beach, all be it with a little litter floating around. All in all it was a lovely afternoon in the sun. We then went to a weaving village where we were shown how rugs were made. At the hotel that night we made a makeshift badminton court and had a few matches with the hotel staff. Was good to work up a sweat, although we did that enough during the day anyway!
The next morning we got a cidomo (horse and cart) to town, where we saw another weaving village, and a pottery shop, who said to us "Ah Europe...We sell to 'fair trade' there, you heard of them???" We walked to a waterfall the next morning, where we had an early morning rock hopping and swim session, which was fun. The waterfall was amazing though. From there we went and got a boat to Gilli Air, one of the Gilli islands just off the coast of Lombok, which are pretty much sand islands. It was like a paradise island, and even though most of the places we had stayed so far in Bali and Lombok were remote, this place was something else, just away from everything. Apparently Gilli Air was the moderate of the 3 islands, with one other being the chill out island, and the other being the party island. The Gilli islands are also well known for their diving and snorkelling, and this was much more litter free than anywhere else we had been so far. This was our last day on Gilli Air, so we were made a Indo Buffet dinner, which was quite nice, but by this time I was rather fed up of rice! The next day we chilled by the pool for a bit, then got a boat back to Lombok, and then there was a long bus journey to Mataram, where we would fly from the next day, back to Denpasar in Bali. The flight was quite bumpy as i guess we didn't get to a very high altitude, but it only took 15 minutes, which I would take over a 5 hour ferry journey any day! We all said our goodbyes at the airport as we all went our different ways. I stayed in Bali for a few more days, this time in Kuta, which is the tourist capital of Bali. Here I did my souvenir shopping, as markets, and outlet stores were everywhere!
I also saw the Bali bombings memorial monument in central Kuta, which to me seemed rather eerie and weird. I guess it was because I was at the site of something which, when it happened I didn't really understand or know where it was, and seeing the effects of it first hand, and how people remember it now, took me back a little bit.
I hang around in Kuta for a few more nights, relishing the sun and the sights of my last few days of travelling.
But it had to finish somewhere. I flew back to Kuala Lumpur, where I got a nice hotel room for my final night. I went to see the Petronas Towers once again, but in their magnificent night time illuminations. The next day, I got a coach to Singapore, had a nice chat to the taxi driver about cars on the way to the airport, and then flew home.
4 months away.
5 different countries visited.
Loads of friends made.
Countless memories.
One unforgettable trip.
Thanks for reading.
P.S. - I am now at university at Oxford Brookes, doing Osteopathy, and loving it. Its hard work, and sometimes I do think "Oh I could SO be in Australia or New Zealand right now!" but sometimes people need to face reality and get on with their lives. I will definitely go back sometime, but for now, I'm writing a new chapter in my life.
P.P.S - Watch the video I made with my pictures from the trip on my Facebook! It's too large to upload on to here.
http://www.facebook.com/home.php?ref=home#/profile.php?ref=name&id=665760984
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