A knock at the door earlier than we were told started the very early morning and supposedly easy trek to the top of the volcano. Our guide Putu was the brother of the driver from yesterday and although he took a little time to warm up he turned out to be really nice.

We sleepily followed our guide through the darkness to the first test stop where people were already trying to sell us coke - seriously people at 4 in the morning?!

It was a little cloudy so Putu suggested that we take the shorter easier walk but who wants that? You're only here once an it was pretty pricey to do the walk at 60 AUD so on we climbed. I dunno where the easy part came from but at the half way point, where there was an awesome view of the villages below, and we were already feeling the burn (cairns does not condition one for hills and mountains) we were told that it would get much steeper from here! Very slowly we went stopping lots and feeling very unfit until we finally made the top! It was so much colder up there but well worth it the sunrise was beautiful when with the cloud and it even decided to clear for enough time to really appreciate the view below. We had a hot tea which really hit the spot after the hard climb and huge temperature change and Putu cooked us breakfast of boiled egg and steamed banana sandwich in the steam from the volcano - it was pretty cool! Then we opted for the longer but easier way down, I was really worried about the steeper way down, it was seriously dodgy. Half a volcano in the shoes and another hour later we had returned to the soothing hot spring hotel and bog were they welcome after that walk, the dudes who ran the place even brought us our breakfast in the pool! About an hour or two later Putu returned to try and get the business for the travel back to Ubud, they are so pushy here sometimes! It's a shame that we had to leave because another night would've been nice but they were all full apparently so to Ubud we went.

Pretty funny - on the way there were some police on the road trying to flag down Putu and he just sped up! We asked him why and he said they wanted a piece of the carrying tourist pie, because apparently they are somewhat corrupt here, and because they didn't see him properly he could get away without paying, hilarious!

Hit Ubud and all the hustle and bustle again and found a cute little home stay, no aircon but cheap and with breakfast although two flights of stairs with suitcases was a bit poo!

Went for a wander to the markets quickly to scope the scene then the priority was finding a massage place. After a fair bit of wandering, just about to give up we stumbled upon one in what looked like an old temple so we gave it a crack - best massage yet but wow did she dig in to those sore spots, I was surprised there was no bruising but I think I am much better for it.

Out to a fancy dinner with a seafood plate for two and an Ubud sunrise - it was awesome, then back for an early night...it had been a big day!