We never managed to start writing about our time in Bali, so here’s short summary on some of the things we did in the 4 weeks we were there…

We stayed in some dodgy places:

Room number sign made from cardboard and written with a pen?!

Paid £5 to stay in a room with only a bare mattress and 2 pillows

Touched a ‘Holy’ snake:

Nearly bought a time share in some fancy resort:

Agreed to sit through a 2 hour timeshare presentation so we could get a free lunch and a lift to a new city!

Saw lots of monkeys:

This was near the end of the month and Henry was so used to being clambered on he just carried on regardless!

Went to the beach:

What better way to spend a day than fishing by the beach. With a motorcycle helmet on.

We also played in the sand

Enjoyed the sea breeze

And saw lots of dramatic coastline

Admired Balinese religious art and statues:

One of the most striking things about Bali is the daily profusion of offerings presented to the gods. It is not uncommon to see flowers, meat, biscuits and drinks laid out near temples and other religious sites. What is unusual is that someone decided to offer a cigarette…

Climbed a large hill:

Once we reached the top of the hill, our guide began pressurising us to book him again for the following day. Pretty good sales technique – trap your targets at the top of the hill so they have no choice but to listen to you ramble on and on….

Saw a Kecak performance – a sort of story told through dance and the voices of 100 men – mesmerising:

Took pictures of the locals:

Do not adjust your screen – the colours of the chickens are indeed fluorescent orange and green; bred this way to please the tourists apparently.

Went to the market:

Watched a performing monkey:

When you witness a monkey tied to a chain performing stunts like this, you don’t know whether to be shocked by the signs of animal cruelty or enjoy the bizarre and entertaining spectacle of events instead.

Monkey is taught to put on a Muslim hat and perform a prayer. Unsure if this is a deliberate insult to Islam or not (over 90% of the island population adhere to Balinese Hinduism).

And drank lots of delicious Bali coffee

And saw many many other sights like palaces, temples and gorgeous rice terraces.  Due to time constraints we cannot write about them all here but I have updated the gallery page and there are 100 photos with captions that better illustrate our time there. Click here to view.

Bali was memorable for many reasons and we really enjoyed our time there. It was not quite as exciting in some ways as some of our other destinations because there really is not much of the island that is ‘off the beaten track’ anymore as tourists have been visiting for so long. Ubud (where we stayed twice) for example, was featured in the book and the film ‘Eat, Pray, Love’ and there are many visitors there grasping the book and seeking out the cafes and temples that were described. In the south of the island (mainly around Kuta) there are so many partying Australians there that it feels like a drinking quarter of an Australian city. The island has not lost its charm though and the beauty has mostly been preserved very well.

The last thing to say about Bali is that it was without doubt the bet weather we have had on the whole trip – hot and sunny during the day (but not humid) and a little chilly at night sometimes (my cardigan actually had a few outings!)

Bali, Indonesia: 27th July – 24th August 2012