The last week- copied and pasted from various emails..

After 34 hours of traveling and finally making it to Ubud:

I love this place already. The atmosphere of Ubud is just kind of busy and beautiful. Such a family feel everywhere you go. When you walk on the sidewalks, you have to watch where you step 1) because the sidewalks are missing large chunks of cement and are completely uneven and 2) because there are little Hindu offerings of homemade baskets and flowers that crowd the already tiny sidewalks. The lights and hot water come in waves- literally waves you can see- and the plumbing right now is making the most offensive noises. The roads here are littered with mopeds packed with whole families atop and two lane roads suddenly become 6 vechicles wide. Temples are on every corner and statues are decorated with fabric and flowers... Like I said: busy and beautiful.

The first flight was definitely the worst leg of the trip- The second flight was a piece of cake after 13 hours in a middle seat. During the flight I sat next to a girl who was also 23, just graduated and was going to meet her boyfriend who was surfing Bali for a month. It was nice to be able to chat with her, especially after we realized the booze was complimentary. Got off the plane and was herded into the visa line which took a good 45 mins, grabbed my bag, found my Finnish friend and went to go look for my driver. An hour later, after having several panic attacks while driving, we made it to ubud and got dropped off at the homestay. It's pretty ideal. Just off the main road, slightly hidden, very tastefully decorated and consistantly filled with kids and family members in the foyer. Josif got a place across the street and we met back up after we had a chance to shower and not feel like bums.

Josif (pronounced as 'use-if') and I then started walking the streets around town as I furiously seeked out some wifi. First place we found was this pretty nice resturaunt- def geared towards the westerner. I felt bad not being able to talk more but felt bad sitting there on my phone in this place... I hadn't even looked at the menu before the server came and I ordered so quickly that I forgot I'm not supposed to eat fresh veggies. Hopefully that doesn't come back to haunt me. We checked out the main streets of ubud for a bit and then just decided to call it a night. After 30+ hours of travel I figured I could be excused for going home at 7...

Day two:

Just here in my homestay right now trying to lie in bed some more before I actually get up. Jet lag got the better of me and woke me up at 3:40am this morning. Tried to go back to sleep for a couple hours to no avail. Oh well...

Today I'm going to eat the breakfast they give us here and then meet up with josif and go check out other places to stay. At only 15 usd a night, this place is a steal but relatively speaking, it is pretty pricey for these parts. It also is not the best place to meet other travelers which I need to make sure happens as much as possible. So we will see how that goes. Then no plans... For the rest of today or for the next two weeks. Kind of wierd but guess I should start getting used to it as this will be my life for the next few months.

A bit later:

Looks like some clouds are rolling in so think this may be a good time for a nap. Wanted to write you another email though before I did. So I found a new place just down the road and a bit closer to a more laid back street. Negotiated 3 nights at 900.000 rips which means I'm saving about six dollars a night compared to the other place. It's not nearly as spacious but there is a wonderful garden courtyard and the location is ideal. Met back up with josic- yep, I was saying it completely wrong- and we walked around for a good while. Went to the market and bought a sarong for 3 usd and experienced my first s.east Asian ATM withdrawl- the ATMs are inside a phone booth like thing that is air conditioned- brilliant!- and then found the least touristy looking place and ate lunch there which was so good. Tofu satay with peanut sauce and rice for about two bucks and then josic and I went our seperate ways. Been here for a few hours talking to the guy who owns the place (this property has been his family's for over three hundred years) and writing and reading up on Bali and seeing where else I want to explore.

Meeting back up with use-ick at 6 and hopefully this new Aussie chick, kimberly, we met today to go to dinner and then probably not too much. Not a lot of night life around here, which is good...

...There is something on my roof that is making really odd noises. Like a mix between a toad a bird and a monkey. At first i was convinced it was in my room and am pretty certain i looked ridiculous searching for it in here.

Just got back from dinner with josic and Kimberly. Just went to a place down the road- large plate of veg curry and a bottle of water for a dollar fifty. Including tip. My kind of place... Kimberly is a pretty rad girl. She's from Melbourne and just did a month of volunteering up north in Bali. She is actually half Balinese so she has been here a ton of times. She leaves tomorrow to do a 4 day silent retreat at this buddist temple but will be back in ubud later next week so we are gonna try to meet up again then...

Day three:

Josic and I took the scooter down to check out the 'elephant caves' just about 3km out of town. It was this beautiful ancient temple that was dated back to the 11th century. It was amazing to see but you quickly realize that you practically have a dollar sign tattooed on your forehead in a place like that. The entrance to the temple is only 6.000 rup which is less than a dollar so that's fine. They fit you with a sarong- boys and girls alike- and then you are free to walk around. What you don't realize is that the guy who tied the sarong around you is now following you down into the temple to show you around so that when you are done, he can ask you to pay. Then, when you give him money, he asks for more. Fine. Give him a few thousand rupiahs more and try to relax in the beauty for a bit before you leave. Then when you are leaving, you are forced to pay a parking fee. This is when it starts to get old.

We left there and skip the monkey forest sanctuary which is def just as touristy, and head out to a place where we can take a walk around the rice paddies. Sounds relaxing and easy enough. We head up these amazing roads surrounded by rice paddies and art galleries and spas tucked away and, after getting lost a few times, finally find the trail head. I guess we shouldn't have been too surprised to find a nice gentleman waiting at the top of the trail to show any tourists around the walk. Since we are now familiar with this trade, we ask him if we can go alone. He says no. We ask him how much, and he tells us 200.000 for the two of us- mind you, i am paying 90.000 for my room and breakfast. We negotiate with him for awhile and end with the agreement that we will pay at the end with what we think he deserves. Yes, okay?

Granted, the walk was beautiful. The trail was a bit tricky at first but we made it down the mud and steep steps and ended up walking along the river with rice paddies on either side. It is absolutely stunning back there. The way the fields are terraced and are just so lush and green- it is really unlike anything I have seen in the states. Our guide taught us the procedure of growing and harvesting rice and gave us lessons on the local flora that surrounded us. We even got a view of the four seasons hotel where Julia roberts is currently staying at. We asked him to show us the short cut so we didn't have to pay him for the entire hike and headed back up the hill. We pay him about 25.000 rupiahs, jump on our scooter and headed back 'home'.

Grabbed our swimsuits, jumped into the pool and just chilled for a little bit with our new Aussie friend Kimberly. Walked down to the end of the street to the closest 'warung'- basically a small family run place, usually no more than 6-7 tables- and order some delicious veggie coconut dish served with rice for a mere 10.000 rup (about a dollar). Then go back to the pool. Josic and I decided to brave the monkey forest sanctuary since we had to give the moped back tonight so jumped on the bike and headed out for another touristy experience. This little park lies at the edge of town and is filled to the brim with these little cheeky bastards. They sell bananas outside the entrance where you buy your ticket in and then you walk around this beautiful park where hords of out-of-towners feed hundreds of these monkies and take pictures of them. It's kind of sickening really, but who doesn't love monkies? We got to see a whole gang of monkies circle and harrass this group of people which is pretty hilarious if you aren't the ones being harrassed... Probably quite terrifying if you are. I tried to keep my distance as I did not get the rabis vaccination and had the strict doctor's orders of: "just don't touch any monkies while your over there."

We headed out and started talking about our plans for the next few days. I think josic and I are going to rent a car (bemo) and head to the east shore tomorrow. There is a pretty cool volcano there and it is close to the shore where we can hopefully find a good cheap place to stay. The next day, we are going to follow the coast north to lovina. This is supposed to be one of the cool little beach bum places on Bali. We are gonna spend the night there and then I have to make a decison whether to stay there for a few more nights and get a ride back with Kimberly after her silent retreat which is also in lovina or if I just want to head back to ubud with josic. He heads out the following day to Denpasar and then is meeting up with friends in Sumatra. So we will see...

Right now, gonna chill out for a bit before I meet up for dinner with our new little crew. Josic also ran into two of his Finnish friends so they are joining us tonight. 3 fins, an Aussie and me. Not bad.

Fourth day:

Just wanted to let you know we arrived safe and sound in lovina. The original plan was to go east first but after checking out the road maps, we opted for the easiest road to access so we decided to do lovina first and then head east tomorrow. We'll see if that changes- honestly, I wouldn't mind staying here for another night thou.

So we picked up the car which is some sort of Suzuki old suv and got some general directions to where we should begin. Filled up the car- since they give you the car with a completely empty tank- opened the one and only window that opened, buckled our not so safe seat belts, and were on our way. Found our way to the main road and just headed north. Driving here is an experience close to riding a roller coaster and/or driving in a made up land of all drunk drivers. Though, surprisingly, we have not seen one accident or even fender bender. Knock on wood. Signage here is dismal at best- usually a small sign 100 yards away from an intersection that is covered by the trees that has 14 different towns listed and every town name is about 18 letters long- quite thrilling really... Never a dull moment.

The places that we drove through however, were absolutely beautiful. Rice paddy after rice paddy all stacked on top of one another through the most lush mountains. We were driving along this ridge forever where you come up to a tiny little town and once you reach the summit, you have the most grandiose view down into a large crater where this tremendous volcano stands with charred black rock still showing where it errupted and small villages just sitting right along the edge of the now-cooled lava. When you looked to your right there was a huge lake sitting at the very base of this monster and more little villages around that. Absolutely breathtaking! Unfortunately, we did not stop to take a picture because I was afraid the guy behind us was following us as he had tried to give us his card for his homestay the last two times we had stopped. So we continued to drive... Down the mountain, through small villages and still with just one window open.

We finally made it to the road that paralleled the beach. Got slightly lost through Singaraja but was saved by a rasty-looking Balinese man on a scooter who told us he had a homestay on the 'playa' in lovina and told us to follow him. We were a bit skeptical but he gave us a business card and we were lost so... We went. (no mom and dad I wouldn't have gone by myself). The first place he showed us was nice but too expensive and not right on the beach. The next was perfect. Right on the beach, fairly nice and decently priced. We decided to think about it and go into town, grab lunch (we were getting crabby by this time) and check out things in the more central part. The main couple of streets in lovina are cute and charming but are so geared towards the westerner that we decided to just come back to the first place after we paid a whole 4 dollars for our entire meal (double than what we've become accustomed to now). Came back and bargined a bit more to get a second floor room with two single beds, hot water and a beautiful view on their beach front property. Amazing!

Now we are just hanging out on the balcony. Went swimming and laid out on the black sand beach but you know I can't stay too long out in the hot sun. Probably just going to hang out here till we get hungry again and find a nice little 'warung' around here. Apparently this is a good place to watch sunsets and dolphins so that's probably on the agenda. Then figuring out plans for tomorrow. The rental needs to be back in ubud before wed morn, but that's the only commitment we got. Unless I decide to stay here for a few days more and let josic find his own way home. We will see thou.

....So we went down, failed at the email thing, had a drink there, watched the dogs and chickens and pigs play on the beach, went and ate dinner, failed at getting internet again, then came back to the homestay and hung out with a slu of the locals who live here and an Aussie couple who are touring Bali via moped. The guys who work here are hilarious and were playing the guitar and singing and drinking home made rice wine. Pretty fun to shoot the shit with for an hour or so before bed.


Day five:

Though I was totally content staying in lovina's beaches, we also wanted to check out these volcanic lakes a bit south from where we were. There was a four hour trek there that sounded pretty nice so we headed out of our little beach bum community and towards the hills.

Reached the town, found a place to stay (which was nice and cheap but not in the best part of town) dropped our bags and changed into hiking clothes. Ate lunch and parked the car at this outdooor market where the trail started. Realized we were the outcasts when we saw every woman in the market with a head scarf and heard the Muslim prayer being sung over the loud speaker on the other side of the lake. Found the trail and started following the lakes edge and found out that the trail quickly disapears- it ended up just being a very vague line where the bushes and plants were just barely packed down. We sat down and measured out our options a bit: a four hour hike on a not so clear trail or try to find something to do around this little town or try to get our money back and head further down south... The homestay owner had no problem giving our money back so we headed south with the agreement to stop at any town that looked worthy of staying the night. The road was beautiful but the towns were small and quaint so we decided to just come back home to ubud. So ya, wish I was on the beach still in lovina having a bonfire with the locals but too late now.

Day #6:

Highlights of my lazy day in ubud today:

-Amazing day for fantastic food: Had the best and the most delicious mango ever with my breakfast. Found a really nice warung today a bit hidden from the main part of town that had a nice view of the street below and wonderful fresh food- tofu, fried tomatoes and mixed veggies with coconut and rice. Amazing. An amazing dinner for Jussi's last night- curry and veggies; and homemade rice wine and a lemon and honey pancake for dessert. And also, this afternoon a great banana yougurt/sorbet from a nearby coffee shop. I will learn to make all of this and we will feast like Balinese kings.

-Discovered the most bizarre bug of sorts on my mosquito net that looked like a really skinny millipede that shrunk in size and could scurry just as well backwards as it could forward when I was trying to catch it. It also started glowing a bit like the glow worms I saw in NZ... I ended up losing it in my bathroom when it fell onto the red tile. Probably still pissed and glowing and just waiting for me when I least expect it.

-The power went out for a good 3-4 hours tonight. The town, however, was not affected in the least. Everyone just brought out their candles and flashlights and life as usual continued right along. Did I mention how much I love this town?

-Im pretty sure I made friends with one of the grandmas here. She is always sweeping outside my place while I'm eating my breakfast on the porch and she would never even acknowledge I was there. Today I made an effort to go over to her and tell her good morning and now everytime I pass by her, she smiles this great big smile... I need a picture of her before I leave.

Yep, that's about it for my life here. It was kind of nice to just chill. I guess I will have a lot of this down time now though that jussi is gone but happy to have some time to myself here.

I need to go to bed. This is the latest I have stayed up since being here. Hopefully that means I will be able to sleep past 6am-ish.