Labuan Bajo, Flores.

We had to fly from Lombok to Flores, but to do this we had to fly back to Bali and then out to Flores on an old turbo prop plane owned by Wings air which had major issues with safety according to the websites we visited. But this was the only company that would do it and the other choice would be to sail there over 4/5 days on a live aboard boat which on the surface sounded idyllic but in reality would have been cramped, possibly dangerous, boring, and uncomfortable according to info we received and you can’t choose who you sail with so could have ended up in a mutiny if there were any ‘loudmouth know it all’ yanks on board. The first flight was late, hot and cramped. The plane looked worst for wear on external inspection and inside was like a sauna but it got us the short journey to Bali. Then there was confusion over our second flight out to Labuan Bajo in Flores as we could not find any departure or gate info. Again the flight turned out to be over an hour late as we were led back onto the same sorry excuse for a plane for the longer leg of the journey, herded across the runway with all the other bemused passengers into the furnace of our cabin as we sat on the runway for an hour waiting our turn to take off.  

Our plane had a few issues

 Anyway we did make it, and I think we were the only flight in to Labuan Bajo that day because the airport was empty. A quick haggle with the taxi ranks outside yielded the result of us arriving at the hotel only a short drive away. The hotel was excellent with cable T.V. showing the new series of Game of Thrones which Kathy was most chuffed about. Labuan Bajo turned out to be a dusty, ramshackle town with the usual tourist facilities with a scruffy habour front and surprisingly enough no decent beaches. We quickly haggled the use of a motorbike and roared off into town which had a strange one way system where you had to drive around the whole town to go down the main high street. Driving standards were as usual - appalling. We shopped around for a tour of the main event which is to visit the Komodo islands to see the dragons. Also high on our agenda was to snorkel the coral reefs and visit the great secluded beaches on uninhabited islands which dot the bay with breathtaking scenery. Kathy and I have travelled a lot around the world and seen a lot of stuff but we can say this scenery on this tour was awesome. We saw dolphins leaping out of the water, wild monkeys, wild water buffalo, wild deer and of course Komodo dragons on Rinca Island. We were told this was a bad time to visit as it was the mating season and the female dragons were off doing their thing (hiding from the males!) but we were lucky enough to see a whopper in the jungle (full grown male over 2 metres long) and also there was a various assortment of specimens around the rangers camp kitchen which looked like were fed to keep them there for tourist satisfaction.

Where's my dinner?

Also on the tour they took us to some amazing coral reefs and beaches where we snorkelled and at times there were so many tropical fish that they took up your complete field of vision as the shoal whisked in front of you as you crossed their path. There was soft coral in a multitude of colours, fan coral and brain coral with blue starfish perched on top of them. The boat was an old fishing vessel that was converted to take tourist and you were able to climb onto the roof and sunbath or watch dolphins as you cruised between the islands all day. The unbelievable thing was the whole trip cost us less than £18 each including a hearty lunch, water and snorkel gear. Got to admit though the crew of the boat did look like extras for the Indonesian version of‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ and did not speak much English which made it all the more fun as we had no idea where we were going or when we would stop and there was only 3 life jackets for the 9 of us, so Kathy and I took the precaution of taking all of them onto the roof in case any emergency did arise as the boat looked like maintenance was not a high priority. As it says in the brochure we picked up from the tourist office in town said “you come to Flores not for luxury but for adventure” and you certainly do get bucket loads here.  

Boat roof surfing 

As we ticked off all our wish list on this tour we decided to decline a further tour to Komodo to see basically a repeat of the same thing which was a bit more expensive. Next day we went to Batu Cermin caves on the bike which turned out a lot better than we expected with bats flying around our faces and huge trees perched off the cliff tops which reminded us of Ta Prom in Angkor Wat, Cambodia. In the afternoon we managed to blag our way onto a private beach out on the headland and watched flying fish jumping out the water from their extensive jetty. The coral was also good here and we saw angel and parrot fish just from sitting on the jetty. I went for a swim off the end of the jetty as the water was so warm and beautifully azure coloured it was hard to resist.  

  "Yes sir, we found a man on the beach and I think he said his name was Robinson Crusoe"

 Next day we blagged some snorkel gear and burned back to the resort but this time they rumbled us and refused us entry to the jetty as we were not members. Undeterred we tried the next exclusive resort, rode the bike in like we owned the place and set up camp on the beach by sneaking in around the back of some construction work. Result! Overall we liked Flores although it was harder to do your own thing as you needed to hire a boat to do anything exciting as there is very few ‘sights’ inland to visit and are hard work to visit without a tour company as the infrastructure is limited for tourists. Also beds are limited ,expensive and hard to come by outside the expensive resorts. Once the Dragons and coral/fish have been seen it’s a good idea to move on although the scruffy town does have a bit of charm to it as it is so uncommercialised and has a good local feel to it and breeds the feeling of charming chaos. With an airport here it won’t be long before it takes off big time. Anyway, that’s Indonesia done for us as we fly off to Kuala Lumpur now for our next part of our adventure.

Smoke on the water,fire in the sky.

That's the end of the road for us in Indonesia.

Kuta,lombok.

So we’re on Gili Air and our hotel guy Jonny said pay me the money upfront and I will organise you a private driver to take you to Kuta in Lombok for a very reasonable price. It seemed a good deal shopping around as it was even cheaper than the shuttle bus and we could have a private driver. “OK” we said and handed over the money the day before we left as we believed he worked for the hotel so could be trusted. At this point Jonny went AWOL! We constantly hassled the hotel owner ‘uncle’ to where Jonny had gone but were responded to with vague grunts of Jonny will be back at some point. By now Kathy was smelling a rat and it wasn’t my 2 week old unwashed sweaty t-shirt I had on which I had the philosophy that if I was sweating so much every day and night what was the point of putting a clean one on as it would be dirty in half an hour. The man they call uncle was still being evasive and Kathy’s cortizone levels were rising fast so being Mr Fixit I went in search of Jonny, ‘Oh where has my Jonny gone’? Being the bloodhound I am I cornered the little creep and demanded action and answers. I presented him to Kathy and one of her stern scowls reaped all the results we needed and Jonny was now our pet puppy and bought to heal.

come on in the water is fine

 As it goes Jonny was a diamond, took us to the boat, bought us tickets, waited with us for nearly an hour making small talk and even had the driver meet us at the port when we dismbarked at Bangsal in Lombok with a personalised name card and a phone call to ask if we were happy with the service. A pang of guilt did pass through my soul but it soon passed as we climbed into the car with the driver whisking through the monkey forest whose inhabitants were munching on sugary doughnuts along the side of the road that were being thrown out by the locals in a van just ahead of us.  

oohhh, man in a skirt.

So many beaches,so little time.

 Now this is what we came to this part of the world for. Lombok turned out to be what we expected Indonesia to be. Vast rolling jungles, wild animals everywhere, empty roads, some of the best beaches we have ever seen and cheap. The home stay we booked at called Kuta Circle was a real surfer hang out with dudes hanging out at breakfast just in their board shorts and impressive tans, trading stories of awesome barrels, swells, wipe-outs and injuries. Kathy and I listened with intent at the one one-upmanship of the brotherhood who traded verbal blows with each other trying to be a little more uber cooler than their peers. We were going to learn to surf here and join the brotherhood so we could trade breakfast banter but this came to a crashing halt as we suddenly found out all our credit and debit cards had been put on stop and we were running out of money. Lets just say the situation became a little more stressful when the only way we could unblock them was to call the UK and speak to the call centre. We purchased a new SIM card for the phone which apparently did international calls but in reality did not so ended up buying a Skype membership and waited for 26 minutes to be connected to Halifax call centre which was appalling to unblock the first one. Nationwide were excellent as they called us back on the phone (even when I gave them the wrong number) and sorted both our cards. Barclaycard were also excellent. 

ahh,grasshopper!

 We hired a motorbike when the cards were sorted and spent the days ripping around the coast road encountering unbelievable vistas and incredible beaches both east and west of Kuta, lying on powder white sands, swimming in bath water temperature sea, drinking out of young coconuts, drinking beer and watching surfers wipe-out on the reef. This was what Bali should have been but was not. The week went in a rush of sunny days and balmy nights without further event apart from being chased by a persistent monkey across the cliffs above Tajuung An beach trying to steal our lunch. I must say Kuta has been my favourite place so far on our travels.

One day we did take the motorbike up to an ethnic village called Sasak Ende in the hills with a guide and he took us on a tour of a Sasak village which was really amusing as he tried to answer questions about courtship, marriage and sexual relationships within the tribe. They have a very strange way of doing things which made us laugh a lot with the guide. 

Everywhere I go the kids wanna rock

Overall, Kuta was one of the cheapest and easiest places we have stayed. £2.90 a day to hire a bike, just under £13 for a big air-con room with breakfast and free coffee all day, and it was easy to score great food for less than £2 each. Petrol was only 47p a litre! The sun shone everyday/all day, there were no crowds even though it is peak season and the roads empty. The only negative thing was this is all about to change as the whole seafront is being dug up and turned into a mega resort for rich Arabs with a massive mosque being built and a GP circuit , new roads were being built everywhere and the whole town will being ruined with the influx of Australian backers funding the changes to turn it into another faceless and charmless luxury resort for the time starved vacationers who they hope to attract. Paradise never lasts! Next stop Flores.

Gili Air and Gili Meno

After the excesses which were Gili trawangan, we hopped onto the boat for a few nights on Gili Air to compare the islands ambience. The journey was 20 minutes and on a local ‘what’s health and safety?’ type boat and we were bundled off onto a much more relaxed enviroment of the harbour. This time we actually had the luxury of a jetty and didn’t have to wade through sharp coral laden beaches to get to dry land. The place we booked looked nice on the website but as always photos can be deceptive and this proved true when we were introduced to a grim looking hut which was filthy and had no toilet seat which was the factor that broke Kathy’s resolve. A quick banter with the errand boy they sent to greet us revealed that his ‘uncle’ had some other digs across the way for only a small amount extra which were superb on inspection with a hammock outside and an automatic squirty bum toilet which amused us enough to snap the upgrade up. Breakfast was the best ever as it was served on the beach with amazing views of the azure sea and the volcanoes of Lombok providing a dramatic background as we sipped our fresh Lombok coffee.

Breakfast ON the beach

There is not much to do on this island except snorkel which we did and it was exceptional and a short wade out from our breakfast beach so was easy. The fish and coral varieties were top class and kept us amused for ages. We then walked around the island which should only take 1-2 hours but slow as we were it took most the day as we stopped on deserted parts of the powdery white sand to play castaway in the rock pools of the retreating tide to bother crabs and sea anenamies.  

Gili meno beach

 Next day we took the island hopper boat to Gili Meno for a day trip. We loved Meno as it was the most uninhabited island and had the best beaches and had much less rubbish. It was also the smallest so easy to walk around in a day and swim in the sea when it became too hot. There is an inland salt lake we went to see but it was polluted and disappointing especially when Kathy agreed to buy some flip flops from a local store and then renegaded on the deal prompting the owner to shout Indonesian obscenities at us as we beat a hasty retreat when I reminded Kathy she did not need them and would have to carry then around the whole island.

The swingers are in town.

  We did end up having a pet in the room after we discovered a toad behind the wardrobe who used to sleep all day in our nice cool air-con room and then at night used to hop across the floor and then flatten its body to slip under the front door to return in the morning and back to it’s cool location. We decided to evict it at some point to the patio area but when we went out for lunch and came back it had managed to let itself back in so we decided it could stay and gorge itself on mosquitoes. We also had a pet gecko who used to dart across the floor occasionally looking for a tasty bite.

At dinner every night we used to watch the cidomo drivers (horse and cart) take their horses into the sea and wash them as there is no fresh water on the island, it is all imported, and one night a boat got stranded on the sand bank and we spent over an hour watching about 20 guys trying to launch the boat again by pushing it across the shallow sea as the tide retreated in a blistering red sunset trying to beat the fading light before they would have to concede for the night. Amazingly they did manage it so happy days.  

wish you were here?

 We both liked the Gili islands. My favourite was Meno as it was the most unspoilt and Kathy liked the hard drinking and mushroom haven of Gili T. It was a shame to leave after a week but it is easy to become bored of seeing such beauty all day long and deciding which is your favourite beach so we will let you decide with some photos here. Next stop Kuta, Lombok.

Eviction notice has been served.

Gili Trawangan

Now armed with our new visa extensions our next destination loomed. We booked fast boat tickets to  Gili T with a local agent who we used before and was very cheap. We got a bluebird taxi to the agency offices, and waited. The agent said we would be picked up at 11.30 but as this time passed we became anxious so started hassling the agent as it was an hour's travel time to the port of Padang Bai and the boat left at 12.30pm. One thing you learn about the local's in Indonesia is that they don't like any hassle or confrontation, so to get anywhere with issues you have to remain calm and polite. As it approached 12pm, still no sign of the driver. By this time me and Kathy had ramped up the pressure on this poor old man in the travel agency to a point we were going up in relays every few minutes asking him what was going on and him telling us to go and sit down all the time. He assured us it was all under control but I could see by his face it was not as he constantly phoned the driver to ask where he was. Anyway, a driver eventually picked us up at 12.30pm and drove us 200m and transferred us to a very agitated driver of a very packed mini bus who tried to lever us in the back. NO  WAY JOSE! A disagreement broke out (seems to be  pattern here with us) with me getting the seat by the driver and Kathy taking one for the team by sitting in the back with the oversized (read as 'fat') russian shot putter for a hair raising squashy white knuckle ride. We had obviously been forgotten about and it looked like the driver had to double back to pick us up and now we were very late for the boat. Seriously I thought we were going to die on this journey ripping through Bali with this madman and when a tropical storm suddenly appeared and the rain was lashing the road and windscreen I crossed myself and told God I would be a lot better person if he let me survive this trip!
  We did both survive  (check shorts before exit minibus for embarrassing leakage) and got a later boat to Gili Trawangan (or Gili T), a beautiful tropical Island with white rimmed sandy beaches bathing in a turquoise blue sea and coral reefs just off the beach teaming with tropical fish and giant turtles.
  It was peak season so the island was busy and accommodation fully booked so we ended up in a prison cell of a room with a flooded bathroom and the usual assortment of mosquitoes to keep us amused.

what's the message here?

  We hired some cycles (no motorized vehicles on the island) and spent our days eating, drinking and watching sunsets on the beach with a cold Bintang (beer). Kath was given a shocking pink kids bike with a matching pink basket on the front, which initially she rejected as being 'silly' but as time went on she became very attached to it and did not want to give it back when we left. We went snorkeling and as soon as we put our heads under the water a giant turtle scooted by so we followed him for 10 minutes enjoying his company until he got bored with us and waved goodbye and swan into the open ocean. There were tropical fish everywhere, some as big a 4ft long, lobsters,eels,parrot fish,angel fish,etc etc that kept us amused for ages.

shark bait

  There is also a big scene here for magic mushrooms as it is a bit of a party island which is strange as Indonesian laws do not tolerate drugs but the mushrooms are not classified as drugs as they are in the UK so are freely available to be consumed via milkshakes on the beach to make those sunsets even more mind blowingly beautiful if you wished to partake.

Kath on her kids pink bicycle.

  Overall we enjoyed Gili T but it's days are limited as it is vastly overpopulated and the rubbish situation inland due to tourism is spoiling it's beauty. The whole island is ringed with resorts and cafes so it is losing it's Indonesian flavour to cater for mass western tourism and is becoming another extension of Bali unfortunately.
  An incident occurred as we were cycling around the island. We stopped for ice-creams and I noticed a rather fetching bike monument on the beach by a cafe and thought it a great idea to get Kathy to take a picture of me on top of it pretending to ride it. So I mounted the trusty steed and just as I swung my leg over the frame, the 'sculpture' decided it could not take my weight and gravity took over sending me crashing to the ground and wrecking the sculpture with a gang of locals watching my fall from grace. Luckily I avoided injury due to my cat like reflexes but the local guys at the cafe were not too pleased and they recovered the sculpture and tried in vain to resurrect it as Kath and I sped off into the distance before any compensation was demanded.

This scene soon came crashing to earth.

Back to Sanur

Being held captive by the immigration dept we could not stray far as we had no passports so decided to return to Sanur to set up camp. Sanur is not the most  authentic or interesting Baliense location and is a bit of an Aussie stronghold with bugger all to do as its just all built up and sprawling so we decided to splash out and rent an apartment so we could get some home cooked food as we both had rice and noodles coming out our ears. Luckily the apartment we rented was in a small complex and had a swimming pool, which we found out later turned into our own private pool as there was no-one else staying there. If anyone else showed up to view the other apartments, Kath and I would go out of our way to make the place unappealing by hanging our washing all over the place and hanging out in the common areas looking aggressive and anti-social while the owner showed them around. One Indonesian couple did slip in when we were out one day so when they were enjoying a swim in OUR pool having a laugh and a giggle I went down in my speedos , scratching my nuts as I descended into the pool and started to ask quick fire aggressive questions about their relationship as they were quite young. Anyway they left the pool area a few minutes later and checked out within the hour.

Get out of MY pool!

We settled into a mediocre few days, killing time so we could get our passports back, amusing ourselves by whizzing around on our motor scooter and searching for cheap vodka on the mean streets of Sanur and deterring prospective new tenants from moving in. We did meet an Aussie who rented an apartment downstairs who was reluctant to hold any conversation with us at all so we named him 'grumpy fucker' and took great delight on monitoring his activities from our balcony and noticed he had a penchant for a rather rotund 'call girl' on the odd evening when it suited him that made Kath and I speculate what we would do if he had a heart attack while on the job and if he did die would it be immoral to help ourselves to the wares of his empty apartment as we had spied that his kitchen area was a better fitted out than our own? (he didn't die so we never had to answer that question luckily!)

Did you know they make bread here in green and pink? (no it's not mouldy) firstthought)

Indonesian visa extension

So,we needed to extend our Indonesian visas in Denpaser. Easy enough we thought. Loads of people do it don’t they? Shouldn’t take too long we thought. WRONG! So the story begins with us buying a visa on entry so we can extend it after 30 days. 10 days before they were due to expire we were dossing about in Ubud doing the Yoga and such stuff to fill our time and we thought about moving to Sanur to renew the visas so I looked up the address online and found where we had to go. Easy I thought. Was it open weekends as our visas were due to expire on a Saturday. A quick Google found it was not, or was it on official holidays. So I looked up their holiday dates and being the end of Ramadan found out that the immigration office had awarded themselves 10 continuous days off starting well before our visas expired. PANIC! How did we not foresee this. I guess not being Muslim you would have no idea that this would be a public holiday period. So a quick confirmation with our hotel owner who was a Hindu (so did not think to warn us when we mentioned it at breakfast) we grabbed his motor scooter and whisked off to Denpaser to try and find out what our options were as you can not do it online. Well we arrived early enough but it was mayhem, with people queuing everywhere and no indication of what the process was. Anyway, foreigners have their own section (I know, why have a foreign section in an immigration office) so we took an automatic ticket and waited and waited until we were called to the counter to tell us we had to fill in an application form, which contained questions we could not answer so we made the answers up hoping they could not check them. Later we were summonsed back to the counter to be told we had produced the wrong size of photocopied documents and would have to do them again. ARGHHH!

16 days to get 30 days extra for this stamp

Eventually on our 3^rd visit to the counter they accepted the documents and took our passports and told us to come back in 13 days! So we had no passports and our visas would have expired so we were staying in Bali illegally.

So we went back after the 13 days to wait in a queue again to be called into an office to be finger printed and photographed and interrogated by the immigration officials with intense probing questions such as what is the purpose of your stay and do you like David Beckham of Manchester United? (a bit behind the times I think)They then released us and relieved us of a large sum of money and again told us to bugger off with no passports or indication that they were going to grant us a visa extension to come back in 3 days.

So, as we needed our passports back after 16 days of being without them we went back to the office (again) to queue up (again) with no one telling us what was going on (again) to wait and wait(again) to eventually be called to the counter to be told our visas had been granted. The clerk at the counter looked so pleased for us (and with himself for being such a generous guy) as by now we must have looked like trick ponies with all the hoops we had jumped through as he handed them over and we had to sign a dubious looking book with no explanation why we were signing it. (I think we just donated to their next works outing to see David Beckham play maybe?). Anyway we got the visas so done high fives outside the building and drove off into the sunset armed with another 30 days.(even though we only had 26 days left on it when we got our passports back) Hooray for bureaucracy!

Nusa Lembongan, Bali

We booked a boat to visit Lembongan Island for a few days as we were in no rush to leave the area after the delay with getting our passports/extended visas sorted  So after stalking out the port area, questioning other tourists about their chosen boat company and shopping around for the best price, we settled on Arthamas fast boat for the 1/2 hr journey and saved £7 on the tickets by buying through an agent away from the beach.
Our boat was at 12.30pm so we got a taxi from the hotel to the agents office - another attempted rip off by the driver who tried to charge us £2 over the odds but we just said no way and paid him the price on the meter, leaving him bemused at the roadside! After a short walk to the beach lugging all our gear, we were pleased to see a decent sized boat with 4 big engines at the back plus plenty of seats. We watched the rucksacks being loaded on to the top deck then  it was the passengers turn. No pier, just the sandy beach and the incoming tide so it was a shorts on job with smaller rucksacks on backs and our sandals tied to these in plastic bags. I quickly claimed some seats at the back (less bumpy ride and hopefully no blowing chunks!). We watched the prissy oriental tourists attempting to board without getting wet but failing dismally. The journey was good and we were soon on the island, in the back of a pick up style taxi heading for our homestay (The Rompok). This was more like it - more natural, beautiful beaches, lot's of mangroves and palm trees and not a McDonalds in sight!
Our accommodation was good - large room with air con, fairly newly kitted out and decent sized bathroom which could be locked so our stuff was safe in there. The young guy managing it was very helpful but had disagreeing eyes so we affectionately called him 'Frog Eyes'.
Again the best way to get around was to hire a bike (moped) so we did off some Balinese guy who looked like a young Cliff Richard and off we zoomed around the island. The main street had a good selection of restaurants and small shops selling water, food and beer but we did have to shop around to get dinner within our price range (normally around £5 with beer). Usual stuff - noodles, rice and a dish called Gado Gado which was beansprouts, veg, rice and a peanut sauce.
We spent our days riding around the island, watching the sunset on the beach whilst enjoying a nice cold Bintang beer, visiting different beaches (Mushroom, Sunset & Dream beach) as well as seeing all the dudes surfing the large waves and watching drunk Aussies paying to hurl themselves off a cliff face into the sea and be dragged back out again while their compatriots cheered their impending doom being washed up on the rocks with another beer.   We decided to book a snorkeling trip so after shopping around for a good deal which covered the 3 main points to snorkel, we got ready to go swim with the fishes!
Well we scoffed our breakfast, lovingly prepared by our mate Frog Eyes (who we had to get out of bed to make it even though he promised to be ready with it for us the night before!). Our pick up guy turned up with his trusty (slightly rusty) moped and gestured for us to hop on with him. Well it was fun - 3 up, me in the middle, Daz at the back with a rucksack. I had to hold my head back to stop taking in the smell of the driver (BO and noodles) and clutch Daz's knees at the same time. The boat was modest, a wooden job with 2 engines at the rear and seating for about 15 people. One by one the others in our group arrived then we boarded and set off across the waves.
First stop was Manta Point so flippers and snorkel gear on, Daz jumped off easily but I slipped off the side of the boat breaking nails on the way - doh! It turned out to be worth it though as after a few minutes of snorkeling, our captain yelled 'MANTA!' We looked down into the stunning blue water and there below was the graceful giant Manta Ray gliding along. It was amazing - I was mesmerized by it and would have followed it like the Pied Piper if common sense hadn't kicked in. Only thing is we didn't have an underwater camera but still we were so lucky to have seen them as it's not guaranteed. We heard another shout and this time there was 2 of them just a little way over so we swam to get another look as they don't hang around very long. Back on the boat and off to the 2nd stop called Crystal Bay which was excellent for beautiful coral - so many different types and colours as well as fish galore with their many colours and shapes. The water wasn't cold either and it was so clear (obviously this is where the name came from!). The last stop was Mangrove Point and by this time in had become apparent that Captain Pugwash had a problem with one of the engines as the boat slowed to a painful chug. These people are very capable though and with the help of another boat's crew, he managed to get the engine working again - phew! no getting chased on to the beach by sharks for us today then! We snorkeled the last spot looking at the coral and fish then it was back to base camp. Later on, we headed out to hand back the bike to Balinese Cliff Richard and treated ourselves to a more expensive dinner of pizza and French fries - snorkeling makes you very hungry!!

Dream beach, Lembongan.

It's sunset bintang hour again.

Sanur, Bali

We arrived in Sanur after a 1/2 hr bus trip from Ubud and the weather was much warmer here which made our walk to our digs rather sweaty but it was only a 15 min walk.  We were shown to our room at the Indi Hotel which was pool side with a small porch with 2 chairs/table and shrubs to give us some privacy.  We checked the room over - we are pro's at this so make sure to look for secure windows/doors/mossie holes and of course our friends the roaches! I noticed that my bedside light didn't work so, as the room was not well lit, we asked the hotel to fix it.
Well we were enjoying a refreshing dip in the pool after our journey when we heard 'Hello?' then quiet. Daz looked around and said 'there's somebody in our room!'.  I jumped out of the pool dripping wet and literally flew to the room (as we had left my bag/purse/valuables unlocked inside it) to find dorky hotel guy with Mr 'I Think I Can Fix It' man dressed like a throwback trucker from 1985! Well they tried changing the bulb several times, some head scratching then they decided to change the fitting. Next came a game of how do you turn off the electricity then Mr Fix It man turned his trusty screwdriver on the bedside light. Next minute there's a bang as his screwdriver hits the cabinet - the hotel guy is laughing and Mr Fix It is shaking his head. He had gotten a shock! I tried not to laugh and didn't hold out much hope for them fixing the light but they persevered and got the job done.

Indi Hotel, Sanur Bali

We spent the next few days dossing at the pool, mooching around the big supermarket over the road - cheap Bintang (beer) as well as household stuff so we splashed out on 2 plastic plates and some gaffer tape (to patch up the mossie holes in the room). We even bought some salad for lunch, making sure to wash it with bottled water so we didn't suffer from eating healthily. It was difficult trying to find places within our budget for dinner but we did come across a place which did a mean vegetarian Mie Goreng (noodles) and Nasi Goreng (rice) with a large beer which came to less than £4!! The main tourist drag is full of Aussies and expensive restaurants although we did find an Aussie owned biker bar called The Roadhouse which looked like a biker gangs hangout and had MotoGP bike racing on a big screen so we stayed for a beer! We also found a bar closer to the hotel which had rock music playing on large tv screens (Guns'N'Roses, Chilli Peppers, Bon Jovi etc) so we hung out here one evening only to discover it doubled as a pick up bar for the local ladies of the night! (knocking shop) It was funny to watch the fat Aussie blokes chatting up the women (who were only attentive because of the money they could smell in their wallets!).
We enjoyed staying here as it was easy and we had entertainment watching the other guests at the hotel. This included the French couple next door doing a diving course - we decided she was a vampire as never came out in the day and he was 'Le Cock' as he strutted around like a real a-hole. Also, there were some young girls (possibly just arrived from Lesbos) who spent every day sunbathing by the pool with their nora's out. Really? in a country full of leering blokes, devout Hindus and Muslims? Then there was the old grumpy Aussie guy who decided to make friends with us and invite us out for dinner (guess he was 1/really desperate  2/very lonely 3/maybe a con man!). He even offered to pay for us but we decided against it as just didn't feel right plus we thought if he's an oddball we'll be stuck with him for the evening.
We hired a bike (scooter) for a few days and rode into Kuta & Legian which are the main tourist areas around this part of Bali. Well we didn't stay long! Both are extremely touristy, full of fancy western shops, shopping malls, expensive western style restaurants and dumb arse tourists who enjoy an over developed and frankly spoilt Bali. Only good part was the 3D museum full of paintings which you could take photos of yourself in front of (see below). We had a great laugh here taking lots of pics.

The man from Atlantis finds booty.

Dragon lady rides bare back.

" Mmmm boiled baldy head my favourite"