Bali: End of June

Once again I am falling behind on my blog. I have been so busy these past two months that I have barely had time to catch my breath. The next three(ish) posts will try to cram in as much as possible about my time in Bali. I hope they will be short and sweet, but going by the length of all my previous posts, I am highly doubtful. So, where to begin

The end of June ended in tears. I said farewell to Justin and Steve in the space of a week. Justin's visa, and money, had run out so he headed back to Aus to save up and return in November. Steve, on the other hand, headed to Ethiopia to help 'train trainers'. His Green Warrior work was so successful in Uganda that he is now a man in high demand, with many organisations asking for his assistance! As he was spending a month there, it was the last time I was to see him... well for this trip anyway.

The following week Steve's friend Simon paid us a visit. We showed him round Ubud and took a trip to the Tellalagan rice terraces just north of Ubud. I drove Simon's moped, and Linds hitched a ride on the back of Chakra's, with Simon driving (the bike is far too heavy for me to control). The terraces seem somewhat out of place, just perched on the roadside but they are a beauty to behold. They cascade down the hillside and rap round, creating a terraced cove. The three of us somehow managed to climb down them towards the river below. Bar the blue sky, all was visible was green. Trickling water could be heard from the irrgating waterfalls

and the odd birds song echoed in the valley. As it was still out of tourist season, we pretty much had the place to ourselves.

The following day we visited Green School. I decided to finally face my fears and rent a moped. I felt a lot more confident.. even to the point of cocky as I decided I could drive the hour out of town, on roads I didn't know, with Linds on the back. Miraculously we made it in one piece. The roads were rather forgiving, although when we entered the road leading up to green school, their condition deteriorated rapidly. Dirt tracks replaced tarmac. The paths narrowed and I had to cross a bridge over a ravine, just wide enough for the moped, several times as we got lost. The lack of signage was proving to be slightly inconvenient. We eventually navigated our way through jungle to the school and made it just in time for the tour. (for more info on Green School, read my earlier post from April(?)).

Trying to make the most of our day, we headed to Goa Gajah after. It translates to Elephant Cave and although the cave is nothing to shout about, the surrounding jungle is. Trees tower above and the river rages below. There were lots of tropical flowers I hadn't seen before and a family compound set amongst rice paddies.

On Friday of the same week, me and Linds went to Rebecca's. We had great food, as always, watched The Hours and met a lovely lady called Shaundrell. From South Carolina, born and raised (sorry, had to add that), she had spent the last 9 months in Australia. She is vivacious, bubbly and slightly mad. I loved her immediately!

The next day Linds left for a week long trip to Jakarta. Me, Becks and Shaundrell had arranged a road trip to Mt Batur for sunrise so set off at 5am. It was set to be one of the best days I had spent on the Island!