Hard to leave Bali

Hello! So I was glad to leave Ubud. Not that I didn't enjoy it, more that I was shit scared for 2 nights. A British woman who was staying alone was murdered the previous week. I'd also heard of attacks on other solo female travellers. I made sure I was home by 6pm & slept with my pen knife next to me. Shame really as I did like it there.

Back in Seminyak I headed to the hostel. Wasn't looking forward to it as I didn't enjoy it that much the previous week. I needn't have worried as the people that were there were really friendly.  There was talk of meeting that night at 8pm to go for dinner & drinks. Great! I walked down to the beach, had lunch with an Aussie guy I'd met on the way from Ubud. We shared some travel stories & then I headed back to the beach for a walk. Later I met everyone from the hostel. A decision was made to go to a club in Kuta (main touristy bit where all the Aussie's go... think Magaluf full of drunk Brits & you get the picture). We squeezed 9 of us into a 7 seater taxi, much to everyone's amusement!  The club was 50IDR (aprox £2.50) for entry, all you can eat buffet & free cocktails for an hour.  Nice!  Had a great night drinking & dancing with my new friends.

Next morning I didn't feel too clever.  It was raining too so an opportunity just to chill out at the hostel. After the rain passed I had a walk on the beach & some lunch.  Back at the hostel, a few of the guys had mentioned hiring mopeds & going to see sunset at a temple at Tannah Lot, about an hour away. There was no way I was driving one but one of the guys (the lovely Caley from Canada) offered to take me as a passenger.  He had a bike at home & was a Dr so I trusted him. We managed to convince a shop to hire us 7 bikes for 4 hours & after a lot of faffing, we were off. Omg I was terrified! I'd been on the back of a bike before but that was on a very quiet island near Vietnam with a local driving.  This was a place notorious for bike accidents. Somehow we made it & we walked around the temple grounds.  Lots of locals there. The sunset wasn't great due to clouds but was nice to see the place. We got back to the hostel, I needed a beer!! Then we had dinner & a drink in one of the cool beach bars.

Next day most of the people I'd met had left so the hostel was pretty quiet. Myself & Cara (lovely German girl I'd met a few days earlier) went to the beach in Seminyak with another girl we had just met.  Once on the beach we were hassled so much. Sunbed? Sarong? Ice cream? Bracelet? Sunglasses? Massage? Surf lesson? Honestly, it was relentless.  We discovered a way round it... pretend to be asleep! Although we did get rumbled by one woman. I wouldn't advise going to the beach there,  it's terrible! Shame as the actual beach itself is nice. Made the mistake of going to Aussie bar for lunch... worst & most expensive meal yet. I should know to stick to local food after the KFC incident in Bangkok... but that's another story.

Back at the hostel met my first Brit! Rosie from Cheltenham. I booked my ticket to Lombok for the following day. Had a coconut drink (yummy!) On the beach with Rosie & Cara, then we met Chili (Swiss guy I'd met the previous week) for tea. Watched some live music at a bar (they were really good actually & sang a few Beatles songs... always quite amusing in an Indonesian accent!). Tried to sleep back at the hostel as was being picked up at 7.30am the next morning but my roomies were chatting to me sharing stories & advice of places to go, things to see & I wasn't particularly tired anyway. My last night in Bali, for now anyway. Let's see what the islands bring.

Jackie x