We were quite surprised that there weren’t a lot of cabs or buses making the connection between Gilimanuk (the ferry port) and Denpasar (the capital). Actually, there was one local bus, very cheap but very long (five hours to do the 125 km to Denpasar.)
We decided to share a taxi with a Canadian couple for 500,000 Rupiah. The taxi driver wasn’t an official one but he was the only person willing to do the job. The idea was to drop the Canadian couple off on the south west coast and for us to keep going to Denpasar to rent a cheap car for a few days.
The only issue was that we were dropped off at the wrong bus station (well we asked him to drop us there - bloody Lonely Planet got the place wrong). At this point (around 4pm) we were very tired and warm, so we gave up on the idea to rent a car (remember we’d woken up at 1am to go to Ijen). So we paid another 120,000 Rupiah to go to our final destination for the day, Ubud.
Our first choice guesthouse (or ‘homestay’ as the Indonesians call it) was full, so we walked a bit further down the same road and found a similar one. The place had a nice garden and was a traditional Balinese house with a small Hindu temple in the courtyard. We negotiated the last room they had and it was their most expensive one too, as they’d used it for their brochure. We probably looked like zombies smelling of sulphur (or rotten eggs) but luckily they gave us the room for the same price as the cheaper ones. They offered us some tea and “kopi” and we went strait to the shower and then to bed. 
During the night we heard a very loud repetitive animal noise. It didn’t last for long but sounded like an alarm o’clock. We didn’t know what it was. Maybe some sort of a bird, but we went back to sleep. The next morning (and the following mornings and each evening), hot tea and coffee were prepared for us and the son (one of the family members who owned the guesthouse) came to have a chat with us (he was supposed to be building a new bungalow opposite ours, but in between the rain showers and chatting to us, we’re not sure he got all that much done). After simulating different sort of animal noises and choosing from one of them, he told us that the noise in the night was a small gecko and we couldn’t believe that such a small thing could make such a noise. He also gave us some good tips for where to go in Ubud and the rest of the Island. He also booked us some tickets for a traditional Kecak fire show in a temple nearby. We stayed couple of days in Ubud and we really liked it. The houses were very nice and traditional (apparently they belong to the same family of 7 brothers who are of one of the lowest castes. Also 7 out of 10 people living in Bali belong to this caste) and the people were very friendly.
The Kecak fire show in a temple down the road was a pure delight and very impressive telling the story of a battle from the Ramayana where the monkey-like Vanara helped Prince Rama fight the evil King Ravana. The costumes, makeup, layout, music and venue was excellent. All the music came from about 40 men who were sitting in a circle simulating instruments and chanting and singing. At the end of the story some coconut shells were set on fire on the floor, and one lucky guy had to stamp on them and kick them across the floor to put out the fire and chase away the evil spirits. We felt for the guy as each time he spread the burning embers with his bare feet, and the fire was seeming to dissipate, his fellow cast members would sweep them back up into the centre of the floor for him to repeat the feat. We were left wondering if the same guy did this every week, or if this guy had just lost the game of cards this week.
The next day we rented a car (a Toyota Jimmy) to explore more of the island by ourselves. We went through Rice fields, Kintamani (and the past the volcano) and came back down via the East coast. We didn’t really have time to stop much as the island was much bigger and it took us much longer to get around than we expected (due to mountains and winding or narrow roads). However, it gave us a good overview of the centre and east coast of Bali. We did manage to stop at a coffee plantation just north of Ubud where we were able to try some Kopi Luwak (or ‘Cat Poo Coffee’ as its otherwise known). We saw the process of how it was made and said hello to the Palm Civets who choose only the best beans.
We then headed off the next morning by ‘Past boat’ to the Gilli Islands, or more specifically, Gilli Trawagan (otherwise known as ‘Gili T’). Here we relaxed and did some snorkelling around Gilli T and the other two Islands (Gili Meno and Gili Air). Gilli T was quite busy on the main street where all the budget hotels were, but we walked around the island and barely saw anybody at all once we were off the main street.
After spending 4 days on this Idyllic Island, we took the boat back to Bali where our flight to Australia was waiting for us. We took a bit of time to sort out a few things while we had internet and enjoyed the air-con at the airport. When we went through the immigration office, we were asked for a 150,000 Rupiah (that we didn’t have) for airport fees. So we went outside again to withdraw some more cash. We were a bit annoyed by this, but we were ready for our flight to Sydney. Goodbye Asia, we’ve enjoyed our stay and we’ll definitely be back one day. Hello to Rolf Harris.
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