Too much monkey business

We arrived in Bali early in the morning & the sun was already hot. We had given ourselves 2 weeks here but couldn't bring ourselves to stay in one place so we started in the craziest part – Seminyak. Our accommodation was basic but clean, modern & cheap (£17 pn). It was also 5 mins from the beach which is where we spent most of our 3 days before moving to the more sedate Sanur on the east coast. Our accommodation - a room with terrace, beautiful gardens & a pool. Sanur is v laid back with a beautiful beach – much nicer than Seminyak where the current is strong & there is a lot of rubbish in the water. We had not appreciated that we had arrived in the rainy season & it rained quite heavily on our first day, flooding the road (again). When the sun returned we spent the day on the beach where, instead of being offered the usual bangles & hats by the hawkers Mr L was offered viagra and Valium. Not quite sure what they were trying to do to him!. One evening we met a lovely Aussie couple J & A & overstayed our welcome at one of the local bars but a good eve all the same.  From Sanur we headed to one of the smaller islands called Lembongan. We got down to the quayside - Well the beach. To get out to the boat you have to wade out to about waist height. As we waited I was stood looking at the sea then moved away to get my inhaler as I was wheezy. At that moment there was a loud crack & a huge branch fell from a tree landing right where I had been standing! Far too close for comfort. I sent my thanks to the man upstairs for giving me asthma. 
We spent 4 days on Lembongan, an island of 8,000  which still retains its village identity. We didn't hire scooters like 99.9% of the tourists, instead we walked-covering pretty much the entire island; to the suspension bridge that links to Ceningan island,  currently being rebuilt following its collapse a few months ago when a number of locals died, and up past the mangrove forest that dominates much of the north east of the island. And because it's rainy season the heat and humidity as we walked was phenomenal. We spent time on dream beach – not just because of its name but because it is one of Bali”s finest beaches. A short walk away is devils tear so called because when the strong waves crash against the rocks a watery mist shoots back out like a tear. Impressive. We even went to a makeshift cinema one evening at a local hotel to see  'Pirates of the Caribbean' -it was fun watching it outside, undercover with a Bintang beer as the rain fell.
For our remaining days we went back to the mainland to Ubud – surrounded by rice fields & temples & a magnet for tourists. Our accommodation was cheap (£9 pn incl breakfast) but pretty basic- our room was too basic for me as the roof was perched on the walls leaving gaps for the dreaded geckos to enter, so we changed rooms & all was well – we even got a better view of the rice fields!  Ubud is famous for the monkeys that guard the temples & surrounding forest so we went to explore. I'm not a big fan of monkeys & less so now after one ran up me, grabbed my bottle of water & wrestled it from me. I put up a good fight, using the language all animals understand (‘F off’) to no avail. He won this round & to make his point he sat down unscrewed the lid drank my water then threw it. Yob. A scratched finger but mainly hurt pride that I had lost.
The rains came again but we wanted to explore & headed off on a trail that took us out of the busy town & up through the rice paddy fields, where we were treated to some great scenery. We carried on through local villages, over a gorge, passing numerous temples until our route brought us back to town- 15km later.  Our last days in Bali we have made use of the full range of massage/spa treatments on offer. For the first time in my life I have nails so have enjoyed manicures & pedicures whilst Mr L has sat alongside me having his feet/legs massaged. We have also started our preparations for our next destination- Australia. Having watched ‘nothing to declare’ many times we have been studiously cleaning our boots to ensure they are free of dirt! We are excited about visiting Australia but are so sad to be leaving behind Asia – so many incredible memories though & who's to say we won't be back sometime soon.