From Lovina we headed over the hills to Ubud in central Bali. It's very touristy and a lot more expensive than we are used to but it's nice to walk around. We treated ourselves (and bargained the price down a lot) to a very nice room in a bungalow complex with a pool which we all used to cool down in.
In the centre of Ubud there is the Sacred Monkey Forest which is full of the breakfast stealing Macaques (apparently they are Sacred!). Having encountered the monkeys in Borneo we were all wary of them but they turned out to be quite friendly, partly due to them being fed. It was great to see them playing in the water and sleeping where they felt like. There were some temples around but the attraction was definitely the monkeys!
Lesley had a bike for 2 days so Ben, Roberta and myself booked on a day tour to see some of Bali. We covered a lot in a few hours as the tour was in a 6 seater rather in a coach. First stop was Goa Gajah (Elephant cave temple) which being Hindu was completely different to what we have seen before and we all had to wear sarongs to enter the complex (even Ben). The temple was built in the 11th century and had been completely covered in moss and rocks were starting to fall down. The elephant cave was really odd as you entered through a very decorative face of a demon but inside it's all blank bar an alcove with a statue of Ganesh.
Next we headed to the holy spring water temple which looks very new as most was restored in the 1960's. The temple was built in 962 AD around the natural springs which was are considered to have magical powers and the water still bubbles into huge pools which is then released via a very nice fountain into a smaller pool where the locals go. It looked pretty nice water- inappropriate to take a dip though!
Also on the schedule was a visit to coffee plantations, some 'very nice rice paddies', a view of Mt Batur which stands at above Lake Batur at 1717m. We also went to the Besakih which is the biggest temple complex in Bali. We couldn't go in any of the temples but you can walk around the outside despite the local scam of needing a guide. The complex is 23 separate thatched roof temples which is 1km up Mt Agung which would have given great views out to the coast and Lombok had it not been so cloudy! Last we visited the Ancient courts which were in the centre of Klungkung. The 'hall of justice' was a pavilion with a moat with lots of paintings on the inside ceiling. The palace was destroyed in 1908 when the Balinese were fighting the Dutch.
Ubud has been a great place to spend a few days and you could easily spend longer as there is lots to do. We spent and entire day getting to Sengiggi in Lombok. We had booked a through ticket with a girl who couldn't speak English so we were not too sure about the specifics of the day. A bus collected us and took us to Padangbai where we caught the slow ferry. We got some great views of Mt Agung as we left Bali and as we got closer to Lombok dolphins came and swam by the boat. We arrived in Lembar (initially thinking it was Sengiggi) and then got a bus to Mataram and then waited for ages for a bus to Sengiggi. It was all very well organised on just one ticket but definitely not what I thought we had paid for. So now we are in Sengiggi which is not what we expected. The photos show a white sand bay that's empty. I know not to believe everything on the internet but we were a little shocked to see black sand, hundreds of locals and fishing boats lining the shore. Sengiggi is really geared up to trekking up Mt Rinjani, something I'd like to do but we all have flights to Australia booked so there's not much time. With Lombok being a strict Muslim island I don't feel I would get a lot of hassle on the beach here so today will be spend book reading and planing the next few days on the Gili Islands.
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