Bali – THENEVSBYCYCLE

Birthday Boy in Bali

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20160923_075232 — Agus Tri the owners son, also the name of the guesthouse.

20160923_125550 — Burger, fries and coke. Perfect birthday lunch!

20160923_132528 — Followed by more birthday cake. Just as well we went to the gym prior.

20160923_185356 — Fantastic night out. Happy Birthday sung by the band, staff and everyone in the restaurant. They then continued to sing it in Indonesian.

20160923_215202 — And the night continued as the heavens opened outside. So I guess we were stuck in the bar!!!!

20160923_185945 — Susan the waitress thought it was a great idea to give us free shots! We thought so to although paying the price today

20160923_194435 — Caroline and Rene from Holland celebrating with the birthday boy.

20160923_211638 — Jimmy the very hard case waiter.

20160923_215403 — What a way to celebrate the 47th birthday!

Was such a great day here in Bali yesterday celebrating Andy’s birthday.

I wonder where we will be next year for birthday celebrations………………..?

Cycle tour Bali

With wanting to leave our own bikes in their boxes for our short stay in Bali it was time to do a cycle tour instead.

So off we headed this morning by car for the tour which started with a visit to the Coffee Plantation. Andy was in coffee heaven and got to taste ‘Coffee Luwak’, which is coffee berries that have been eaten by the Civat cat. It’s poo (undigested berries) are collected, washed and turned into a ‘catpoocino’. This is known to be the most expensive coffee in the world due to it’s rarity.

20160922_082159 — The coffee cat looked more like a possum.

20160922_083641 — The process is underway

20160922_084026 — Not sure what he’s getting himself into

20160922_084030 — Hmmmmmm actually very drinkable and worth the $6 experience.

20160922_083621 — Then the opportunity to sample many varieties of coffee and tea.

Then it was through Ubud and on to Kintamani village to view Mt Batur.

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Up the hill further to start the cycle tour. Not really knowing what to expect we were pleasantly surprised and enjoyed cycling through the jungle and villages.

20160922_100644 — Start of the tour making sure we all know how to use the gears and brakes. Same clothes, same helmet and certainly different bike.

20160922_100623 — Made our guide. Seems like every second shop or person here is called Made, pronounced Marday.

20160922_104639 — Looking very worried and not sure if the bike will last the 22km tour.

20160922_103430 — Through the villages we go.

20160922_104653 — Local villages and streets

20160922_112725 — In the jungle on tiger look out.

20160922_113249 — Village kids playing soccer barefoot. The jandals were in the goal.

20160922_115659 — Then through the rice fields we go

20160922_115742 — Just before the heavens opened.

20160922_115944 — Tough day working in the fields

20160922_123210 — Soaked from top to toe with the last 6km riding in a torrential downpour. Feeling alive in Bali.

20160922_123931 — Lovely late lunch to finish off a great day of cycling in Bali.

First few days in Bali

After a couple of nights in Bangkok Andy was able to catch up with his good mate Leo before heading to Bali.

20160916_181324 — Roadside stall for dinner in Bangkok

20160917_083927 — Making our way through the airport. Tippy toes and still can’t see where I’m going.

20160917_172412 — Bali airport. Hundreds of signs with names but where is ours……? Finally found it!

Customs in both Bangkok and Bali have been so slack with our bikes and we have just walked straight through.

Bali is a place that we have never had any desire to go to but we thought why not suss it out and see what the fuss is about. We have chosen to stay at Sanur Beach, described as a desirable place for ‘mature couples’. Not sure if that is our category……….. but hey we think we made the right choice and have been pleasantly surprised.

Once again the weather very hot and humid but we have a great guesthouse and lovely swimming pool. The beach in Sanur is not that appealing or maybe it is just we were spoilt in Vietnam and Thailand. The Balinese people are very friendly, the food is tasty and the beer is cold! We expected it to be packed with Aussies but surprisingly very few, maybe they also read that Sanur was for ‘mature people’ and realised they didnt qualify and stayed in Kuta. (however many foreign tourists).