New Places and Familiar Faces!

The most cost effective way for Emma to get across to the Gili islands was for us to get a car from Amed to Sanur where Emma would stay at the Rumah Samba (where I'd stayed) and I could then get a cheap Uber down to Uluwatu.

The journey from Amed to Sanur took about 2.5 hours including a stop-off at a viewpoint overlooking the stunning scenery and then the water palace which was great and so different from the other places we'd seen.

When we got to Sanur, the taxi driver got lost but luckily I remembered the way around so could direct him.

We turned up and Ari looked really pleased to see me and asked if I was staying again but I told her I was just bringing my friend there. I told Emma I would have some lunch with her and then I would order a taxi to leave.

We walked to Lokal Warung and Coffee where I'd been for breakfast whilst staying in Sanur and ordered the Mie Goreng to keep us going! After that, we went our separate ways and I wandered back to the Rumah Samba to order myself an Uber.

When the lady arrived she seemed really nice and she gave me a cable to plug my phone into so I could listen to my own music for the drive - it took roughly an hour.

Once I got to Karma Backpackers, I queued for check-in as it was fairly busy and paid for one night. I was in a 4-bed dorm which looked pretty cosy and I had the top bunk and a locker thankfully to put all my valuables in.

When I'd put everything away, I walked out to the communal area at the large table and got chatting to Jess from Sandwich, Brandon from Canada and Nick from Sweden who had also all arrived that day. They were going to the Uluwatu temple to watch the sunset and dancing so I asked if I could join them and share the taxi.

At 5pm, we made our way to the temple which wasn't too far away with the hostel driver who charged us 75,000 each way between the 4 of us. It was quite a way up where the temple was high on the cliff but the views were pretty spectacular and it was a great position to see the sunset.

We hadn't been told beforehand but it cost an extra 100,000 to watch the dance show on top of the 30,000 we had already paid to get into the temple. We had a brief discussion about it and all said that although it wasn't ideal, we were there so may as well go and see it. We paid and made our way to the amphitheatre style stage to get seats; it was absolutely roasting where it was in the direct sunlight and we were all super sweaty!

The show started and was a load of Balinese men chanting and shouting and two ladies in colourful outfits later came out. Had we not been given sheets with information on for each scene, we would have had absolutely no idea what was going on! Whilst the show was going on, the sun started to set and the view was beautiful - I ended up paying more attention to that than the dancing!

Although the dancing was interesting to watch as it was obviously a Balinese tradition, the chanting, singing and dancing was all a bit repetitive.

Towards the end of the show, the most torrential rain started whilst they were doing the scenes with the fire and everyone pretty much made a run for it!

We navigated our way back to the car park but couldn't find the driver so were getting wetter and wetter by the second! Walking across the whole car park and past the monkeys wandering around, we were soaked! Luckily, I spotted the Karma Backpackers van and we all ran at it! We asked the guy to stop at the supermarket on the way back so we could buy some beers to have at the hostel.

Once we got back to the hostel, we sat outside in the communal area with a beer whilst waiting for the showers to become free. I was sat chatting to people when I suddenly heard a "giiiiiirl, what the fuck are you doing here!" It was Alec the German guy I'd met at Puji! At that point, I could not have been happier to see a familiar face and we ran at each other for a massive hug!

As nice as the others were, I'd been so fortunate on Gili T and in Ubud to meet people I just clicked with and when you have less time at a place, it's harder to make those bonds so seeing Alec made my day.

I'd put my name down for the party shuttle to Single Fin at 9.30pm so showered, put on a dress and some mascara and ordered some nasi goreng as I'd not had anything to eat.

The shuttle was only 25,000 each and we had to squeeze 8 of us in as there wasn't enough room for everyone. Sven from the Netherlands was absolutely mental and he was sat in the front playing DJ for the journey there and whacked on plenty of tunes to get us all singing loudly prepped for the evening ahead.

Single Fin was absolutely packed when we arrived! Jess and I made our way to the bar to order a beer and then sat outside as it was so hot indoors. We found the others and then the group wandered downstairs to see what that was like; it was much bigger and even busier!

The evening felt a bit stilted and awkward to begin with before everyone loosened up but it got there in the end! There was a smaller club area at the basement so we all went there and had a mini Karma takeover where we were the only ones tearing up the dancefloor! Afterwards we traipsed to the top floor and bar again for more drinks and dancing; they were cracking out some of the old school tunes and we had a good laugh.

When we went downstairs later, I found Alec with Toby another German guy from the hostel and a few others. We stayed outside at the dancing area there and were strategically placed by the huge Kershbow fan which Alec was trying to convince everyone they had to pay for as it was ours for the evening.

He also told me that his girlfriend didn't know yet but he had got the tattoo he'd been telling me about in Ubud - GWTF on his bum cheek which he proceeded to show me in the middle of the dancefloor which made me crease with laughter as people wondered why he was undoing his shorts! It stood for 'go with the flow' but he told most people there it was 'girl what the fuck' haha.

Whilst we were dancing there, it started to rain again but this time it was more torrential than it had been before! Where we were already soaked, we couldn't be bothered to move anywhere so we carried on dancing regardless; was so much fun and felt strangely liberating.

When we were beyond drenched, we headed back into the sweat pit that was the upstairs bar to continue the fun. They were playing all the old school tunes and Alec and I were shimmying to Beyoncé and whacking out the salsa moves.

At 1am, the lights went on and the music stopped so we all walked in the rain up the road to try and find a taxi. It didn't take too long but he wouldn't be cut down on price, even when one of the girls offered to sing any song of his choice! We spent the rest of the journey singing and arrived at the hostel shortly afterwards.

Sarah had messaged when I got onto the wifi so I gave her and Steve a call on FaceTime and they had been decorating! Was so good to catch up with them. After that I went back to the table to see everyone. None of the takeaways were open for delivery so the lads all jumped on their scooters to go to the burger place. I was slightly peckish but not enough to get on the back of a bike when everyone had been drinking so I said goodnight and went to my dorm.

Alec came and found me and offered to pick some food up for me but I told him I would be ok. We got chatting about the following day and he asked me what I fancied doing and I said a beach day so he said to wake him up and he would take us out.

I didn't sleep too badly and only woke up a couple of times, one of which was when Sven came crashing through the door! I woke up fairly early as my bladder was fit to burst so I crept out and could hear Sven snoring his head off.

Once I'd got up, I went and spoke to reception to see if there was any availability for me to stay another night and luckily there was so I got myself booked in.

I made myself some toast and sat with the others chatting although most people hadn't yet surfaced. Alec ventured out at just after 10ish and everyone was sat deciding which beach to go to. We grabbed our stuff and I borrowed a helmet from the hostel and then we all set off to Padang Padang beach in convoy on the bikes. I'd not ridden a bike before and had no intention of learning for fear of killing myself on the road but luckily Alec rides one back in Germany so was an old hat and I was able to go on the back of his.

There were lots of steps to walk down to get there but Padang Padang beach wasn't as big as I thought it was going to be and was crowded with lots of surfers as it's one of the key Bali surfing destinations.

It was hot and sweaty so I didn't hang around too long and quickly got into the water for a swim with Nick and a German girl staying in the hostel whilst Jess, Brandon and Russ (a New Yorker) went out surfing. It was nice and cool but the current was strong and pulled us around quite a bit!

After an hour or so and a couple of dips in the sea, we'd all had enough and fancied a change of scenery. One of the guys working at the hostel had mentioned that Thomas beach was the best one to go to and was only a km away from Padang Padang so we all jumped back on the bikes and drove down the road. It wasn't signposted but there was a pebbled looking dirt track which Russ' sat nav said went towards the direction of Thomas Beach guesthouse so we bumped our way down there and came to another windy and steep flight of stairs that lead to the beach.

There was a local Warung at the bottom so we stopped for some food and I ordered a Mie Goreng which was one of the best I'd had since I got to Bali, despite it being one of the last dishes to come out where everyone else had finished!

Thomas beach was much quieter but it was also bigger. There were sun loungers you could pay for and the sand was the fine grains of shells which made it more comfy to lie on as you could move it about more to make mounds for head rests.

Alec and I were next to each other nattering away for the afternoon about Germany and what it was like for him to live there, him living in the US, our travels and different destinations and how funny he found the 'basic bitch' in Ubud; we definitely got the giggles about that!

The others were ready to leave and had had enough of the beach but we hadn't! Alec and I stayed for another hour or so just relaxing on the sand, chatting and getting our tan on until the sun was starting to go and we made our way back via the supermarket to pick up a few essentials and take a couple of bike selfies.

When I got back, I walked straight to the outside communal area to put my wet beach towel out to dry and was super surprised to see Pat that I'd been in a dorm with on Gili T and had also stayed at Puji in Ubud; I hadn't expected to see him again and was like "omg, what the hell are you doing here?!" and he then came over and gave me a big hug. That's what I love about travelling, you get to bump into awesome people that you've met on the way!

The rest of the evening was spent chilling with everyone in the outside communal area as there was no party shuttle on that day.

Washing all the sand off in a nice warm shower was one of the highlights of the day and I certainly didn't rush as most people had used the bathrooms by the time Alec and I got back!

I rang Grandma and Gramps to have a catch up which was really lovely. We were waiting for the reception to get back so we could put a food delivery order through but they came back whilst I was on the phone so Alec sorted it for me; I had a simple Mie Goreng Ayam (chicken fried noodles) but was really full so gave the rest to Alec. By about 10pm, everyone was wiped out and made their way to bed for an early night!

Everyone slept fairly well after the early night and got up early for breakfast (think I was one of the latest at 9am!) I made myself a coffee and had peanut butter on toast to wake myself up.

After that, it was a case of having a shower and packing so I was ready to head up north to Canggu. I'd met a girl called Jess in Puji Hostel whilst staying in Ubud through Emma and she had absolutely raved about a hostel called The Farm so I'd booked my final two nights in Bali there.

The weather was rubbish and it had rained and was overcast so I was in no rush to leave as I knew it would be the same in Canggu! I just chilled with Jess on the sofa and made the most of the wifi whilst I was there, writing some more of my blog that I was so behind on!

Alec and Pat were both heading out to the beach for the day so Alec could get as much of a tan on as possible for his last day in Bali. They both came up and engulfed me in huge bear hugs to say goodbye. Alec thanked me for all the laughs along the way and wished me well for the rest of my trip and Pat told me to look him up if I ever find myself in Canada. I waved them off and after stripping my bed and taking the sheets to reception, I called for an Uber shortly after.

The traffic was horrendous and a short journey that should have taken about half an hour took an hour and a half so I didn't get there until about 2pm. Ardy checked me in and it wasn't too busy in the communal area but there were half a dozen people or so lounging around and one guy said hello as I was lugging my bag down the stairs. I went into the dorm and Ardy showed me to my bed but someone was using my locker so I couldn't put my stuff in there. I said hello to a couple of girls who were in the dorm and got chatting to them. Their names were Petra and Isobel and they were from Sweden although Isobel had also spent time living in Tenerife but went back to Sweden for high school (I think they were both about 19). Isobel told me that no-one was using the locker below her bed so I could have that.

One I'd sorted that out, I turned around to look out the door and saw a familiar shape outside. I walked up the door to check I was right in my predictions and Lucas turned around and slowly spotted me. I then tried to pull at the door to open it only to look like a right tit when he started miming that you need to slide the door as it doesn't open outwards! He gave me such a big hug and said it was so good to see me; nowhere near as good as it was for me to see him when I'd just arrived; everyone seemed to know each other so well and it felt a bit cliquey.

I told him I was ravenous and asked if there were any good places to eat so he sent me in the direction of the main road.

The place he recommended was a lot further down and I was so hungry I just stopped at the Machinery café. They brought over a glass of water for me and I ordered a banana and peanut butter shake and a spaghetti carbonara without the creamy sauce; they used mashed avocados. It was insanely good, especially with my never ending addiction to avocado. They also brought me out some complimentary watermelon to enjoy afterwards which was lovely.

I spent the rest of the afternoon exploring and continued walking along the road, popping into different shops on the way until I made it past Old Man's to Batu Bolong beach.

The weather started to take a turn and it was pretty overcast so I decided to make my way back to the hostel which was a good 20/30 min walk. It didn't help that it then started to rain too but thankfully I didn't get too wet!

When I got back, Lucas was in the pool and introduced me to his mate Jacob so I sat and chatted to them for a while. They mentioned they were hungry and would be going out for dinner if I fancied joining them. Although I wasn't starving at that point, I knew it would be nicer to eat with people rather than have to go out later on my own so I accepted their invite to Taco Casa; the local Mexican restaurant. I'd heard that there was going to be a party in the hostel that night for Ben's birthday and as we were leaving for the restaurant, Lucas got chatting to him and introduced me; he was the guy who had said hello when I first arrived.

Lucas hadn't long been driving a scooter so didn't feel as confident having someone on the back. Jacob however was from Amsterdam so it was pretty much like riding a bicycle for him as he had been driving a scooter for 7 years so I jumped on the back of his!

The food was amazing and we were all stuffed; Lucas so much so that he couldn't even finish his burrito! I went for the naked burrito like I have when I go to a Mexican at home - rice, beans, chicken, guacamole, salsa, sour cream, lettuce, tomatoes and cheese. Absolutely delish!

When we got back to the hostel, I went and changed my top to my floral cami, plaited my hair where it was so hot and chucked on some mascara. I felt a bit uneasy going upstairs on my own not knowing anyone apart from Lucas and I didn't really want to stick to him as I knew he'd been spending a lot of time with an Aussie chick and I didn't want to interfere! Petra and Isobel were nearly ready so I sorted out some hostel bookings for Singapore and then went up with them; they still hadn't met Ben yet!

Beer pong was in full swing but I didn't have anyone to pair with so just enjoyed watching it play out. A guy named Daniel that had also arrived that day was sat on the bench so I grabbed a beer and chatted to him; he was from Austria. I chatted to Jacob and Lucas then spotted me so came over for a chinwag before it was his turn to play.

I asked him if Ben was actually 29 as he seemed younger so Lucas questioned him. Ben messed around and said he was actually 23 and for a second, Lucas and I bought it until we realised he was pulling our legs. Lucas asked to see his driving licence so he chucked it across the beer pong table and it landed on my arm.

I looked down at the address and turned to him and was like "omg are you actually joking, you're from Tonbridge." He said he hadn't been in Tonbridge for a while after living in London for 5 years but had grown up there. When he asked why, I told him I was also from Tonbridge and we entered a discussion about places, ages, schools and friends and it turned out his sister Georgie was in my class at Tonbridge Grammar School in year 7 and left to go to Kent College and he had gone to Cranbrook.

What was previously a small world had significantly shrunk! I messaged the family whatsapp and Izzy to tell them how funny it was and they couldn't believe it and he had messaged his sister who requested that we send her a selfie of the two of us!

The beer pong continued until the stages of the male and female finals and the music was blasting too. I was still out on a limb where all the established groups were together laughing and joking and I was in between.

At about 11pm, everyone got on their bikes to go to Pretty Poison but it was a tricky one for me really. I didn't have a bike, didn't feel comfortable getting on someone else's as they'd all been drinking loads, felt gassy and bloated from the beer so didn't want any more and I generally wasn't feeling the vibe so I went to bed instead.

I woke up the following morning to a tarantula sized spider crawling across my bed sheet which made me jump out of my skin! Once I'd brushed it off the bed and onto the floor, I got another hour's kip.

Lucas messaged to see if I was awake and fancied breakfast so I told him I was game on once I'd showered! I washed my hair and got dressed in shorts and a vest top and literally needn't have bothered - within minutes I was dripping in sweat and the shower was long forgotten!

Everyone that had mentioned Canggu had spoken about eating at The Canteen so I told Lucas I fancied going there for breakfast which he was happy to try. Lucas drove us on the back of his scooter and it only took about 5 mins despite him worrying about killing us, he was fine!

The food didn't disappoint and the café itself was cool and quirky with surf boards along the ceiling. I had the smashed avo on toast with poached eggs and a lemon mint iced tea which was top notch! Lucas and I were chatting about the trip, our families and his girl situation with Lou who he'd been spending time with at the hostel but felt like he'd been a bit lead on which I understood.

Lucas drove us back to the hostel once we'd finished and we then made our way to Tanah Lot, one of the famous temples, to check it out. Lucas drove us there and it only took about 20 minutes or so. It was rather overcast when we got there but the tide was out which was lucky as it meant we could walk across and get blessed with the holy water.

Sadly, there was some sort of ceremony taking place at the temple which meant that we weren't able to climb up the stairs and have a look around which we were both gutted about. At least we had gone across though and had a wander in the grounds so we'd at least seen it!

Typically when you're trying to get back somewhere, the heavens opened as we were driving back to the hostel and my shorts and vest top were absolutely soaked through!

When we got back, we chilled out upstairs with some of the others who had put some tv shows on. A bit later on, Lucas and I got hungry again so we decided to try out Deus which is where on special taco Tuesday's they give out free tattoos when buying a taco on a first come first served basis. I had an iced coffee and a huge chicken burger with chips which was the bees knees and then we wandered around the Deus shop, picking up stuff we liked and working out whether we could afford it (definitely couldn't!)

We joined the others watching more tv when we got back and Lucas got into a conversation with a guy named Phillip (think he was Swedish) about the drugs he had taken and whether they were bad for you, why he does them etc. Turned into a bit of a debate about what was actually the gateway drug with Lucas and I saying we didn't do drugs so Phillip said it was difficult for us to make comment.

I was doing some blogging and trying to download some stuff on my iPad to watch at a later date and was very chilled. A couple of girls from Leeds/Bradford way were laying out on beanbags and Ben was about too. None of us fancied going out as we were happy chilling so Lucas went without us. I got chatting to the girls about their travels and they seemed really sweet although they were convinced Lucas was my boyfriend as we had spent so much time together. I told them we'd met in Ubud and he was like my little brother; we just got on well and had looked out for each other since the Mt Batur trek!

We all had an early night and when I went downstairs to go to bed, Ben was on the phone but stopped me to ask if a spider was crawling down the back of his tshirt; luckily it wasn't!

I woke up the following morning feeling sad knowing that I had to leave Bali but also excited to continue my adventure.

Lucas messaged to see if I was up and ready for breakfast as I'd said the day before that I fancied going to Café Organic, Garden Gangstas (same as the one in Seminyak). We waited for Jacob to join us and bumped into Ben in the lounge area and he said he fancied joining us so we waited on the sofas for him to shower and get ready.

The food didn't disappoint, just like last time! I had the potato rosti which was like hash browns topped with a poached egg, avocado, tomatoes and mushrooms. I washed it down with a cappuccino too which was just what the doctor ordered!

Originally, the plan had been to spend the day at the beach but by the time we got back from breakfast, I realised I really couldn't be bothered to get my bikini wet and then have to wrap it all up in my luggage for the flight. Having seen the place I was staying in Singapore online and knowing there probably wouldn't be a rail to hang it out on to dry, it seemed the best option so I went back and packed!

The rest of the day was spent chilling on the sofa with the others and we sat watching some TV and then put Anchorman on.

When that had finished, I popped out at about 3ish to get some lunch to tide me over until I got to the airport. The weather was looking pretty rubbish and I knew it was going to rain so I didn't go too far! I wandered along to Oka's Bakery which wasn't too far at all and ordered a breakfast wrap of egg, bacon, tomato and mushroom with orange juice and coffee. The coffee was far too strong to drink and the wrap wasn't amazing but it did the job of filling me up!

When I got back, I resumed my position on the sofa chilling in front of the telly. The internet dipped in and out when we were watching Notting Hill so it stopped working but luckily, that wasn't too long before I had to go!

At 6pm when all my bags were ready and packed, I called an Uber which should only have taken about 15 mins to arrive.

I went downstairs to say goodbye to Lucas, Ben and Jacob but none of them were around so I paid my tab and walked with my stuff to the top of the main road.

The Uber situation definitely wasn't as straightforward as it should have been as the taxi driver couldn't find me; apparently my location was a different road or something. Absolute mare and luckily where I was stood outside the bakery, I could connect to their wifi as I'd had the password earlier which enabled me to contact the driver. Just after 7pm, he rolled up and gave me some stick saying I'd given him the wrong location and I explained that the pin on Uber was set to the location I was at! I was just concerned there would be loads of traffic and I wouldn't make the flight.

Fortunately, it only took an hour and I was at the airport at about 8pm. Security was pretty quick and the queue wasn't too bad for immigration. After a quick stamp of the passport and a thank you to the immigration guy (Mi Casa in Indonesian or Souk sama in Balinese) I was through to Duty free. There was a lovely Christmas tree and funny signs in the toilets too!

I wandered around trying to find some reasonably priced food as everything was extortionate and ended up eating a beef teriyaki noodles dish which was actually surprisingly nice (better than I thought it would be anyway!)

I had free wifi so tried calling the grandparents but sadly they were out and mum was at work but I caught up with my friend Benjie to check he was ok after his op. I knew Rebecca was at work but I always like to call before I get on a plane because you just never know what's going to happen and it's always good to have a chat when you're hanging around! She'd stuck her headphones in which was quite funny because I could see her trying to tuck herself away at her desk so it wasn't so obvious and then her colleague asked her if she was talking to herself haha! Was great to catch up with her and see how she was and then I exchanged my remaining currency to Singapore dollars and made my way to the gate to board.

The plane wasn't too busy and I'd just settled myself in my seat and looked up to notice a familiar figure walking down the aisle. It was Sam from Puji Hostel in Ubud that I'd gone out on the sightseeing afternoon with! Was great to see him and ironically he was on the row behind me but to the right so we sat chatting for about an hour catching up on where we'd both been since Puji and our plans for the next few stops; was such a small world!

We each had three seats so managed to lay out and get a bit of kip during the flight before getting to Singapore in the early hours.

A quote to leave you on for the day: "Not all those who wander are lost."

Ciao for now xxx