Bali today. We did it on our own with a van and six of us for $20 each. The van did not really have adequate air conditioning so it was a little hot. I must say I don’t understand why Bali is so popular. The island is bigger than I anticipated and there are a lot of different areas and of course we could not see them all.

We headed for Ubud which is the place to visit. All the way to Ubud it was just really crowded, lots of traffic and quite dirty, lots of garbage around. I was surprised by this I had a different picture in my mind. In Ubud there were a lot of shops, I did buy one piece of jewelry and we visited the market. Just general junk stuff in the market as is normal. Then we visited one of the best hotels on the island Amandari. Minimum room is $650 a night. We saw a room that sells for $800 a night. The view over the mountain was beautiful and the hotel was laid out very nicely I just don’t see the value here for that kind of money though. The people are the highlight. At the hotel the staff were very warm and accommodating people, and the little children were delightful. I had a picture taken with what I thought would be one little girl but others ran over to be in the picture. Sweet kids and did not ask for money for the picture. It was quite refreshing. We then went to a look out point that was quite attractive. It was just a lot of driving. We were tired so passed visiting the temple and came back to the ship. Glad I have been to Bali and I think if you stayed here you may come to appreciate it more as you spend more time with the Balinese and not stray as far from the comfort of a luxury hotel.

Tomorrow Komodo Island. I have my fingers crossed we see one it is certainly not for sure we just go for a walk and cross our fingers.