Oily in Ubud.

The street hawkers were the most aggressive I have encountered in Lovina. Taking a leisurely stroll down to the beach beside the great big concrete dolphin required that you run a gauntlet of t-shirt sellers, dolphin-tour organisers, and magic-mushroom peddlers. Amazingly, magic mushroom is not illegal here and it is freely consumed by the locals. Even our driver offered to collect some for us, but noone (including myself) was interested. The first night in Lovina we all went out to a reggae bar packed with locals, and a band played passable bob marley and ub40 covers as we debriefed on the trip so far and considered the remaining days together. The atmosphere was later tainted by my decision to sample the Balinese specialty of wine made from coconut - arak - mixed with coke to become an 'arak attack'. The band played 'Land down under' and the the night deteriorated into expat antics. Back at the hotel I vomited into the mandi bucket, and was fine in the morning. Yesterday we visited a local market, and continued on to a waterfall. Stepping into the wrong part of the river below, my thong was broken as I pulled it out of the mud. Our guide promptly repaired it for me. Five minutes later another person did exactly the same thing. A thong stall would have good business there. Once safely into the water I bathed under the falls until the rain set in. From there we went on to the house of a small-scale coffee producer, saw his roasting and grinding machines, and bought some to send home. Last night we had a traditional dinner at the house of a local woman beside the beach - mostly seafood dishes sourced from the adjacent sea. This morning on the drive back to Ubud we stopped at Lake Bratan, where tourists traditionally have their photos taken with very sick-looking captive wild animals. One horn-bill looked like it was about to fall off its tiny perch. I bought yet another t-shirt to send home. Now, back in Ubud, I have just enjoyed a 60-minute massage for around seven dollars. All other members of the group have been doing this on a daily basis, but I have resisted the urge until now. In Bali apparently it is a bit hit and miss - others have wasted their money on one-handed rub-downs from a pregnant woman - but I found a good place. So I am all oily, sitting in my favourite old warnet, contemplating my plans for next week. I have decided to spend tomorrow night in Ubud, and then head down to Kuta for a couple of days before taking off for Java. It sounds like a very different place. Asking a taxi driver on my first day in Bali about Bungawungi (the ferry terminal in East Java), he said 'Lots of beautiful women there!!!'. I have sinced learned from our tour leader that most of Bali's prostitutes come across the strait from Bungawungi to drum up business. Oh well, it will be an experience... See you in Kuta.