Last days in Bali

 18/04/2013
 With only a couple of days left in Bali we need to get everything up to date with photos and the blog as we can see the days in K L being a bit hectic. Many hours later we had succeeded in sending the blog and one photo album with another made up ready before the bastard threw a hissy fit and packed up for the day. It would be really easy to say “bugger it, that’s it” but after two years of dedication we will see it through to the last day, even if I have to finish it off in Newbold.
  We are invited to Indys house tomorrow night for a Balinese farewell so tonight we did a pub crawl of our favourite bars finishing with a meal at our crispy duck restaurant Regina (we had pork again). Definitely need a Balinese cookbook!

19/04/2013
Everyone who visits Bali just has to have a massage. No matter where you are, in the street or on the beach, you will find women offering you a rub down with the mid week Bali News. Today Jane had her nails done whilst I put myself under the hands of a Balinese Ladies first XV front row forward who had extremely muscular thumbs! Never, will I ever, complain of a sore neck when in earshot of one of these monsters.
 Our visit to Indy’s parents home was a hoot and we loved every minute of it. Indy’s Mum ( Madi ) has only a little English but we managed to make ourselves understood. His Dad  ( Mani ), on the other hand, has lived and worked I Australia and his English is very good, so much so, you couldn’t shut him up. They fed us a typical Indonesian meal with lots of rice and noodles, chicken and goat satay with sambals. Food was served in in woven baskets with a paper or palm leaf liner saving on washing up later. After we had ploughed through the family photo albums Mani  decided on a musical evening so out came the DVD,s, music from his (and our) era. We had Elton John, when he had his own hair, followed by the Bee Gees, because he loves them, and could have had any amount of Beatles stuff. Mani knows the words to all the songs and sang along with them but he wouldn’t have any of that ‘American crap’ he said.
We had a lovely evening with a delightful Indonesian family and have made a good friend with Indy. Hopefully we will meet up again sometime.
Bali has it’s problems as it is a part of a third world country, but despite that, the people are as friendly and hospitable as you will find anywhere

20/04/2013
Leaving Bali didn’t exactly go to plan. On reaching immigration at the airport we were promptly arrested and marched off to an ante room were the immigration Gestapo slapped us with an 80000 Rupiah fine  and marched out. It seems we overstayed our 30 day visa by 2 days. We arrived on the 20th March leaving on the 20th April forgetting March has 31 days. We argued that it was only one day but they wouldn’t have it so we begrudgingly paid up and went off muttering about the injustice…….bastards!
Arriving in KL was a doddle clearing immigration and customs in no time. The airport here has a great system  for getting you to the city which combats rogue taxi drivers. In the arrivals hall you buy a taxi ticket then once outside you present your ticket to a flunky who calls up a recognised cab and away you go. It takes an hour to get to the city and during the drive we noticed how wide and clean the roads are with no potholes. They also drive on the proper side of the road as we do in the UK, Australia and Indonesia, though sometimes, in Indonesia it’s a job to know which side of the road is which. The millions of scooters are also missing and I actually saw drivers indicating, then doing what they indicated. Very civilised!
Our hotel is in the heart of Chinatown and quite good, very clean and well maintained though our room is small compared to the barn of a place we  had in Bali, the room doesn’t have a window, which is rather odd.
We mooched around the night market, which surrounds the hotel, here you can buy every conceivable brand name in clothing, handbags, jewellery, watches, DVD,s and much more……..all fakes of course. We ate in a typical Chinese eating house, good food, but fine dining, it aint! More exploring tomorrow.