Day 81 - updated

May 20, 2019

Today, we're going on another smaller hike through Ubud. Unfortunately, we can't really motivate ourselves until around noon, but then we dive right in. We book the bus from here to Padang Bai (a harbor on the east side of Bali, from where you can go to the Gilis and Lombok) and also find out how much the whitewater rafting costs, which you can see advertisements for on every corner. In the meantime, we continue to visit a few tattoo studios, but none of them really appeal to us - well, there's still time. After that, we head towards another 'green' path that leads us through a small, cozy residential area and then through beautiful rice fields - relatively short, but definitely worth it.

We get some refreshments from a street vendor who offers (what else) fried stuff - very tasty! We stop by another tattoo studio and I immediately feel the most comfortable there. The very likeable 'Tony' then advises me to wait until shortly before we leave Bali to get the tattoo, or as an alternative, to avoid strong sunlight and contact with water after getting it. Since the latter doesn't seem feasible, we heed his advice and decide to tackle the 'Tattoo' project at the end of our stay in Indonesia.

We return to our accommodation, relax for a moment, and then gather ourselves again to meet up with an acquaintance from our school days - Apparently, the probability of being at the same place at the same time in Bali is higher than running into each other somewhere in Germany (after all, our parents' houses are ten minutes apart by car). We agree on a restaurant that is positioned as fairly as possible between our two accommodations and meet there. Afterwards, we stop by a bar to have a drink and end the day. We talk about our travel experiences, current life situations, and future plans - a very social evening. We say goodbye and go back to our accommodation.

- Alex