Bali, Indonesia

Finally arrived in Bali, with a slight delay, and I was lucky and found my friend Manu before passport control. Since it was almost midnight, we had booked a hotel at the airport for the first night. After instant noodles and a shower, we went to bed. The next morning, we picked up our rental car at the airport and drove to our Airbnb house on the west coast of Bali. The drive turned out to be a big challenge, as besides driving on the left side of the road, Bali also has quite a traffic chaos. Without rules, everyone drives as they please here, the roads are partly extremely narrow and more suited for scooters than cars. Between the cars, scooter riders swarm like a huge ant colony. Overtaking also happens before curves, relying on the other person to brake. Although I was only a passenger, the approximately three and a half hour drive really exhausted me. But we had a beautiful house with a pool and a great view of the sea. In front of it, there was a meadow with a cow that we named Paula, and three dogs, Satu, Tiger, and Brownie. We had our own masseuses and a cook, who cooked for us twice in the evening. For one day, we drove by car through many small villages to a waterfall in the mountains. Then it rained, and unfortunately, we couldn't get to the waterfall because of the dense jungle, only saw it from a distance. So, we visited another one instead. During our day trip to Ubud, we had a small accident and a truck brushed against us while overtaking, causing the side mirror to come off. Fortunately, it only cost us €25 at the car rental. In Ubud, we visited the monkey park. There, another monkey attacked me, trying to steal my camera from my bag. The car rides were quite exhausting, so we pampered ourselves with pool sessions, beach walks, and massages;-) After four nights in the house, our first part of the Bali trip ended. Next, we're heading to the Gili Islands, Gili Air near Lombok.