10 miles from Gili Aer we were motoring along nicely, when from nowhere again came strong headwinds . What it was a 2 hour trip to get to the anchorage turned out to be 4 hours and a lot of fuel to plough through. No need to say that we were completely fed up. Eventually we limped in and picked up a mooring buoy, the anchorage was very calm despite the strong winds. It was time to catch up with Pete and Fliss, also anchored at the bay. We haven't seen them in a very long time. It turned out to be a huge piss up and by the end of the evening we were singing along with the call for prayers from the mosques!!!

19th September

Lombok is partly Hindu and Muslim, with a lot of Balinese architecture, legacy of the time when Bali controlled Lombok. We had a drive around the island: up to the monkey forest, where miniature baboons can be fed with peanuts. But you have to be so careful because this cheeky monkeys snatch the whole bag and run off with your peanuts. The island if full of paddy fields, and interesting little villages. Sengiggi is the touristy beach, but still very pretty with the Balinese hotels. The 5 hours trip also included a well awaited stop in a western style supermarket- first time we bought meat since arriving and the Bintang distribution centre- Bintang is the local beer (too drinkable!). The trip cost us £10!!!

20th September

The way to go around the island is by mopeds, the locals drive around with them and it is very cheap on fuel. We hopped on one and had it for 8 hrs. We headed to the Sengiggi Beach. Maybe because its the quiet season or result of the Bali bombings, the resort looked like it had, it's heydays. Many of the resorts and restaurants were shut for good, or up for sale. Unfortunately there are many street vendors selling fake Rolex and the likes, which is not  a problem, but they wont leave you alone! We got followed around town by one of these guys, very difficult to keep your cool. Just after Sengiggi is the Botu Bolong Hindu temple, stunningly built on cliffs. Long time ago, young virgins were sacrificed here for the gods. We paid a donation to enter the temple and had to wear a yellow sash. Who knows what happens with the donation as the temple is filthy, with plastic bags and rubbish even around altars! Then we headed for the market and bough really cheap sarongs, fisherman pants and t-shirts.  Eating out is cheaper then eating on the boat, sound by us, the food is fantastic. The only detail is that food must be eaten with right hands, not as easy for the lefthanders like me!

22nd September

Again we tried to check in, although there are immigration & customs office here, other yachts checked in and had lots of problems: Customs asked a bond of 25% value of the boat, money that would go missing here in Indonesia... after much negotiation Customs dropped the charges. So we were quite hesitant to see Officials here but in other hand, didn't want to go to South Bali (Benoa marina) due to strong headwinds. Dealing with the Officials turned out to be smooth, nobody asked us anything besides the Harbourmaster. He kindly asked for a gift. Between 2 boats we handed a note of 50.000 Rupiah about £4, but the man wasn't satisfied with that... I couldn't hold my irritation with the shameless faced official. It wasn't the money, but the principal, besides that, money goes a long way here... Another 50.000 Rupiah later he let us go, shook our hands, a gesture I did with great displeasure. Finally after being 1 month in the country we are legal!!! But this is Indonesia...

25th September

Lovina Beach is a quiet decadent resort in Northern Bali. We decided to head here because sailing to South Bali was impossible due to strong SW winds, this place looked a great base to leave the boat and  explore inland. After 70 miles, we arrived just as sun was going down. We heard from Ben that there is a free Legong dance presentation on the beach, but we were to tired to make it.

27th September

Although touristy, the resort has a nice feeling, not so busy or over crowded and plenty of Balinese houses. The town is spread out but divided, one side is Hindu and the other side is Muslim. The Muslims want to outgrow the Hindus, the way they are going about it is procreating.

28th September

For the first time in ages, we felt like on a proper holiday. We are constantly keeping an eye on budget and doing things cheap, but here we can even afford some serious pampering: Graham had a 1 hour full body massage for £3.00 while I had a pedicure for £2.00.

29th September

Together with Pete and Fliss, Carola, Ben and their kids, Lisa and Niles, we rented a people carrier to go to Ubud.  Ubud is 3 hours drive,in the mountains and is the centre of Balinese arts and  architecture.  It is possible to partake many courses including cookery, massage and meditation. But we came here just to have a wonder around and see temples. Our driver was Nyoman, very nice and friendly. Enroute to Ubud he drove us to a Buddhist Monastery. Followed by coffee production house, where we were showed the stages of roasting the grains. We stopped at some rice paddy fields, then through the liveliest and happiest funeral we experienced. Here death is not a final departure, so after the burial and a grieving period, the family celebrates the deceased's life and achievements, according to the Balinese Hindu traditions. 

Before lunch we had some close encounters with the local wildlife. On the roadside, a hut had a variety of animals up for some close encounters. Pete and Fliss were the bravest: at one point Pete had a mongoose on his neck and a fruit bat on his hands. Then he swapped those for a huge snake and a chameleon.

Mid afternoon we arrived in Ubud and found a home stay for the night. Dinner was at the home stay, the owners produced a buffet of 17 Indonesian dishes, it was fabulous all for £2 per person.

30th September

The home stays alone are part of the Balinese experience. For 2 days we lived in a Balinese house with the family. The houses have a front door that leads to a patio. The kitchen and living room are open plan  and faces the patio. The altar and the praying area are on the back.  The bedrooms are the only area we had no access to. The huge house belonged to a family of 30 people including grandparents, cousins, uncles. Everybody has a duty, including the elderly who would sweep the floor in the morning or make the offerings for the Gods.

Another very interesting part of the culture are the offerings for the Gods. This small parcels made from banana leaves were filed with flowers,  grains of rice, biscuits. Three times a day somebody would come with a tray with the offerings, scented water and incense. Place in the altar, sprinkle water over the parcels and light the incense whilst doing the prayer. It was a beautiful ritual to watch.

Ubud itself was a bit disappointing, extremely busy with cars, tourists and motorbikes. The surroundings are nice though. We walked in paddy fields and the scenery is beautiful.

In the evening we watched an Indonesian dance. It told the story of fight between good and bad spirit, with dragons and kids dancing. 

02nd October

Sadly we are leaving Bali feeling very disappointed. Although the island is interesting we just got tired of being ripped off and hassled . The Indonesians are too greedy,  it seems that they take pride on stealing as much as they can. We have to be on guard full time, check every bill meticulously, negotiate every cent, hope that they don't mix water with diesel, check and count every item of laundry, deal with the street sellers who are pushy and don't understand the word NO. It is not fun any more. The result of this is that we are cutting our stay short and heading straight to Malaysia. 

21th October

Currently in Batam, last stop in Indonesia before Malaysia.  The last 12 days we cruised around the Riau group and islands off the Coast of Java together with Yacht Nadezdha. Nice deserted and idyllic islands, the few locals we encountered were a joy, not spoilt by the tourism. Unfortunately the autopilot is broken so we rushed through a bit, as we were hand steering the last 800 miles. Coming closer to Singapore the waterways got extremely busy, one night on passage we were surrounded by about 30 squid fishing boat. They all have big spotlights to attract the squid, at times we felt like being in the middle of a huge football stadium ! Not to mention the cargo ships. Catching a fish for us is impossible, these waters have been fished out to the bottom.