#1998 Tuesday 31st December

We're  now sitting on the balcony in the early morning light..... watching the shadows creep down the valleys far below as the sun rises on the other side of the mountain. From here we can see all the way to the coast in the northwest...... and the sounds of the world coming to life drift over to us.   This is truly a magnificent place. 

The massage last night was incredible..... traditional, intuitive..... and hands of steel.

Here is a map showing where we are.... the Atres Siri is south of Munduk and on a high ridge.  It's a beautifully built place and I think we will be back here next year. 

It's now1pm and we're back in Sanur in the villa.  The trip back was another amazing adventure down from Atres Sari... then back up again through Munduk to the edge of Lake Batur. 

Then it was down the mountain to the city. 

               =====). SEE YOU NEXT YEAR. (======

#1997 Monday 30th December

After a night in Sanur we're off again.... We're going to spend one night.... or maybe two.... in Munduk. I haven't been there for years so it will be interesting to so if it has changed.

Kaylia is sleeping very soundly..... it makes her a "happy chappy" in the daytime so it's good.

For Christmas she got a good quality 10" tablet..... she loves it.  It has a huge battery so it's great that we don't have to charge it all the time.

1pm.... We've stopped at a warung on a high point on the road....

After a pleasant meal in the almost new place.... it only opened one month ago..... we resumed our trek up the mountain.  Both Made and I had opted to travel a back way to the place we are to stay..... and it turned into quite an adventure!  We drove up into the clouds and the rain poured down!  The road got worse and worse.  The car was sliding in mud and just when we thought we'd have to turn back.... the road became beautiful.  It was 2 km to the Atres Sari Resort. 

As we arrived the sky was bucketing down and we were soaked. 

#1996 Sunday 29 December

We're are leaving this delightful little spot this morning..... returning to Sanur.  Then tomorrow morning we will drive up the mountain to Munduck and stay there overnight.

We're quite impressed with the Sri Ratih and we've resolved that we would like to come here again next year.

On the drive from Ubud to Sanur, we stopped off at a couple of silverwork factories..... the first didn't interest us but we were very taken by the second.... Adipana in Celuk.  Both of us splashed out on jewelery that we liked..... it was expensive but memories can be at times.

(photos) 

#1995 Friday 27th December

Yesterday was very quiet..... a drive to Nusa Dua for lunch..... the drive along the toll road across the bay is always an experience.

Today we all slept in really late before packing for our drive from Sanur to Ubud. We're now at the Sri Ratih cottages.... a bit to the west of Ubud central....  near the Campuhan ridge walk.  It's a gorgeous spot with beautiful gardens and we will be here for 2 nights.

The drive up was torturous.... for a lot of the drive the traffic was less than walking pace.

#1994 Wednesday 25th December

Christmas Day!  Kaylia focuses on the unwrapping of presents. She doesn't get fussed about the actual gift itself.... it's the unwrapping process.....  although the packet of bath bombs was a big hit and she had to use them all at once in a Big bath.

For lunch we will go to one of the catered meals at a resort.

Later.... this was not very pleasant..... it was very noisy and hot.  But Kaylia thought it was fantastic! She was very excited to be able to help herself at the buffet.  I had thought that the food was un impressive..... then as we were leaving I spotted several tables of much more interesting foods.... too late. 

#1993 Tuesday 24th December

It's been a routine day..... drive in the morning and then a bath time and rest in the afternoon.  We drove across to Denpasar and then south down Jn Sunset..... looking for DVD shops! It's strange that these have almost disappeared. I'm not sure why.  It may be the effect of Netflix?

It's still very quiet..... few tourists..... but the traffic is just as bad as ever. 

#1992 Monday 23 December

Day 2.  One of Kaylia's favorite things is to go looking for Dvds...... and suddenly the supply has almost completely dried up!  We literally could only find one shop in Sanur where it used to be that there was a DVD shop every kilometer.  Today we drove into Denpasar to find one with the kids dvds that she likes. 

We're finding that many of the places we knew have closed up......  no tourists!  The place is very quiet. 

In the afternoon we introduced Kaylia to the delights of massage.  She doesn't say much but the fact that she didn't wriggle or try to escape.... it tells us that she liked it.