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This has got to be the most random entry ever. Haha. I saw the pictures I’ve watermarked and uploaded for my Bali trip in my flickr, which reminded me that I still have unfinished business! LOL.

And no thanks to a series of other events that took place in the months after the trip, I couldn’t find time to update my blog as much as I wish I could.

From Part 2, I mentioned we were at the Uluwatu Temple. That evening, we stayed for the Kecak Dance performance, which was not part of our tour package (we had to fork out additional rups for that).

The traditional dance featured a group of people going like “ke-cak cak cak cak cak cak~… ke-cak cak cak cak cak~…” the whole time. I wasn’t following the story even though it was printed on a handout given to us at the entrance.

Later things got slightly more interesting when there was fire involved. Well, still, they say you haven’t really been to Bali if you haven’t been to Uluwatu, and you haven’t really been to Uluwatu if you haven’t watched the Kecak Dance. So…

After the dance, we were taken to Jimbaran beach for dinner. This, was part of the day’s tour package, but I didn’t expect the place to be so beautiful. Dinner on the beach, accompanied by live acoustic music, relaxing sea breeze and sounds of waves… it was just perfect.

The band was good. Seriously. They came over to our table and performed U2’s With Or Without You, which was awesome, especially in such atmosphere. We totally enjoyed our dinner that night. I wished we didn’t have to leave.

Beer was served at additional cost. We didn’t mind that at all. The night would have been incomplete without our regular Bintang. We chilled for a while before returning to our hotel. We had to leave quickly because we needed to get up at 1:45am, the next day. Here’s why:

A van picked us up at 2am from the hotel, and we were driven to the foothills of Mt Batur - an active volcano. We arrived around 4am at the chilly Mt Batur, and started trekking uphill in pitch-black darkness. Picture above was shot without tripod (hello we were trekking a volcano in a group), and photo brightness had been cranked up by using photoshop.

We arrived at our checkpoint-aka-lookout point at about 6am - just in time for sunrise! I must say that volcano trekking is not like ordinary tropical jungle trekking or hiking. It’s very very rocky and filled with loose small stones.

We were among the first groups that arrived. A few other groups arrived later. Temperatures were well around 20 degrees C, which was very, very cold. We waited patiently for the sun to come up.

Slow-shutter speed was necessary to capture these shots. I didnt bring along a tripod (I never liked lugging the tripod around with me everywhere I go), so I had to rest my camera on concrete surfaces.

The view from Mt Batur was truly magnificient. I’ve forgotten the name of the mountain that you see in the photo, which was at a distance away from Mt Batur. I think it’s Mt Agung if I’m not mistaken.

We met a friendly group of holidaymakers from Canada while we were on our way up. We spent the whole morning exploring Mt Batur, including peeking into its steaming crater. The other side of the mountain was an even larger crater, now a lake. It’s pretty magnificent.

After descending Mt Batur, the van took us back to our hotel. We slept during most of the 2-hour journey. This is another reason why I’d recommend you not to rent a car and drive on your own. Not only will you always need to refer to a map, you also don’t get to sleep because someone has to take the wheel!

That evening we returned to the beach, where Peikz decided to put on her surf suit and hit the waves. The rest of us laze on the beach a little bit and took lots of photos. Kuta beach was actually quite dirty and it was an eyesore to look at trash littered all over the beach.

Well, on a brighter side, at least you also get to see beautiful people on the beach. One thing’s for sure, Kuta Beach is very popular with tourists and locals alike, especially the surfers.

The following day we went on another tour to Nusa Dua for snorkelling, parasailing, and a visit to some animal farm where we could take photos with a snake, eagle, monitor lizard, bat, hornbill, turtles and more.

The entire trip to Nusa Dua covered all these activities, plus lunch too. I liked parasailing, although the ride felt like it was some kinda ripoff because it lasted barely 5 minutes!

Snorkelling in Bali is generally a bad idea. I’d return to Redang Island in Terengganu anytime. The water in Bali is dirty and the snorkeling area often has boats around (albeit with motors turn off).

In a nutshell, GO visit Bali! Only thing to take note is that, before leaving Bali, remember to keep about 150k rups cash for airport tax!

Related Entries:

• Bali, Indonesia (Part 2)
• Bali, Indonesia (Part 1)