This is the general mail as my e-mail is cack at the mo!

Hi all,

well, we arrived in bali, and met up with ed and nikki who have been here for four days already, waiting with baited breath for the luxury stint in the hotel!! We went out for some cocktails for my birthday which was nice, and wondered around buying copious amounts of dvd’s!

As the hotel booking was in geoff’s name we headed there the next morning! It was pure luxury, all made of stone and set on the beach with wonderful views of the sea, a huge swimming pool, drinks bar in the pool, hot water (which we havn’t seen since home!), clean linen every day, and the hugest bath i have ever seen!!! Bliss!!!! Geoff and ed went to meet Allen and Rich from the airport, and ten days of fun and relaxation began!

Bali is hot, but not humid so we don’t sweat as much which is nice. Kuta is very built up and commercial, and is full of touts who are even more persistant than they would normally be on account of the bombing and therefore the lack of tourists. The beach is really nice, and i found it quite rafreshing to have cold sea for a change! We had a great few days doing tours of the island seeing temples and sights. We went white water rafting which was great fun, especially watching the boys in their own raft spending most of the time pushing each other out!!! Some days were spent by the pool rerlaxing, and we went to the local water park which we all enjoyed hugely. All in all a very pleasent time was had by all. Only one black mark for bali, and that was when we went to climb the volvano. The local guides charge an extortionate rate to walk up the mountain with you, so we decided to do it on our own. It does say in the book that the guides are pushe, but that was the understatment of the year!!! They were p[ositivaly agressive, threatening us and reving their moterbikes behind us, and then all ganging up at the start fo the walk. It was not that scary as we were all a couple of feet taller that them, but still not pleasent at all. We did not respond well to their threats, and would have walked on i think if geoff had not been feeling a little reponsibe for his brother, and not inclined top risk things. We tried to laugh it of, but these negative things unfortunately stick in the mind.

WE also had some very nice meals in classy restaurents – things such as steak, cocktails and wine went down a treat!!!

The inevitable day came when allen went home, and we got left with the terror, richard!!! Only joking, he has been very good company and is having a great time. We moved back into Kuta, waving goodbye sadly to ed and nikki who will be away for another year. Very sad as we have enjoyed bumping into them from time to time. Good luck in OZ guys!

The streets of Kuta and their questionable charm are begining to wear a little thin, so we are off to Ubud tomorrow to do a few courses! Hope all is well at home,

love Tanya