Monday morning with Chris in Seminyak Bali

The rainy season can give some people the impression that Bali is not worth visiting but since Chris arrived we have had lovely weather…if you don’t mind sweating a bit.

Morning and evening showers are the norm, but our days have been sunny and very enjoyable. I was half expecting to have to explain to Chris how things usually are but that’s not how its turned out, we haven’t used our rain gear once.

Sunday was spent at the house awaiting Sean’s arrival, I had no flight details so was expecting him anytime. Chris and I caught up on things and played some intense games of checkers( draughts). We were good sports and around 9pm I rode to Jl. Dhyana Pura to get us some indian take out from Gateway of India. Our meal was a chicken dish, a lentil dish, 2 large portions of rice, chapatis, naan and other condiments including onions and mint sauce for 70,000rp. It was fairly good. Gateway of India does a Sunday buffet for 45,000rp and is located next to Circle K.

My Monday started with a meeting with a local hotel manager followed by a visit from Kadek from Bali Land & Houses. I have been telling him my AC doesn’t work and he came by with some technicians, Nick and Nyoman. Murphy’s Law was in force today and as soon as I showed them how it wasn’t working it started working. They told me it needed cleaning and are currently doing that. I have a year lease and am responsible for some of the repairs. They wanted to refill the freon for 70,000rp but as I will be moving I said no thanks. My experience with the house is that it looks good, but the construction and fittings are flimsy. Some of my door handles are falling off and the sink leaks. Bear it in mind if you are thinking of renting a place over here that you will be frustrated at times with things breaking.

Chris and I just returned from Warung Gossip in Kerobokan. The food was great as always and I lent him one of my long sleeve shirts as we might go for a ride later and the sun does not agree with people from London.

We found out that Sean is arriving on Thursday and this frees us up to take a road trip tomorrow. I’ll rent a Toyota Kijang and invite BootsnAll member Erica who is in Ubud today. Chris and Erica are only here for about a week and the advantage of visiting Bali to say, Thailand is that they can have easy access to great beaches, temples, great food and nightlife. Hiring a vehicle is easy, with or without a driver and this gives you access to the more traditional areas. In Thailand the mountains are 600 miles from the islands which means planes internal flights.

More on our adventures coming soon.