Bali is about three times the size of Mauritius.
We're based in Ubud for the first four days. Ubud is inland, in a hilly area, and is the cultural centre of Bali. If you've read (or seen) Eat, Pray, Love, it's where the writer's Indonesian sojourn takes place. We're staying in a villa, owned by an ex-colleague, about two kilometres outside the town. Wayan, the house manager, met us at the airport. The drive to Ubud from Denpasar Airport takes about an hour.
It's been a steady 30 degrees, quite humid and a little stormy. Here are some initial photos, to set the mood, from our first day in Bali. Note the gorgeous frangipani and hibiscus flowers that were placed around the pool in our villa for our arrival.
And before long, Smuts was in the pool with a Bintang.
We had dinner at a lovely little local restaurant. This is Indonesian rijstaffel: beautiful pork and fish satays and sambals, fish, chicken coconut curry, noodles, rice. The standout dish was the beef curry. Indonesian beef curry is often made with dried beef -- not quite biltong, but beef that's been dried enough to have texture. The curry is hot and sweet and totally delicious. (We also had some extra prawns grilled on the spot, but resisted the fresh lobster and crab because we will be in Jimbaran in a few days' time.)
More about our Bali travels in the next day or two.
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