Temple of the Cosmic Buddha - Borobudur

No trip to Indonesia would be complete without visiting Borobudur, a Buddhist temple in central Java.

















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What I Learned In Bali, Indonesia

What I learned in Bali was that the greatest place to visit and stay for weeks was Ubud. The culture is so rich with dancing and music and the arts. It was a great experience for my daughter Aimee, who was turning 9 when we were there. We had a big party for her. When I took her out of school months previously her principal said 'but she won't be getting an education for a year!' My only reply was 'Culture? Language? History? Geography!' She experienced it all travelling throughout Asia. I think children should visit other countries, because it's well worth it. Maybe as adults they would be more tolerant of other cultures.










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Most of the kids learned Balinese dance, and it was amazing the way they curled their fingers almost backwards.





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Aimee's 9th birthday.

Bali High - Kuta, Sanur, Ubud

Bali. What a gorgeous little island. The Balinese? Fabulous people. From Suryaba on the mainland Cameron, Aimee and I took a bus to Denpasar, Bali. The bus ride from Suryaba was the most terrifying I've ever experienced with the bus driver in some kind of majorly hurry to get on schedule. All of us were praying that we'd get there in one piece. Cameron went up to film the driver; he thought it was all in good fun, but then I already knew by then that he was insane. I don't know how I've managed to make it through to now with all the crappy bus rides I've been on.

From Denpasar we took another bus to Kuta, the main party central in Bali, where you can buy everything from leather goods to cheap imitation Indonesian prints for next to nothing. There were just loads of Australians there getting drunk. We got rooms at the Bali Dwipa Guest House for a good deal. It started to rain while we were there, and it never stopped. The roads were flooded out one night. I loved it though, because I love thunder storms.

I only stayed in Kuta a few days because although the shopping was fantastic, it was just too crowded with drunken 20 something or others.






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Here's Aimee heading into the temple with all the other ladies but they wouldn't let her in, Balinese only. The monkey sitting on his platform was stuck there all day, with nothing to do, chained up. It was pretty cruel the way they treated some of their 'pets' and I wanted to let him go. He was pretty sad.