Suppose we better see some of Bali

Today we hired a driver to take us around some of the sights in Bali we want to see for 10 hours ending the trip at the airport. In hind sight this might not have been the best thing to do before a 1 am flight but we did see some pretty cool things. We started our day early to make sure we had time for breakfast and get our bags finished before the driver arrived. When checking out the card machine wasn't working to pay for today and our laundry we had done so our first stop with our driver was to an ATM. We set off after paying and luckily we had our books with us from the boot as it took over 2 hours to get to the rice fields that we wanted to see. The drive up the hills to get there provided some breathtaking scenery and we were shown the many different types of fruit and vegetables grown here. The rice fields were incredible. Thousands of shelf platforms built into the side of the hills that are all maintained by hand. They are using some modern equipment like a grass trimmer but this is still being operated by hand. One of the highlights was when we met a farmer who was ploughing one field using a water buffalo and a spiral plough that he turned through the mud as they walked together. He was knee deep in mud and barefoot, there was no point in wellies really. He was kind enough to let me take photos as he worked. Other tourists tend not to ask before taking a photo, almost as if they forget they are people or feel it's their right to. I always try to remember to ask. We walked down the valley and up the other side before returning to our driver for another long drive to visit a temple. The temple is on the lakeside and has a monument that is in the water. The cloud had descended so usually there would be the huge commanding volcano behind it but sadly we only saw the bottom of it. By this point we were already feeling the exhaustion and wondered how'd we'd make it to 1am. Another long drive later and we visited a garden the driver had recommend that had a temple in the middle surrounded by a wall and moat, you could see in but not enter. It felt a more genuine place of worship becuase of this restriction to not let everyone walk in their holy place. After we finished exploring it was gone 6pm and we'd told the driver 9pm for the airport so we set off with him saying it will take that long. We read the whole way so we were not paying attention to the road and at 7:30pm as he was driving into the airport itself he alerted us of this and asked if that's okay. He was paying for the entrance fee to come into the airport as he asked. Rather annoying really because we would of asked to be taken somewhere to have tea first if we had known but at that point when he's already paid to get in we felt we had to be okay with it. We treated his £10 for the hour and a half we didn't get as his tip to himself. We had at least until 11pm until we'd be allowed to check in so we checked out everyone food place and came to same conclusion, that it's all a rip off. But we had to eat. In the end Nick had a curry, what he's had everyday for about 2 months, and I had a sausage in a roll with caramelised onions and chips. We sat around waiting, brushing our teeth, I finished my book and then finally our flight was on the board to check in. It was a rapid check in process as we were one of the first in the queue but immigration took longer and I had some rude Chinese women behind me who didn't understand personally space. They were stood pressed against me and my backpack and even at the end pushed in front of us which by this point I was not having so as we moved I pushed us back in, I was too tired for their level of rudeness. We made it through and now the wait continues, until 1am! Send help, and energy!Read more