Bali - more beaches around Uluwati and South Bali

Everyday was the more of the same: Food, Beach, Food, Beach, Food... Repeat!

All this shared with amazing company.

Besides Max, we had the lovely privilege to spend time with Frida and Anna our 2 new friends from Gothenburg.

A few things are worth mentioning:

- we saw a cobra crossing the road in front of us... I still have shivers in my spin just with the though of this. 

- monkeys are everywhere in South Bali. 

- police is corrupted in Bali. We got stopped on the side of the road and were ripped of around 20 euros for no good reason. While being "detained" were passing by next to us entire families without helmets ridding their bikes (imagine 4 human being going 60km/h without helmet... Safety first right!?

- the waves are BIG in South Bali and there is a lot of current, so we did not surf there. It is still possible to find beginner and intermediate level waves. We were happy to just enjoy the sun for once since we were not really lucky on that aspect throughout our adventures in Indonesia.

- beaches are amazingly beautiful in that part of Indonesia. We manage to see quite a few. Pandawa, Melasti, Nusa Dua, Uluwatu, Padang Padang, Thomas beach and my personal favorite: Green Bowl beach.

- I thought I had the best ever dessert in Ubud when I tried fried bananas with cheese... I was so wrong... The best dessert ever was to be found in Warung Lima close to the Uluwatu temple. This restaurant are cooking Spring rolls stuffed with bananas, chocolate and cheese.

Green Bowl Beach.

Sunset in Uluwatu.

Banana/chocolate/cheese spring roll.

Last night was great. Since Max and I were leaving Indonesia we decided to book ourselves a double room in a 4 stars hotel close to the airport. Needless to say the service was quality special, the swimming pool very much appreciated :D

Friends in the pool, doesn't get any better than this...

A bar in the pool is better :)

Reception woke us up as requested at 5am, transfer service took us to the airport at 6... it was time to say goodbye to my partner in crime Max. We had 3 wonderful weeks travelling together. He will be travelling 5 more months but I am sure that we will finally be playing Tennis this summer in Switzerland. 

For me, this was back where it all started a bit more than 2 months back, in Kuala Lumpur.

A last night in the same place I had my first night in Asia, a few new "last minute friends", one last "I met you 2 weeks ago in Canggu, isn't it", one last kebab, one last beer with great conpany (a very very odd Kronenbourg!!!), one last Taxi ride. It is time to go home and be thankful :)

What goes around, comes around. Last night in Bukit Bintang food market in Kuala Lumpur.

Bohol - Discovery nature and local wildlife

On the 6th of January, Jeroen Andres Delphine and I took on a private tour to go on the main island of the area: Bohol. The schedule ranges from hiking up the Chocolate hills to feeding monkeys.

Our first stop takes us to a Tarsier sanctuary. The tarsier is a very small animal that mostly lives at night. Its main peculiarity is mohave eyes 150 times bigger than its brain. It feels like the little buddy can see through you when staring at you.

A Tarsier.

Bohol is a rather large island located in the center of the archipelago and it takes us quite a ride to head toward the main attraction of the day: The Chocolate Hills.

Before getting there however we find ourselves hoping on a cruise buffet ship on the local river. The ride is beautiful and we get a glimpse at the local culture. Autochtones are bamboo dancing while we stuff ourselves with delicatessen from the region.

We got back to our car to get to the very center of the island and finally get to the infamous Chocolate hills. these hills get their name from the browny color of the burn grass in the end of dry season. Nothing remotely brown for us. The place is as green as it gets. The area is enjoying more than 1200 of these perfect domes that look more like camel backs than pill of chocolate to me.

A few of the hundreds of "chocolate hills".

It is already the middle of the afternoon and a few more stops are schedule. Chronologically we went:
- monkey feeding
- posing with pythons
- photographing some rise plantations
We skipped the butterfly park and preferred having a ice coffee in the city close to our resort.

My new friend is very curious with the GoPro.

I look rather relax. Let's be clear... I am not.

We were back to Panglao right after sunset.
Time for me to head to the local hospital for a great great piece of news: I would get ride of all my dressing and be freed from that daily time consuming activity.

I am truly stoked by the relative freedom and increased confort I am feeling all of a sudden.

The next day I decide to go back to Cebu to collect my race package for the Cebu half marathon taking place on the 8th of Jan for which I have registered for couple of months ago.
I will decided at the last moment if it is reasonable for me to actually run the event or take it easy discovering the city.