15 June - Seminyak, Bali

Woke to another pleasant day, and breakfast by the beach. Today we were booked in for one of our complementary Spa treatments and at 11:00 we reported to the hotel's Spa facility. From the services available we had all chosen massages and what a treat that was. Relaxing on a comfortable couch in a softly lit room with 'mood' music playing we were all treated to a 1 hour foot and leg, and arm and shoulder massage delivered by beautiful Balinese girls. Who could have guessed that such delicate young women would have such strong hands. Unfortunately the hour passed all too quickly but we are booked in for the same again the day before we fly home. In the early afternoon we walked into Seminyak to change some of our Aussie dollars into Indonesian rupiah. A$100 gives you approximately a million IR. Took the opportunity while walking around to take some photos of the local like and buildings.

The streets are very narrow here and quite busy and the most common form of transport is the motor scooter. These can transport whole families, Mum, Dad and two kids in some cases. Initially the traffic looks quite chaotic but after a while you realise that it is actually very orderly. Everyone seems to treat everyone else on the road with respect and when as foreigners we want to cross a busy street someone will quickly stop the traffic and direct us across.

There are lots of Aussies here of course, but lots of people from all around the world.

The local people here are very friendly and so far we have encountered nothing but friendly smiles and hellos, with very little of the hard selling we've encountered in lots of other places.

The architecture is a real mixture, with luxury resorts and shops sitting alongside traditional homes, modern apartment buildings and local markets - lots to see and do.

The Balinese are predominantly Hindu, unlike the rest of Indonesia which is almost totally Muslim. Everywhere you look there are little Hindu shrines and statues.

This evening we had dinner in a place called Mrs Sippy, which is a beach club located next door to our hotel. It has a large swimming pool and all day long people lounge by the pool, drinking and eating with a DJ supplying non-stop music. We opted for wood fired pizza's and Bintangs.