After our five day in Medana Bay on Lombok Island where we enjoyed a cultural performance and gala dinner as part of the rally, we set sail for Lovina Bay, Bali. Due to lack of wind once again, we motored all the way, but made it in time for a safe entry between two coral reefs into the bay, late afternoon. Lovina Bay is an official rally stopover, so tomorrow is the start of the festivities which include more cultural performances and another gala dinner at one of the restaurants that line the beach here. This particular restaurant is owned by an Australian and has apple crumble on the menu, much to Bern's delight! On Sunday we took a trip by car to Ubud situated in the foothills of southern Bali and about 25kms north of the capital Denpasar. It was a little more 'touristy' than we expected, but surrounded by beautiful green rice paddy fields so it seemed more rural than urban. The drive across the steep mountain range that separates the south from the north side of the island is quite spectacular with great views down into the valleys and across to terraced rice paddy fields. Being a 2 1/2 hr trip we had a night off the boat and stayed in a hotel made up of separate bungalows set in lush tropical gardens in the centre of Ubud. We dined in one of the many good restaurants there and managed to find a great bakery serving lates and selling very good bread. We have found the Indonesian style of bread to be light ,fluffy and very sweet. While there we also experienced a night of torrential rain and can now understand why Bali has such lush tropical growth with much land used for market gardens and rice growing. As Bali is about 85% Hindu there are many ornate temples to visit with enormous statues of various gods and mythical animals. The Hindu's daily devotion to their Gods involves quite a ritual. Small bamboo boxes containing perfumed frangipani of various colours, maybe some rice or other food and a burning incense stick are placed on the footpaths outside homes and shops or at altars made up of a statue and a place to hold the offerings. Most shops have an altar and of course all the homes have one. At certain times of the day a small ceremony is performed. A young girl carrying a tray of these packages, will place each one of them at various points around the outside of buildings and inside at the altar. While doing so, she waves her hand with a piece of frangipani between fingers over the offering, as if giving a blessing. The ceremony is very quiet and graceful.. I think the smell of incense and frangipani will always remind us of our visit to Bali. We returned once again by shuttle car Monday afternoon and during the trip frequently had our 'hearts in our mouths' as the driver, an Indonesian version of Michael Schumacher, negotiated the winding roads and sharp bends back over the mountains. Most Indonesians seem to use a motor scooter for their own personal use, as well as, the whole family transport, so the roads are full of them. Many are loaded to the hilt with all manner of things. The young children are not bound by law to wear a helmet so they look very vulnerable riding along squeezed in between their mum and dad who are both wearing one! We will be here till the end of the week, then we will head north again to Kumai in Kalimantan.