Poring @ Kinabalu's feet (8 Dec)

Late arrival at Poring at the foot of Mount Kinabalu, in po(u)ring rain :-). Next day we set out for the Hot Springs park. A human zoo of families enjoying the many hot & cool pools.

Lilou was not feeling the best with a tummy ache and very low energy; but we still managed to drag her to the bamboo forest, the run down & disappointing tropical and orchid garden.

After a nice relaxing lunch, Lilou's energy was a bit up and she followed to the nice butterfly garden & finally a busy but fun canope walk.

Can you spot the huge yellow butterfly that we mistook for a bird initially?

Is Kim afraid of hights or what?

Kota Kinabalu (KK) - 6 & 7 Dec

Our apart-hotel in KK was much larger than our apartment in Paris, but space isn't everything ! Even the air con didn't quite manage to cover an unplesant mouldy smell but we still had a good night sleep until 10:30 am when we were ready to hit the town. KK is a city under construction with old crummy parts and brand new buildings mushrooming all over; the pict below summarize the situation quite well.

We organised our next few days with the very helpful lady of the Information Center; an then had a real tourists day with the museum, the market and the waterfront on the menu.

Next morning, on the 7th, we set off quite early to go to one of the islands off KK: Mamutik. Looks like paradise on the pictures below but the tiny island was covered with tighly packed tables & chairs for a hord of Chinese tourists. Luckily they didn't venture much further than a few meters from the shore, wearing their life jackets (quite a sight), so we were able to do a bit of good snorkeling and sunbathing despite the density of population :-) Benoit also had a play with his sunnies to get those amazing sea colour effects while we hold the moutains, in turn.

By 16:45 we were in a reasonnably priced taxi to Ranau, our next stop for the next couple of nights.

Last days in Bali- 3 to 5 Dec

On December the 3rd, we woke up at 5:30 am, got a knock on the door as a kind reminder at 5:50 and were rushed to a small fishing boat for what seemed a very important event where every second counted...Yeah, right! In fact an entire armada of boats (15 or so), full of expectant tourists, set out at dawn in a pathetic 2.5 hours chase after a few dolpins (3 or so) carefully avoiding us and our cameras. No competition to Kaikoura, but a good lesson for tourists like us and tour operators; who I am sure sponsored the construction of the Dolphin statue (pictured below) in superstitious belief it would prevent the dolphins from taking the business elsewhere !

But the boat ride was pleasant enough and we even had a little adventure on the way back as our boat towed another similar embarcation which had broken its propeler; a first for all of us!

The remainder of the day was spent resting in the magnificient tropical garden and swimming pool of our stylish balinese style hotel (Nirwana Seaside Cottages). Our connecting rooms had a splendid view of the pool but roaming the premises to check out the sculptures, fountains adorned with flowers, the carved furniture, etc was my main occupation of the day; what an inspiration.

Benoit drove us back to Ubud in no time at all; there, Made-Uni had arranged for a driver to take us to Kuta-Seminyak for our last night and bring the rental car back to Ubud. What a business woman and kind heart! In Kuta, our hotel was pretty good and the girls enjoyed the pool... but the beach was plain ugly, filthy actually and dangerous to swim. The shopping wasn't any different to Ubud unless one was after branded clothes (or cheap counterfeits) but we still managed to spend a bit of time and money there. A last lunch on the beach in a welcomed breeze and bye, bye Bali.

The 16:15 plane for Kuala Lumpur (KL) imposed a tiring wait from 19:15 to 22:00. Luckily the girls slept on the flight from KL to KK (Kota Kinabalu) where we arrived at 00:45 on the 6 Dec, already exhausted by too much holidaying (lol).

From Munduk to Lovina - 2 Dec

An easy and beautiful road takes us from Munduk to Lovina with many temples and rice fields to admire on the way...

At Banjar, two tourist attractions not to be missed: the buddhist temple (that we manage to visit in scorching heat for a change) and natural hot springs where we take a quick dip in sufur smelling waters before the rain catches up with us.

On our way to the quaint Nirwana Sea Cottages (our accomodation for 2 nights) we spot a sign with Carrefour at Singaraja! A pre-taste of France (not quite in reality) that we can't resist. My former Aldata colleague will appreciate, I am sure.

Munduk, lake district

Benoit, the master of the Balinese roads got us out of Ubud in less than 45 minutes, breaking his all time record and we were in Puri Alam Bali at Munduk for lunch ! In the afternoon of November the 30th, we visited lake Tamblingan and its flooded temple, were invited to tea by a local fisherman and enjoyed the scent of datura flowers on the way.

Next lake to the West and next temple at Bratan, at dusk, all by ourselves... dauntingly beautiful scenery.

On Saturday the first of Dec, just after breakfast taken at the "roof restaurant with a view" we set out for a small trek or long walk of 3.5 hours to discover the sourroundings of Munduk. Splendid vegetation; our guide showed us cocoa, duriam, cloves, avocado, mango, pineapple, banana; not to mention the flowers, colourful insects, etc. The target of the trek was a couple of magnificient waterfalls; of which one was "swimmable" an opportunity Kim and I could only seize. The afternoon was busy for Benoit who had a massage (Shiatsu) and a Balinese cooking lesson; the output of which we had for diner! Yum... What a day!

Ubud, day 4, by foot

29 Nov: a much deserved car free day for Benoit. We actually walked in Ubud, ignoring the 100th of calls for taxi, massage and "good price for you" souvenirs! First visit to the sacred monkey forest... set in a beautiful temple dedicated to a monkey god. Those little deitiest have a keen sense for finding bananas right into your bags.

Then a visit to the Puri Lukisan museum displaying traditional and comtemporary Balinese art (not the handicraft for tourists).

We got it right this time for both lunch and dinner... The setting of the Lotus cafe with a view on a lotus filled pond and a temple in the background was very pleasant.

I treated the girls to a couple of hours at the small but pleasant pool of the Adi Cottages down the road from Pramesti.

Finally, we couldn't leave Ubud without going to a Kecak show... weird and wonderful (but still a wee bit too long for our westerners ears).