Day 53, Ubud to Kuta, Bali

Our last morning in Ubud so we decide to take the walking track along the river for a last amble through the countryside.

A short taxi ride and we are at the start of the track where we are of course accosted by a young man shouting “Scuse me sir, you need a guide?”

Dave: “Is ok, we don’t need guide” (Adopting pigeon English he saves for moments like this.)

Young Man: “Yes sir, I think you need guide, very good price”

Dave: “ I said no”

The young man is accompanied by Alex from Sussex who now lives in Italy (she works at a very exclusive winery too). She explains that she has already hired him so we negotiate him down from 150,000 to 100,000 rupiah for all three of us (about seven quid).

It turns out to be one of our most memorable mornings in Bali and the young man’s name is Gusti. He leads us through jungle and rice fields. Makes us wade across the river and cross it again balancing on two logs that serve as a bridge. We laugh and joke and and stop to gasp at a snake eating a frog.

We finish the walk two hours later at Made’s Warung overlooking the rice fields for one of the best lunches we’ve had and thank Gusti heartily for our fabulous morning – we all agree to pay him the 150,000 rupiah he wanted originally with lunch thrown in for good measure.

Gusti makes his living by waiting at the start of the track to guide tourists along this magnificent walk that we wouldn’t have been able to do without him as we would have got hopelessly lost. At 22 years old he is the breadwinner of his house and looks after his parents and pays for his younger brother’s schooling. It serves as a reminder that the Balinese are gentle, generous and kind people. So if you’re ever in Ubud and fancy tracing our footsteps let us know and we can give you Gusti’s number.

We’ve really enjoyed your company too Alex - enjoy your last few gin and tonics in Bali and we’ll see you in Tuscany.

And then it was back to chaotic Kuta and we return to the hotel we stayed at when we first arrived to a warm welcome from the staff who are glad to see us again. We say goodbye to Bali where we began by watching the sun go down over the hprizon while drinking an ice cold Bintang.