As our trip had to be curtailed due to pending work
commitments in Auckland, we decided that returning to Asia would be a good way
to wind down and soften the blow of hitting the real world again. Singapore
brought out the inner child in us as we headed to the Zoo. Lions and tigers and
bears (oh my!) plus many other animals made the jetlagged early start very
worthwhile.
Bali, although more chaotic, was a familiar haunt and once
again we were lucky enough to be well looked after by Laura’s brother Michael.
We hired a scooter and relived our South American days driving 1.5 hours north
to the village of Sidemen, tucked amongst rice paddies and stands of coconut
palms. Here we visited the tiny village
of Telengis and saw the community centre (Banja) which was built with money
that Michael had fundraised in NZ. It contains a medical clinic and soon to be
opened pre-school. Sami, our local contact, was a great host and took us around
several schools in the area – even taking advantage of our English to try out
some of the older students' language skills. Later in the evening we went for a
wander through the village to meet the locals, coming back with giftbags full
of fruit and stomachs full of Bali Kopi (coffee).
We are writing this back on the coast in
Seminyak, from one of Michael’s luxury villas. Soon we will head out for what will be our final meal in Bali. Our amazing adventure is fast drawing to a close and despite
knowing that the next few years at least will be heads down with study, work
and mortgages, it is hard not to be planning our next adventure already. With
so much of the world yet to explore and so many people to meet the only way to
console ourselves is to know that someday we will be off exploring again.
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