Hey Bali

From West to the East. From 36°F to 32°C. The rain's similar, except Bali's raindrops are warm and fat. It doesn't feel too bad getting soaked. When the sun comes out in Bali, it's blazing hot. When I got back to Singapore to quickly swop out suitcases, it was so fast to pack for the tropics, including hiking poles, climbing gloves and head lamps.

It's been a long time since I last stepped into Bali. There's a new-to-me highway leading out of Denpasar, and a brand new international airport. Look hard enough, and even Bali has something to offer returning visitors. The last trip was mainly to check out Taman Nasional Bali Barat (West Bali National Park) and the surrounding area. This one is going to be a lot more focused on the sea and the active volcanoes. I really want to trek them before their next eruption. The Pacific Ring of Fire seems to be awakening. Am really glad that our flight in wasn't interrupted by thick columns of volcano ash from other volcanic eruptions. (Obviously we aren't bothered about the flight out. Hahaha.)

This round, we chose to stay at Sanur and not move here and there. Sanur is a convenient point to Nusa Lembongan and Gili islands without staying over. Best decision ever. No white sand on its beaches, but that's not a dealbreaker. It's far less crowded and not as chaotic as Seminyak, Nusa Dua and Kuta. Whewww. At least traffic isn't horrendous unless we're heading to those party venues. Dunno how businesses in Sanur feel, but fewer tourists are always good for us who prefer a quieter area. That said, we bought three bottles of whisky from Changi duty-free. Hurhurhur.

Looking forward to a number of easy dives and long treks. Bedtime's gonna be by 10pm, and we'll be up by 6.30am. On three nights, we'll have sleep by 8pm and wake by 1am to do the night treks to the volcanoes to catch the sunrise at 6am.