Paradise regain'd

I woke up on Day 4 in Bali feeling positive, refreshed and ready to appreciate this place properly.

The stress of the first few days had made me slightly regret choosing a middle-of-nowhere retreat away from the tourist traps of Kuta and all its resident Australian surfer Michelangelos (referring to the annoying Ninja Turtle, not the Renaissance master). But now I knew I'd made the right decision - and was able to start appreciating the landscape, temples and paddy fields of West Bali that I'd previously been too preoccupied to even notice.

These aren't major tourist sights or anything - I'll deal with those when I come back in a few weeks. This place is Nowheresville, and that's why I like it.

Soka,

West Bali

Just how I like my beaches - treacherously jagged to keep the humans away

Srijong Temple

I wasn't allowed past here. What are they trying to hide?

Bat cave

I hadn't been expecting much from my afternoon trip to this nearby bat cave, which I figured would just be reconnaissance for a nighttime visit where I could struggle to take any decent photos with my rubbish camera. After all, bats are nocturnal, right?

That may be true for bats that live in caves that are actually dark, but luckily for me, these bats are kept awake around the clock by the din of crashing waves right outside their inconveniently excavated home, which meant I got to take some ever so slightly less blurry photos.

I didn't go too far inside, firstly because I didn't want to get covered in whatever it was that was making that overpowering smell (I could hazard a guess), and secondly because I don't have any kind of travel insurance, so it would be inconvenient if I got scratched/bitten and infected by a rodent that washes in its own piss.

Thirdly, because when any group of bats gets together, you can never be 100% sure one of them isn't Dracula.

You're really not getting the full sensory experience without the delightful smell and screeching din. But here's an extremely poor quality video to help your imagination along:

Misc wildlife

Larry past twelve

(I had about three regulars in here, but they were all named Larry for convenience)

Cowardly crabs

Tropical cow

I'm not sure that food's meant for you

This definitely isn't meant for you, sod off

Then again, the Soup Kepiting doesn't sound too appetising

All's "well" that ends "well" !!!!!!!!!!!

(See, I'm literally in a... oh, well screw you too)