Back to Bali - this time Ubud

I had to haggle hard with the bemo driver to take us to Mataram so we could get a connection to the ferry departure point at Lembar, but at least he agreed to drive there directly without the usual stopping to pick up other passengers. At Mataram it was fairly easy to get another taxi to Lembar, although in general it seems that short-distance public transport in Bali and Lombok is rare if not non-existent. The bemos seem to have disappeared or are not too common, with agency-sold shuttle buses and taxis being the only way to get around - which of course leaves you wide open to being ripped off all over the place.

Anyway, we got to the harbour at Lembar very easily and quickly, and without getting ripped-off much. The ferry ticket was straightforward as we'd gotten the ferry to Lombok in the first place, so I knew the correct price (although I actually got the tickets from a very suspicious-looking tout right in front of the official-looking ticket collector dude).

The ferry was another easy, relaxing crossing. But at Padang Bai I couldn't see any sign of a local bus, or a bemo or even an official taxi to take us to Ubud. Luckily an English couple approached us and asked if we were heading to Ubud, and so together we managed to negotiate a decent price with an unofficial taxi guy (of course he tried to mess us around on the price, but thankfully the English couple knew the ropes and played the 'walking away' game very well). So again we were in a comfy taxi heading directly to our intended destination, and an hour later we were in central Ubud.

The nice English couple headed straight off to a place they knew while we grabbed a fantastic lunch in the guidebook-mentioned local place of Dewa Warung. It turned out to be a fantastic Nasi Campur - even better than Fatima's on Gili Air, and cheap-as-chips too at 10,000 rupiah. After lunch, and while I watched the bags, Sarah strolled about looking for somewhere to stay. The best place happened to be just a few doors up the road (not in the guidebook of course), and was a lovely quiet place (Sudana, only 70K a night with huge breakfast included).

That night I tried to find the place that had posters advertising the movie 'Home', but I started off walking the wrong way, and so only found the place well after the movie had started. So as compensation we had a nice lamb biryani in a nice Indian place before an early night.