After a hectic week of goodbyes, packing and last-minute wedding preparations, a longhaul flight from London to Singapore, a jet-lagged night in a tiny airless room, a morning flight to Denpasar and a humid, traffic-filled taxi ride to Seminyak, we were pretty shattered by the time we reached our hotel in Bali. But rather than collapse exhausted on our lovely big bed, or even stop a take a shower, we sprayed some deoderant and had a quick change before hurrying out of the door to Cocoon Beach Club.
As we walked into the club there was a big pool in front of us, with the ocean beyond that. The sun was just about to start setting, and Luke and Wayne were on the decks. To the left of them, a big crowd of our old Aussie friends from London (who'd moved back to Perth the previous year), along with some more familiar faces who'd also flown in from London for the wedding, greeted us with a big cheer.
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| If Carlsberg did entrances... |
We were totally overwhelmed as we walked into this picture.
And so began our trip! We got on the cocktails, Tom smashed the classics as the sun went down and the night moved on to first a gaybar (Bottoms Up!) before inevitably ending in a bit of a mess on the beach. It´s a night we´ll never forget, to be reunited with these people who we´d become such good friends with, but who sadly (for us) now lived just about as far away as you can get. And of course Bali was unforgettable for another reason, the epic event that was the Neuwen-Emmerich wedding, which I can only describe as like something out of a film, except better because this love story was real.
I´m ashamed to say I went to Indonesia knowing nothing more about it than what I´d read in Eat Pray Love. I thought the whole coutry was Muslim, but it turns out Bali is Hindu, which explains the small offerings that decorate the pavements in front of every shop, hotel and restaurant, to the gods for good fortune. And perhaps it also explains the nature of the Balinese people, because I don´t think I´ve encountered such a happy bunch anywhere else I´ve been - no mean feat when you consider the place is full of what can only be described as Brits abroad but worse - Australian ;).
On the first night a few of us walked past a group of local artists who sat outside their studio playing the guitar and singing.
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| ´Know any Celine Dion?´ |
They invited Tom to play guitar with them, and after that we dropped by almost every night on the way back to our hotel. I spoke to one, Eddy, about this happy nature, and he said ´When I was growing up in Java, I went to mosque every day. But when I came to Bali, that is when I started to learn about the Universe.´ This struck a chord with me because I´d been thinking about the random set of events that had led to us being here in Bali - well let's just say it all started with a hair dressing appointment between Abby and Tanya and ended up with us here, in Bali, about to share the most important day in two people's lives. Whether you believe in God, science or Chuck Norris, at that moment it seemed to me like the Universe had made it so. Or perhaps it was the magic milkshakes we´d been drinking.
But enough about the Universe and back to Bali. We spent most of our time lazing by the pool catching up (as we were at the start of a six-month trip we were in the cheap hotel down the road but the five-star Breezes - where everyone else was staying - allowed guests so we could enjoy all of the benefits without paying the price - result), eating and drinking in beautiful settings, experiencing our first McSpicys, and of course, celebrating the marriage of Luke and Jasmin, a truly wonderful day we felt so privileged to be part of. 
On the last day however, we did manage to tear ourselves away and see some of the rest of the island. We hired a driver ('Mr Bob' - Erica, he´s waiting for your call) and went to see a volcano in the north, had lunch overlooking some rice paddies (how do you get rice out of paddies, by the way?!) and visited the town of Ubud for some serious market haggling. 
Oh, and the monkey forest. Where you basically step one tiny toe inside and a group of monkeys jump you for anything remotely edible you might possibly have on you. Fun.
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| I named then Jasmin and Luke, because they love each other so much they pick each other´s bums. |
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| Is it me or Ann Widdicombe? |
When we left, our new Balinese mate Eddy presented me with a picture of my face he´d painted. I was touched, but I must confess the sceptical western tourist in me immediately thought about how much I would have to offer this man for a painting of myself that I hadn´t asked for. As if he´d read my thoughts he said, 'And please, I don´t want any money for it, it is a gift from me to you because I love England and I love Coldplay and I want you to look at it and always remember Bali.´
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| And they lived happily ever after... x |
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