Well, that's it for the Piepeople's JBRs of their first holiday together in Bali... almost.
We had a wonderful time, and feel that some heartfelt thank yous need to be said:
- To everyone who has been generous enough to post their views and experiences on this forum. Far better than any bloody Lonely Planet volume. And much more fun. We'd both read so much before we left - often laughing and reading out loud to each other across the room. Always copying and pasting anything of interest into our own ‘travel guide' that accompanied us everywhere we went.
- To all who answered our pre-Bali questions on this forum... even those questions that had been asked time and time again! Your patience with newbies is truly appreciated.
- To Filo for his website and words of wisdom. We took so much on board... and benefited far more than you will know. From the Filos' generosity of spirit we learned that a chuppa chup could brighten a day. And, do you know what? It can.
- To Don for sending us his price guide - an invaluable resource for virgins like us!
- To everyone who has read or commented on the Pies' JBRs - your encouragement has been greatly appreciated. We've enjoyed every minute of putting them together... and posting them is like reliving our holiday (and... we didn't have to pay for it the second time!)
We always write up our holidays for family and friends overseas... knowing that we are sharing our experience helps us to record and appreciate each day as it happens. So, if our JBRs brought a smile to anyone along the way then we've done what we'd set out to do.
That said, the Piepersons both just enjoy writing! Sometimes the simplest things in life are the most entertaining and we hope that we've conveyed our experiences in that spirit.
- To all the gorgeous people that we met in Bali... our heartfelt thanks. Even thanks to the pains in the bum - you helped to put things in perspective!
Bali should really be christened the 'Isle of Smiles'... those welcoming smiles were the best part of our stay. You've got to laugh... I've just entered that phrase into Google to find out which island has the official honour of that phrase, and what should appear halfway down the page? A link to Filo's original website! Go figure...
***********
We'd love to go back again in the not-too-distant future, maybe with the two youngest (teenage) Party Pies in tow. We must confess to originally being bemused as to WHY anyone would holiday in the same place year after year. Yep, now we know.
So much island... so little time.
I mean, we didn't go to Sukawati markets... spend any quality time in Ubud... shop at Geneva or Ketut's fixed price or Dolphin Leather... explore Sanur... nor Denpasar... the elephant park... or the butterfly farm.
Nor did we visit a sponsored child. Not having a sponsored child to visit was the major stumbling block here... and one that we shall remedy!
We'd take more photographs and drink more water and eat at some of the...
Yep, that's at least another couple of holidays right there.
You may be stuck with us for a while yet!
Pieboy has been beavering away at moving some pics and our JBRs onto some webspace. Not a book, not a ‘widescreen' movie... just a few simple pages from a couple of newbies who enjoy writing and playing on the PC.
Just in case the link below doesn't work, the addy is:
http://www.geocities.com/piepersons
A word of warning - as photographers we are both pretty good writers...
Neither of us particularly enjoys being in front of the lens either (but we do crop up a couple of times - a bit like ‘Where's Wally'). Piegirl is glad that she'd mentioned the big bum factor as she'd hate for anyone to be disappointed that we aren't stunt doubles for Brad and Angelina...
Sampai jumpa lagi!
P.S. Being a freebie website, the data transfer is limited - try back later if you get a ‘sorry' message from Geocities. We hope to move it to our family website (which we're having problems with at the moment) over the next couple of days.