Sanur, Bali

I didn't realise there was a festival on when i arrived in Sanur. I managed to catch the last day. It did mean that it took me forever to find somewhere to stay. I ended up booking myself into an expensive homestay with a king size bed, air con, a fridge, hot water (oh joy!) and a bath to put that hot water in. This is sheer luxury and it is costing me about 7 pounds a night!!!

The first thing i did is run myself a hot hot bath (i am not as tanned as i thought!) and set the air conditioning to about 16 degrees (bbrrr)- Fabulous!

When i eventually got myself outside to see whats what a carnival had just started its procession down the main street. There were dancers and musicians in traditional clothing along with floats with giant characters, it was all really noisy and fun. Much like the carnivals we used to have at home the floats were sponsored by local businesses- mostly hotels in this case and some had even got their guests to participate, dressing them up in local costume.

Sanur is another beach resort, but where Kuta is full of loud and drunk surfers and Lovina is quiet and laid back this place is the more expensive end. Lots of big hotels backing onto the white sands.

I only stayed here a couple of nights, and once i had seen the carnival and had some food it was quite late. i had seen most of the beach front are whilst looking for somewhere to stay, so the next day i set out in search of Bali's oldest artifact.

This artifact was very difficult to find, especially as most of the locals seem to be unaware of it. Situated behind a temple, Pura Belanjong, it is a stone column covered with Sanskrit and dated 913 AD. The column stands in a pit of earth and has a glass cabinet on the top so you cannot see the full length of it. It has also been draped with a sarong so only a small portion of the delicate script can be seen.