We headed to South West Bali for our last few days; and stayed with a wonderful family just south of Ubud. Their home was like an art gallery, as the father was an artist beautiful canvass lined the walls of every room. They had built a little wooden chalet for guests to stay in, carefully adorned with old Japanese carved wood and decorated with huge paintings. They welcomed us in like family and welcomed us to have dinner with them every night. We rented a motorbike and explored Ubud the next day. It was a chaotic little town, full to the brim with tourists. We found a lovely cafe on the hillside on the edge of the town centre, called the Elephant where we stopped up for a few hours and had a long lunch and chai. We found a little spa down the road and we indulged in an hour long massage followed by a half-hour facial treatment for a mere €8. It was impossible to resist!

The next morning we went to a kite flying competition. But this was no ordinary life flying as we know them from home. Hundreds of teams were scattered in the field, sheltering from the blazing sun under their handmade kites. They were magnificent, ranging from a couple of meters in length to about 8m with Dragon heads and long tails. Each kite took a team of 10 or so members to fly and instructors directed teams on the best way to fly the kite. It was amazing to see the culture is still well and truly alive in Bali, you just have to know where to find it.

In the afternoon we visited the sacred monkey forest, right in the center of ubud. Long tailed macaques have made this forest their home and they sauntered around proud and unafraid.On our way back we had planned to just grab a juice nearby but luckily just happened upon a huge parade for the Royal wedding of the prince of Ubud. It was a breathtaking procession, groups played music with shells, drums and bells. People were dressed as butterflies, dragons and methological creatures (see video). And then along came the bridal party, all carried in throwns by groups of men, silk veils hid the women from view. Our final day in Indonesia wasn't too bad!

So although our 6 weeks in Indonesia have come to an end we're happy to move away from the ring of fire. Earthquakes, tsunamis and volcanos erupted all while we were there, and although we were never affected physically by the disasters, it's still unnerving knowing the ground beneath you can move at any point!