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EAT-PRAY-LOVE: UBUD.

UBUD. You may be familiar with this little gem due to Julia Roberts' Eat Pray Love movie - and it is honestly one of the best places in the world. I arrived in Ubud after a pretty hectic night in Kuta (note- do not take tequila shots with tabasco... ever.) The taxi took us around 2 hours due to ridiculous Bali traffic, and the car didn't have air-con... this + hangover = hell. But after nearly being sick numerous times, and going round and round the one way system that is Monkey Forest Rd, I told the taxi driver to stop looking for the homestay I'd planned on staying at, and to instead drop me and my ridiculous over-sized backpack on the side of the road, outside of 'Warsa's Garden Bungalows.'

The cutest little man greeted my friend and I and showed us to a private bungalow which we could stay at for 250,000IRP a night (around £16/17ish including breakfast) It was clean, had aircon + hot water (LUXURY) and a shared pool - which, we didn't actually use due to ALL the other fun things to do in Ubud. We spent our first day mooching along Monkey Forest Rd, which is such a lovely change from Kuta. Yes, there are still tonnes of woman offering 'maaaaassage?' (which by the way- get one! they're amazing- we went to Daisy's for a full body massage... ahhhh) but the atmosphere is completely different to Kuta and Seminyak. You feel as though you're in 'proper' Bali. The one that you see on Eat  Pray Love! The food along Monkey Forest Rd is delish - and the whole vibe is relaxed, everyone seems happy and chilled.

The next day, we decided we HAD to go to the Monkey Forest, at the bottom of the road. We'd read everywhere about the cheeky monkeys - warning us not to take in valuables, as they'll steal anything! And ohhhh...myyyyyy..goooodness. I was TERRIFIED of them! Now- I am an animal LOVER. Hell, I wanted to be a vet for years, and worked with wild animals in South Africa! I am by no means 'scared' of animals. But jeeeez - these monkeys!!! Approach with caution. I must point out, that my fear stemmed from one 'screaming' at me as soon as I walked into the forest. I think I must have looked at its baby in a 'aww-you're-so-cute-maybe-I-could-steal-you' kind of way and the mother monkey went KRAY... ran towards me, SCREAMING; until I fell backwards, also screaming in to a bunch of equally frightened Americans.

A cheeky little monkey lifting up my skirt - note the girl in the background who obviously didn't share my fear of the monkeys!

After I got over the initial TERROR that mother monkey caused me, it was actually a really good day. The monkeys weren't too bad with the whole stealing thing - well, I didn't hear anyone scream in outrage "that monkey's stolen my camera!!" but I was pretty pathetically protective over mine (try and say that tongue-twister fast!) There were people buying bunches of bananas on entry - beware, the monkeys literally clamber all over you, steal the whole bunch and there's your 50p gone. One little content monkey came over with his banana to me, sitting on a rock, sat by me, sighed and held my hand. I DIED INSIDE A LITTLE. Too cute.

The next day, a guy from Warsa's, 'Wayan' took us on a daytrip with another Brazilian girl staying at the hotel. He was SO lovely. The cutest man I've ever met.  For £12, he drove us around for the day, to all the local temples, where we were blessed and able to pray and walk through all of the rice paddies... He took us up to the top of Mt Batur, a volcano, where we had lunch looking over Bali... He drove us to the hot springs, dotted all over the volcano, and to a coffee plantation where we were able to sample about 20 different flavoured coffees - along with the most expensive coffee in the world (which FYI- tastes gross. Give me a skinny hazlenut latte any day of the week)

Getting a cheeky roadside photograph with Mt Batur in the background... Looks like a postcard doesn't it!?

For our final day in Ubud, we visited the Elephant Safari Park in Taro - which, my friends, is an ABSOLUTE must do. Like crazily so. You've GOT to do it... Convinced?

We were picked up from Warsa's at 9am, and driven to Taro- about 20 minutes outside of Ubud. The Elephant Safari Park was SO well maintained and clean. I was sceptical at first, and had looked into about three different Elephant trip excursions online - as I really didn't want to go somewhere that the elephants weren't going to be looked after properly. But here, the elephants all seemed SO well looked after. All the staff were really friendly and funny, and we were able to ride 'Petrie' the first Sumatran Elephant in Bali! She was 50+ and cute AS. We were also able to feed the elephants, watch a performance where the keepers play football/basketball with the elephants, AND had a massive buffet lunch - all included in the price, which was something like £45 - bargain. On the way out, there is a wall with photos of celebrities who have also visited the Safari Lodge including the Beckhams, Tony Blair, Claudia Shiffer, Steve Irwin and of course, Julia Roberts.

Indonesia - pt.1

Okay, so I should probably explain my absence from the blogosphere (is that a word) ((is that SPELT right?!) for the past few months...

WELL..

I know I mentioned aaaaaages ago I was going to Indonesia with my bestie this summer, for a month of chilling and travelling.. well, I've just got back! It was seriously incredible - if anyone is planning a trip to Indonesia / gap year / holiday - I definitely suggest going! If you follow my twitter you'll definitely be aware that I'm suffering from a major case of the Bali Blues right now... I just want to go back! So before I delve back in to the beauty world and 'all things pretty' - (man, I've missed blabbering on about make-up) I feel like I need to tell you ALL ABOUT my travels around "Indo'! So sit down, grab a brew and pretend you're on holiday- because these next few posts are going to be all about BALI.

(Note: If you do not care one teeny bit about my trip to Indonesia, do not continue reading as you will be thoroughly bored.)

Jessie and I, bags packed and ready to go!

Arrived in Kuala Lumpur - note, my happy, smiling, excited face - this was before the fifteen hours of hell.

My friend Jessie, and I flew from London Heathrow - via Kuala Lumpur - to Denpasar, Bali... (I'm going to skip out the 15 hour layover we had in Kuala Lumpur - bedbugs, homeless men and horrendous food is just a snippet of what we experienced, and unless you REALLY want to read about what a horrific time it was, I'd rather get to the good bits!) So upon arrival, we got a (ridiculously expensive- looking back) taxi, straight to Kuta - the main 'touristy' centre of Bali. We'd been warned about 'Kuta' by so many people - as it was often described as Australian Ibiza/Magaluf/Ayia Napa/HELL... but apart from the obvious - hundreds of 'touts' trying to sell you "Jiggy Jigg" hats / fake Ray-Bans / Bintang singlets (yes I bought one whoops) it really wasn't all that bad. No... Kuta is NOT what you expect Bali paradise to be like - but we figured it would be a good place to start...

For the first few nights in Kuta, we stayed at a small hotel/hostel called 'Bendesa' which we paid 150,000 IDR for - (around £10 a night, £5 each- bargain!) We had a pool, and yes, the room was basic - we only had cold water, 'clean-ish' sheets and the-most-annoying-and-loud fan known to man. But come on - for £5 a night! We were right off 'Poppies Gang 2' - one of the main strips in Kuta, and our room price included breakfast which meant we were able to devour the BEST banana pancakes every single morning before hitting the beach.

The delights of Poppies Gang 2 - what the Balinese refer to as 'Aussie culture'

The best way to describe Kuta to you? ... Mammoth amounts of cars, taxis, scooters (who FYI WILL run you down on the pavement - don't say I didn't warn you!) Men shouting 'TRANSPORT?!' at you every two seconds, and women luring you with 'MAAASSAGE?!' is a pretty regular occurrence. You quickly learn the benefit of 'tidak!' (meaning no!) ... Aussies EVERYWHERE... Surfers EVERYWHERE... Fake RayBans EVERYWHERE!!! It took us a good five days to establish which side of the road the Balinese drive on.. as it seems to just be 'drive into the space'... even if that space is the back of your legs. Manic.. definitely. But very fun!

Surf watching on Kuta beach

We originally only spent the initial two days in Kuta (I say originally - we did spend the odd night 'out' partying in Kuta throughout the month!) before we headed to Seminyak... a more 'upmarket' part of Bali - full of super skinny, super rich, super duper 'cool' people. INTIMIDATING. Our hotel here set us back a whopping £30 a night. Now yes yes, that's still 'cheap' considering what you might pay elsewhere - but trust me, if you're wanting to do it 'budget' in Bali... that's expensivo. Saying that, Seminyak really was uber cool. A must do - at night, the beach is lined with beanbags and acoustic music where you can sit back, relax, mojito in hand and watch the sunset... whilst a small Balinese lady called Mari will massage your feet for £2... BLISS.

My 'Seminyak' outfit - I wore this dress once in the entire month I spent in Bali, and that was in Seminyak... The rest of Indonesia was muchhhh more casual.

Dress- misguided.co.uk

So that just about covers my first few days in Bali - next we headed to Ubud - where Eat, Love, Pray was filmed (Julia Roberts...duh.. watch!) and Ubud definitely deserves it's very own blogpost. 

XX Chloé

I-AM-BACK.

It has been SO long since my last blog post, I actually don't know where to start. I even considered scrapping PS...Chloe completely and starting a fresh (don't judge me, I feel guilty for not posting in so so long!!) But LOTS has changed in my life. 

 Anyway- I am BACK. With a super amazing new laptop (yayy I got a macbook air- finally!) and I promise to keep on top of blogging again. 


So............ hello, hi, bonjour, hola, aloha...
WELCOME BACK!!! XXXX