19-NOV - Tue - The twins bid Bali farewell

And here we are, the end of our adventure. The last day, the last hours in Ubud. Tomorrow morning, 5.30am wake-up call, for 9am lift-off to Perth. These two travelling lads have a suitcase full of memories, laughter, joy, excitement, thrill, hair-raising encounters, smiles, feel-good moments and a bag full of frustration, anger, despair, hair-pulling occasions and much more, from spending nearly three months in Bali. The call from home has arrived and it’s time to pack our bags! We have been laughing and joking most days; we have been observing, watching, seeing and absorbing extraordinary scenery; we have walked, scooted and driven where we never thought we would; we have dined and wined in most memorable places and tasted the most delicious dishes. Our last two weeks up here in Ubud have been filled with scenery: Ubud is views! One can come up here for the yoga sessions and the aroma therapies, but if you do not wish to become part of your inner self, or you already found it, the views are it! The temples in central Ubud are splendid, being the home town of the Balinese Royal Family, and there are plenty to see (temples that is). The cultural program with all its traditional dances is constant and omnipresent, one only has to step foot outside the hotel complex to be offered every possible dance from the infinite Balinese dance kaleidoscope! We chose to see two of them and were richly rewarded with the most exquisite performances. There are no taxi drivers honking each tourist walking down the street, but instead a cacophony of micro-conversations, presented to each passing tourist: “Taxi? Taxi? Cheap for you boss!”; “Taxi boss?”; “Maybe tomorrow?”; “Morning discount boss!”; “Transport boss?”; on and on, every 10 metres. In contrast to Kuta and Legian, here a polite “No” is acknowledged with a smile or a polite “Thank you, maybe tomorrow boss”, but it does get onto your nerves, after 14 days of it… On the other hand, being asked if we were twins from every third taxi driver and from nearly every hotel staff member on this island and in this hotel in particular (of which there seems to be hundreds of), was different. Guess our identical hair styles, our near-to identical sun-glasses, our slender but toned bodies, our model looks and being of the same age could indeed fool anyone. So from our first logical and honest reaction of “No” three months ago, we re-considered after realising what would they think, knowing we are sharing 1 room and 1 bed!? So we thought maybe to say brothers? But again, that would have been questioned, as we do not share the same surname; so we had to settle for cousins. From then onwards, when-ever asked, we politely smiled to the Balinese, indicating we were in fact cousins, sharing a great holiday, sharing one room, one bed and many romantic dinners, gazing into each other’s eyes! How very wrong in most countries, not so in others! But up here in Ubud, we thought what-the-heck: “Yes, twins we are”! Seems to be a great thing, to see twins up here, as the reactions are one of ecstatic happiness… are they going to offer us to their goods on one of their special bi-annual celebrations? We will never know, as this set of twins is flying home tomorrow morning! Thank you Bali and all your people, for giving us the experience of a lifetime! The End (of this trip) - Keep following our not so regular blog: "FromPerth2TheWorld"