We spent 4 nights in Ubud, having travelled over from Lombok via air. We had arranged a pickup from Denpasar, a useful move because the price is set at 25,000Rp by the Ubud tourism group anyway and it means we didn’t have to deal with the taxi touts out the front. It took about an hour to Ubud and we were pleased to see that Bali has progressed somewhat since our last visit (which was probably 20 years ago).

We checked into the Sri Bungalows, happy with the standard of the rooms and delighted with the gardens and surrounds. The rooms are arranged in blocks of 4, 2 up 2 down and are well appointed, although the absence of a TV is rather strange. We had enough time in the afternoon for a walk up and down Monkey Forest St, one of the main shopping and eating areas.

On our return after dinner, we found the room hot and stuffy because the AC was off, indicating that the power had failed. We restarted it, but 15 minutes later, the power failed again. It was only off for a minute, just enough to be a nuisance and to turn the AC off. On checking, we found it was only our block of 4 rooms effected. The staff suggested that we had too many things on charge (eg more than 1 laptop). However, it still happened when we had nothing at all plugged in. The prospect of waking up every 15 minutes to turn the AC back on didn’t appeal so we insisted on moving rooms.

The new room was bigger and better laid out so we were happy at first. However, once in bed, the appalling softness of the bed became apparent. We both thought we were going to roll out. I moved to the single bed and that helped a bit but we had a very bad night’s sleep and I woke with a sore back.

After breakfast at Sri Bungalows (basic but good), we set off to find a new hotel. The Internet suggested the Komenka but it was too pricey for us. In the end, chose the Cinta Grill and Inn, swayed by the magnificent room right on the pool deck and the friendliness of the staff. This became our home for the next three nights and we loved every minute, but most especially the amazing breakfasts.

A rather than the usual breakfast buffet included with hotel stays, Cinta allows a choice off the Al-a-carte menu. Each offering is a culinary creation. Eggs benedict are presented on a choice of home baked muffins or toasted sough-dough bread and the choice is always very difficult. Juices are freshly squeezed and such delicacies as black rice pudding or special granola and yoghurt tempt. A lot of the local tours start off with an early pick-up and breakfast at Kintamani overlooking the volcano but that just means you have to have two breakfasts because nothing would enduce us to skip the one at Cinta.

One day, we took a cycling tour with Jegeg Bali Bike Tours (www.jegegbalicycling.com)