Villa in the paddy fields

After practising her haggling skills in the markets of Ubud, Ali surpassed herself on airbnb, somehow she managed to land this place:

With staff and breakfast included, but for Bali hostel prices!

It's smack in the middle of rice paddy fields,

the roof deck has a view of the sea and we're only a 3min walk to the beach.

On our arrival we thought we'd check it out, it was described as a beautiful silver sand beach.

Unfortunately it was a real disappointment! The sand is definitely silver looking but of the very dark volcanic kind which is pretty cool. The disappointment came from the crazy amount of trash found all over it! We'd been warned that during the wet season, unless the beaches are actively groomed and cleaned by resorts you will find rubbish everywhere.

Unfortunately Bali just doesn't have the waste collection and disposal infrastructure in place nor a populace well fed enough to care. Basically as the torrential rain falls on Bali it washes away a year's worth of trash into the rivers, on into the sea and back onto the beaches. Not sure we'll be spending much time on the beach.

The trash did bring about a wider wealth/poverty/environmental discussion with the kids. As ever on these complex topics it's hard to know what, if anything sinks in. By global and Balinese standards we are stupendously wealthy, but our travel budget is tight which impacts the kids every want and desire - must be confusing.