Back in Bali we had one last place to visit, I admit mainly because of Eat Pray Love – Ubud. A mecca for yogis and spiritual types, it is also the cultural centre of Bali, so we really had to check it out. On route we stopped off for a tour of the Green School which really blew our minds. A perhaps extreme example of how education must go in the future, the eco-projects and whole mindset were truly inspiring.

The buildings were almost entirely built of bamboo and yet achieve monumental spaces such as the heart of school, the classrooms windowless. The school uses minimal electricity, the majority of the energy generated by its incredible vortex courtesy of ‘turbulent’ going to the local grid.

Despite being primarily aimed at international children, the school works admirably with its local community, with scholarship programmes supporting Balinese students (filling 10% of the spaces). Over 400 local children use the after school clubs and facilities, and international students learn the local languages. Our girls really benefited from experiencing such an environment, if only for a couple of hours.

We had lunch at Sayan House in Ubud, a stunning location with incredible views across the valley and delicious Asian fusion cuisine.

We were staying pretty centrally near the river in a slightly random place, not our best booking but at least it had hammocks near the pool, bunkbeds and an ok breakfast.

Next door was a massage salon and given the prices we decided to book all four of us in for a massage which we all thoroughly enjoyed!

Ubud happened to be hosting the annual Writers and Authors Festival while we were there, so I caught the end of a panel with Irvine Welsh at the Nuka Art Museum. The collection of the museum itself is mixed but does give some insight into Indonesian painting from the 17^th century until today, in a series of buildings set in a beautiful garden. Highlights were disappointingly probably by foreigners, such as recent landscape paintings by the Dutch-born Arie Smit and black and white photography by the American Robert A. Koke from the 1930s.

The main sights to see in Ubud are really the Campuhan Ridge and the paddy fields, by most people experienced on a walk but we decided the best way to see it was our usual style: alternate runs before the kids woke up.

Ubud was certainly a place we needed to experience – but it was nice to be back at Michele’s for our last night in Asia.