Survivor: Brunei: BALI, Indonesia

Over 6 months ago during Spring Break, we spent 2 weeks on the beautiful island of Bali, Indonesia. I started a blog post about it shortly after returning, but when the majority of the post got mysteriously, maddeningly deleted, I gave up. Now here we are about to go away for our fall "holiday", and I have yet to blog about Bali! I am quite sure that I have now forgotten many details, but at least I still have lots of pictures to remind me. So, a photo-intensive post here about Bali.

This is the first 2-week vacation we have ever taken. I highly recommend it, although it's not something most Americans can ever get away with. We spent the first week in Nusa Dua at an all-inclusive beach resort (also highly recommended!), and the second week at a private villa in the "cultural center" of Bali -- Ubud. The 2 destinations were so drastically different that it was like 2 completely separate vacations. Both were wonderful for their own reasons.

This is not normal life. It's still surreal to me.

WEEK ONE: GRAND MIRAGE IN NUSA DUA

What I reserved as a "family room" turned out to be the "Sultan's Suite"! This is the main living area, and there were also 2 bedrooms. Ironically, we still had to ask for extra beds, as there were more bathtubs than beds! Ha!

This is right next to the table where we ate lunch everyday. Amazing view, and good food too.
Love the all-inclusive! Saves a lot of money in the long run with 6 people eating!

The view from our room

Looking back at the Grand Mirage from the ocean

The beach actually looks decent here. Unfortunately, it was really polluted. There were a couple of days
I didn't even want to go in the water due to floating trash. Sad.

The resort had an outdoor buffet and different cultural show 4 nights during the week. We really enjoyed seeing traditional Balinese dance, complete with freaky eye movements like in this picture.

Harton and Keith got up early one morning for the sunrise

Natalie getting harnessed up for her first parasailing adventure! She loved it!

I enjoyed parasailing too

Fun to get unlimited drinks at the swim-up bar!

Landon was in heaven looking at the watches. He bought a red one for $5, after MUCH negotiation. Glad we only spent $5 since he accidentally left the watch in Bali! :(

Everyone seems to ride a motorbike in Bali. Even the monkeys!

The one outing we took all that first week was to the Ulu Watu Temple on the edge of a cliff.

We all had to wear sashes, and Keith had to wear a sarong.

We had tickets to see this show, but it was oversold and we didn't get seats.

So, we took a picture of these chanting guys entering the arena, and then we left.

Another sunset, at Ulu Watu

WEEK 2: VILLA CASTELLO JASPER IN UBUD

We had to walk down this path about 5 minutes to get to the villa

We were served breakfast outside each morning

Our private pool and gorgeous view

The back of the villa

********** I just had half of this post delete on me AGAIN! Too frustrating. Before it happens AGAIN, here is just a huge picture dump. In short, we enjoyed visiting several temples in and around Ubud, taking in all the sights, learning about the culture and the religion of Hinduism which is a huge part of daily life in Bali. We thoroughly enjoyed a cycling tour from the top of a volcano region, down through local villages, a coffee plantation, and rice paddies. We also had a great time at the Elephant Safari Park.

Just a cute local girl

Famous "Lotus Temple"

Fancy Balinese Starbucks

Thank goodness we had a skilled driver, Putu, to maneuver through the crazy narrow streets filled with motorbikes.

Local art

Lunch in front of the Lotus Temple

Altars with food and flower offerings like this are at every temple and in every home.

Our villa had an altar like this, and the caretakers put offerings on it every day.

These decorations lined every street while we were there.

They were for a Hindu holiday, similar to Christmas decorations.

The view from breakfast before our downhill cycling tour

More offerings, on the sidewalk

Coffee plantation

Sampling coffees and teas, including the famous "Luwak" coffee, the world's most expensive coffee

Cycling tour was great, probably the highlight of the whole trip

One of the stops was a traditional Balinese housing compound. All generations of a family live together in the compound, and they believe their ancestors' spirits also reside there.