Beautiful Bali

Australia was a wonderful trip and full of great adventures and even better friends, but it was now time to move on to Indonesia. We couldn't wait for Bali and it was a first time visit for both of us. We expected exotic landscapes and beautiful beaches, but had no idea that we would fall in love with the culture and the people.

When we arrived and exited the plane the warm weather was the first thing to greet us. The sun was shinning and the warm air felt great after our 6 hour flight. We hopped on an open air bus that shuttled all passengers to the immigration area. We purchased our visas with ease and were ready to get to the hotel. Then we saw the immigration traffic jam. There had to be 500 people lined up to enter the country. Miguel and I chose the shortest line (of course) and waited and waited and waited some more. Our line stood still for 30 minutes, while the lines around us were moving slowly. Finally, we decided to split up. Courtney in one line and Miguel in another. Good idea....or so we thought. Again, we picked the slowest lines and eventually the line were initially in became miraculously efficient. Then, one of the "line officers" opened 4 more lines. People literally ran to get in line. We chose to wait in separate lines again and again we failed. Miguel's line seemed to move one person faster than mine and I decided to hop in line with him. Yes! Finally so close. Only a family of 3 stood in our way......1 minute, 2 minute, 3 minute, 4 we wait and wait and wait some more!!! OMG, we were the LAST two out of immigration. Hilarious! Finally through, we head for our bags and can't wait to get to the hotel.

The cab ride to the hotel was also an experience. The cabs fight for your business and finding a reputable "metered" taxi is a must. Once in the cab we buckled our seat belts and hoped for the best. The city is COVERED in scooters and entire families ride on them TOGETHER! The scootes weave in and out of traffic and there truly are no rules. The lines on the highway are merely guidelines, traffic signals are rarely used, but a horn is required. I sat with my face to the window and my mouth open the entire ride. I swear I saw a family with two small children on one scooter. Mother on the back, child one between mother and dad and the second child sitting on the FLOOR of the moped. REALLY! Mom and dad had helmets...kids did not. I truly couldn't believe what I was seeing.

Welcome to Bali!

Bali Airport

room for one more?

Bali Hyatt Resort & Spa
We spent six days at the beautiful Bali Hyatt in Sanur beach located in southern Bali. Miguel was able to book the hotel for a mere 5,000 points a night, which is lowest you can pay for any Hyatt hotel anywhere in the world.  Knowing this, we were not sure how good the hotel would turnout to be.  Once again we came in with guarded expectations, but those were soon thrown out the window once we arrived at the resort.  The grounds and landscaping of the hotel were immaculate and it felt like we were entering a Balinese temple.  That was just the beginning! As you enter the main lobby you are greeted with traditional Balinese drums and the warmth of the staff is instantly felt as they cater to your every need.  Court and I were in shock as we were escorted to our room.  The pools, bars and the beach all looked awesome. We had definitely scored here and the cost was minimal!

Hyatt Regency Club

our room

tubs are great for washing clothes

Bali Hyatt pool

Tulamben
There are some amazing diving sites in Bali.  We decided we would dedicate one of our days to explore a couple of them.  The city of Tulamben lies on the eastern coast of Bali.   That would be the site of two of the coolest dives we have ever done.  The two hour drive to get there had most of us gasping for air and wishing we hadn’t had such a big breakfast in the morning. We also witnessed a scary accident with two scooters, it looked pretty bad since both drivers lay unconscious on the ground. Hopefully, everything turned out all right.  We spent the whole day in Tulamben and dived the USS Liberty and the Coral Garden sites.  No pictures right now, but we met a British couple that had an underwater camera for the dives. They promised they would send us the pictures they took. As soon as we get them we will post them on the blog.

-USS Liberty: For those of you that enjoy diving you will love this place.  It is considered one of the easiest shipwreck dives anywhere in the world.  The USS Liberty was hit by a Japanese torpedo in World War II and it was subsequently beached by the Navy shortly after its demise.  It stayed on the beach until a volcano eruption in 1960 pushed the ship into the ocean.  Today, the ship lies just 50 meters (150 feet) from the beach.  It is an artificial reef that houses amazing marine life.  You dive at depths between 30 feet and 80 feet.  The ship is huge! We saw cavalli school fish, barracuda, parrot fish, crabs, eels, and so much more…What amazed us the most was the quantity of marine life.

-Coral Garden: This site lies just 60 feet south of the USS Liberty.  We saw an amazing display of corals and the highlight of the day were the four black tip reef sharks that swam right next to us.  The visibility was great and the only unfortunate thing was that Court had to end the dive early since she was having trouble equalizing her ears

Central Bali
We also spent a full day exploring the central part of Bali.  We hired Yuda (Courtney kept calling him Yoda), a driver /guide who carried three cell phones and multi tasked while driving, by chatting on his cell phones, texting, and giving us a history lesson on the island. He was a good driver, but I rather he just do one thing at a time while he drives.

Hindu Temple
Thanks to Yuda, we learned a great deal about Hinduism.  It is the prevalent religion on the island of Bali.  He explained to us the type of offerings they make to their goods and the significance behind dressing up their statutes with a checkered black and white cloth.  It's a representation of good and evil in its simplest forms. We visited one of their temples and witnessed the Balinese prepare the grand offerings they make to their gods during their new year.

Balinese women preparing the offergings

Hibiscus flower which is prevalent on many of its temples

Rice Terraces
After the temple we kept driving north and reached a nice scenic spot to view the rice terraces that are so common on the island.

Mt Batur Volcano
This active volcano lies 1,717 meters above sea level.  It last erupted in 2000, but you can still see the lava canyons formed by its last eruption. We had some delicious food here and enjoyed some coffee while admiring the volcano.

Monkey Forest in Ubud
I felt just like home at the Monkey Forest in Ubud.  It was the perfect place to monkey around without getting into trouble.  The Forest was awesome and it was our highlight for the day.  This beautiful forest houses over 500 monkeys and they can be found pretty much anywhere you look.

Nusa Dua

This is the place where the newest and most luxurious resorts are being built.  It is 45 minutes from Sanur and Hyatt has a property there. We took the free shuttle and used the Hyatt's facilities for a day.

Bintang at the pool

12 degree pool plunge...it was sooo cold, but felt sooo good!

pool 2 at the Grand Hyatt

We really enjoyed Bali and would love to come back and see some of Indonesia's other islands.  We are off to Singapore now for a couple of days and then to Thailand.  Below are some more pics from Bali.

streets of Densapar

Cafe Batujimbar in Sanur

sunrise and low tide at Sanur beach

clam fishing at Sanur

daily offering made by the Balinese to their gods

Batik painting

our lizard friend who went hunting every morning while we had brekkie

Adios! See you in Singapore!