Chris and I got back from Bali a few days ago (actually about a week, but things have been crazy back in Sydney). What an amazing trip and cultural experience we had there. Before we left, we met a bunch of people who had been to Bali year after year, and we just couldn't understand the hype. Well, after spending nearly a week there, we now understand. Not only is Bali a beautiful island, it's also cultural, has fabulous (and cheap) shopping and you get treated like a King! The Balinese people are incredibly helpful, friendly and ready to bargain with you!
We arrived in Bali last Friday night where our Balinese butler picked up Chris and I and another couple (Michelle and Will) at the airport to take us back to our villa in a little town called Seminyak. Bali, as you may or may not know is in a very poor country whose economy is totally dependent on tourists. What this means for us is that the food, shopping and activities are all extremely cheap and the accommodations are top notch and priced to perfection!
We arrived at our villa which was amazing. The villa was almost completely outdoors (except for the bedroom) and we had our own pool, jacuzzi, indoor and outdoor shower and a kitchen. The most interesting part of these gorgeous villas is that just outside the villas, we were surrounded by rice fields and fields where cows were grazing about. (Always interesting to be showering in the morning and hear the lovely sounds of cows mooing).
Saturday morning we woke up bright and early and had our own private chef come in and cook us a traditional Balinese breakfast. This basically consisted of rice, veggies an egg and shrimp chips. It was served with flowers on the table and our napkins and silverware beautifully wrapped. After breakfast, we went for a quick swim and proceeded to head into downtown Seminyak.
We decided to immerse ourselves into the culture by renting (or hiring as they would say) a motorbike. We got some petrol (which was stored in Absolut Vodka bottles) and we were on our way! 
So, as much as I hate motorbikes, there's so many people in Bali with bikes that everyone's totally aware of other bikers. I did however find it amazing that you would see entire families on one motorbike. (In a link below, you can see all of our pictures and you'll see one of a family on a bike). Here's a pic of us fitting right in with the local Balinese bikers...
Another benefit to the bike was window shopping. We'd be driving along the streets of Legian, Kuta and Seminyak and I would spot a cute dress or houseware and scream for Chris to pull over. We'd hop off the bike (I'd usually forget to take my helmet off) and run into the store, try on the dress, grab a new piece of jewelry, buy a dvd (or 100) and be on our way...
What I didn't like (and Chris loved) was our 45 minute bike ride down to Ulu Watu where one of the sea temples is. Ulu Watu is in the southern tip of Bali near an area called Nusa Dua. The sea temple there was called the Pura Luhur and had the most amazing view of the Indian Ocean. It's perched on a peninsula above cliffs that drop straight into the ocean where you can surfers just waiting for the perfect wave.
This area also has little monkeys prancing around all over. When you walk in, local Balinese will sell you bananas and peanuts to feed the monkeys. They do however encourage you to take off any jewelry or sunglasses because the monkeys won't hesitate to grab them from you. Take a look at Chris making best friends with a local monkey...
There was a traditional Kecak Dance that was supposed to be wonderful to watch during sunset, but me being nervous about the bike, we headed back through to our little villa in Seminyak.
Now for one of my favorite parts of Bali. The massages! We got a massage literally everyday. Not knowing that $25 was way too much to spend on a massage, we went the first day to a spa and had massages in our own private outdoor, Balinese style spa. Below are pics and Chris will probably kill me for posting them. (sorry Chris). The next few days we got a few recommendations for places to get massages. One was in our very own villa ($15) and another was just down the street ($7). We were really spoiled rotten! I loved it as you can imagine!
I think we're at about Monday where we decided to head up to Ubud which is about an hour drive from Seminyak. We hired a driver for the day to take us around from 9am-9pm. For those of you who have read Eat, Pray, Love, Elizabeth lived in Ubud. We got to see a couple of places she mentioned (Cafe Wayan) and really got to experience what she wrote about in her memoir. If you haven't read the book and plan to go to Bali, I highly suggest reading it before you hop on a plane.
So, Ubud is up in the mountains and again it's got adorable little shops, a beautiful road of art galleries on the way into Ubud (sort of like Santa Fe style) and a real laid back relaxing feel to the town. There are tons of cafes where people just relax, eat and enjoy a drink (avocado fruit juice, coffee or a long island iced tea). We ended up eating at a little restaurant called Nomad which was recommended to us by a couple from the US who had been in Ubud for about a month. When we go back to Bali, we will certainly stay in Ubud for a few nights!
In Ubud, we went to a Cak Rina Dance. This type of performance is on every Full Moon and New Moon, so we were lucky to catch it. It wasn't like anything i've seen before but basically there were about 50 men on this open stage dancing and chanting. They make a "cak-cak-cak-cak" sound in many different rhythmical combinations. While they were chanting, they also played with A LOT of fire! They had big balls of fire that they were literally throwing and kicking around on stage.
The next couple of days we spent relaxing and exploring around the little towns near our villa. We ate lots of delicious food, met lots of locals, got Chris' haircut and of course hung out with our Australian friends Will and Michelle.
Not sure if you've noticed the different haircuts Chris had on our 6 day trip - but just to recap for you:
We also went for a great dinner with Michelle and Will in Kuta. Their local friend Harry recommended this restaurant and the ambience was certainly what made it so fantastic. Check out the little huts that we ate in. They were covered in pillows, so it was incredibly casual and comfortable to eat at.
And of course, here's the big debut of Michelle and Will to the Blogaroo!
We also have to bring in a pic of our celebrity siting in Bali. We went out for drinks after dinner and got to meet the trainers from "The Biggest Loser, Australia" (Shannon Ponton and Michelle Bridges). We are so hip - we go where the Biggest Losers go!!! Check out this pic below. And, if you want to see more of Shannon and Michelle, click here.
To view the rest of our pictures from the trip, see below:
And stay tuned for the next posting of Shig's (Chris Sheehy's) visit to Sydney and Cairnes and Chris' amazing SCUBA trip to the Great Barrier Reef. The blogaroo is going under water!!!
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