Vacation to BALI, Indonesia

On our way to Bali!..we're leavin on a jet plane..too bad we have to come back again! ;-)



Our home for the first couple nights:Puri Dewa Bharata in Legian Bali!






The main bedroom that oh so romantic! (Bri and Amy shared this room while Tia, Andy and I were upstairs!)


They drive on the opposite sides of the road!


Outdoor shower! Sweeet!





Livin the dream




Andy's MASSIVE henna tat..too funny! Lasted long after our Bali trip!




First Night out in Bali!



Jayakarta in Legian Bali! Our home for the rest of the week!









The next few photos are from the tour Johnny took us on. We visited different villages each with its own skilled practice: Batiking, woodcarving, manipulating silver to make jewelry, stonework and paintings. We also got to see the amazing rice fields, they were beautiful!











Stone work


Making jewelry out of silver






Woodcarvers






















Kuta Beach with Tia! :)



Getting Ready for my surf lesson!


Practice Practice Practice..."woahh wait, I put my foot like this!?"..haha at least I tried..


haha whoops!



Surfs Up Dudesss..Kuta Beach Bali!


Bri and Me :)



Family Dinner in Bali














Girls pic before our massages on Tia's Birthday!! :)



Quite the necklace trend!


The cute little school boys haha





The following photos are from dinner at Cafe Bali for Tia's birthday!! 23 whoot whoot! <3







My salmon and mango salad...best dish I have ever tasted!









Trip to Turtle Island:

My partner in crime!













Bali:

A week before leaving to Bali, Indonesia I was ecstatic! I had just purchased the book, ‘Eat Pray Love’ which got me on this spiritual high and really intrigued about the Balinese culture. I learned from the book that before the tourist bombings in 2002 and 2005 their economy was largely agricultural based however now Bali is slowly recovering and relies solely on tourism as around 80% of their income.

When we arrived in Bali the airport was so small and right away I noticed English was spoken pretty much everywhere (a nice change of pace from Korea!) There was also a lot of Australians vacationing there and we were told that this is very common like it would be for us Americans to travel to Mexico for our holiday. We arrived pretty late at night and thankfully we were organized enough to book a driver ahead of time to our first hostel, the Puri Dewa Bharata in Legian. As soon as we got into the car we all looked at each other strangely, “waitttt a minute, they drive on the opposite side of the roads?? AWESOME!” We pulled into the front desk of the Puri Dewa Bharata and were amazed at how beautiful it was! The flowers and trees were growing in the most beautiful colors and the architecture of each villa was gorgeous! We signed in and were offered a delicious umbrella drink. Our family villa had a master bedroom with a very romantic bed (that Bri and Amy shared!) that connected to an open living room outside with stairs that led to the room where Tia, Andy and I stayed. The whole aura of the villa was very authentic. That night Andy, Tia and I decided to walk up and down the streets to get a feel for what was around us. We noticed so many small boxes with flowers, food and coins on the ground…we were confused but I learned later that everyday the Balinese during different times of the day put offerings for the gods out in these little boxes filled with random things. Most of them were lit with inscents, so every street you walked up you got that distinct smell! We didn’t walk far and ended up going to bed not long after the walk so we could be ready to go for our first full day in Bali!

The next morning we got up and had our continental breakfast, then decided to go for a dip in our very blue pool that we had to ourselves! We entertained ourselves for a good couple of hours doing relay races, cannon balls and making our hair look like George Washington…(typical 23 yr old things haha). After cleaning ourselves up from the pool we met up with Andy’s friend James who had been in Bali for a day and had already made himself familiar with the beaches in Legian. First he showed us his little bungalow, it had an outdoor shower that surrounded itself with tropical plants of all kinds. (Have you ever seen MTV Cribs with Island Records creator Sir Richard Branson…exactly like his outdoor shower…AMAZING! I had to pinch myself that I was really here!) After the tour James gave us we walked to the beach and laid out in the sand, swam in the INDIAN OCEAN and relaxed. Andy decided to get a massive henna tattoo of a dragon on his back, it was hilarious…it lasted long after our Bali vaca! Being on the beach it was my first time ever experiencing venders coming up to you and trying to sell you anything and everything at any price. I read before we went that if you even start to haggle and agree on a price its considered very rude not to buy that item. Knowing this I tried to be good with my haggling…that is an art I must say! That night we all went out for some dinner and a couple of drinks.

After a couple of days at the Puri Dewa Bharata we headed over to The Jayakarta which was located right on the beach and was probably one of the nicest hotels I have ever been in! After we got our rooms situated we decided that we wanted to book some touristy things. This is where we met, “Johnny” our tour guide for the week! Johnny is his nickname. In the Balinese culture there are 4 names given out in the order you were born. The 1st born child is named: Wayan, the 2nd born child is named: Made, 3rd is: Nyoman and the 4th is: Ketut. If there is more than 4 children the process starts again but the 5th would be Wayan Balik, which is basically Wayan to the second power haha. You would think that this would get confusing but they come up with nicknames for each other and each village is so close that they base you off reputation.

On our first tour I learned that the Balinese are skilled artisans. Each village in Bali has an expertise and every business is usually family ran. The villages are particularly noted for their woodcarving, fashioning metals (shells and silvers) into jewelry, Batiking, weaving, painting and dance. Johnny took us to all of these businesses and each one spent so much time making their art impeccable! First we went to the woodcarvers and I bought a sculpted Buddha to bring good luck (I hope it works!) The carvers were really nice and wanted me to take pictures with them, one even gave me his e-mail address! Then we went and saw silver being made into jewelry, and painters. It was incredible to watch them spend so much time on just one piece, they literally work 24/7, 365!

Later we visited a monkey sanctuary! (Kristin you would have been so jealous!!) This monkey forest was surrounded by little long tailed monkeys that would walk right up to you or (in Bri’s case) jump on you! I’ve never been that close to one before, they are so human like! We watched them open up coconuts and it was so interesting how smart they are and how quickly they figured it out! The forest had a temple, but you couldn’t go inside—bummer!

The next day we spent a lot of time by the pool and being beach bums! We went to Kuta Beach with all the surfers! James taught (or should I say attempted) me to surf! I didn’t get up but it was definitely a great time getting out there and feeling the waves. Our time was limited with the board so I’m sure if I had a longer chance I would have gotten up!

We also attended a traditional Kecak fire dance! The costumes and chants were really interesting to witness. The dances are usually performed after sunset. The music is done orally by a group of men sitting in a group and interprets the sound of Ramayana, which is basically just a compulsive choir sound of ‘cak-cak-cak’.

Here’s the story:

“The Kecak Dance shows the Hindu story of Ramayana. Rama, a knight and rightful hier for the throne of Ayodya, is exiled together with his wife Sita with a distant leave. Presently there, a good bad king spies Sita, falls deeply in love with her, and directs a gold deer to appeal Rama away. Sita is taken, and Rama rounds upward his armies to defeat the ones from the bad king and save her.”

At the end of the dance a man dances on coconut leaves that are on fire! We asked Johnny if it hurt their feet when dancing on fire, and he said “Oh yeah, you just gotta dance fast!” We got to take pictures with the cast afterwards and the costumes were even more intense up close! Several women tried to get us to buy masks that resembled some of the god’s in the story. I was a sucker and bought one! It kind of freaks me out though…

For Tia’s birthday we went to a restaurant called, ‘Café Bali’. The décor was so charming and the food was delicious! The walls were covered in different sized mirrors, vintage looking chandeliers and a small waterfall! I ordered a salmon mango salad and some sushi rolls, my mouth as never been happier! We had told our waiter that it was Tia’s birthday so all of a sudden the lights turn off and club music starts blasting through the restaurant. Tia looks at us confused and Andy goes, “Does this turn into a dance club or something!?” then a group of waiters come over to our table holding a desert plate and singing for Tia, it was so great!!! Then for the second night in a row we went to a reggae bar and danced the night away!

On our last day we went on a boat tour to ‘Turtle Island’. Our boat had a mini glass floor so we got to see the fish under water, which was exciting! The water was the bluest I had ever seen it, I kept telling myself, “Katie soak this in soak this in, take lots of mental pictures!!” Once we docked we got to hold the biggest turtles, see pelicans, snakes (yuck), huge bats and other interesting animals. Mid-afternoon we had to head back to our hotel and say goodbye…we all weren’t ready to go! I wanted to go somewhere where I could marvel something, and Bali fed that appetite! I will be back someday…