BALI!

A few weeks ago we packed our bags and headed to Bali for a fun, 4 day get away. It's really about time we went there because everyone I know in Singapore had already been and loved it. It's funny because while we were there I got to thinking that 7 years ago as Matt and I were discussing places to go on our honeymoon, I actually remember one of us mentioning Bali. It was quickly ruled out as 1) we thought it was way too far from the US (and it really is) and 2) it was totally out of our budget at the time. Back then I would have never guessed that we would eventually make it there and be only a 2.5 hour plane ride away!

When we first arrived in Singapore, I naively assumed that all of the surrounding countries would more or less be the same. I couldn't have been more wrong! In fact, each country we've been to has been uniquely different than the next, no matter how close together they are. Bali offered us totally new experiences!

We spent our first two nights in Ubud, then traveled to Tulamben (known for its dive sites and more specifically, the Liberty shipwreck) and then spent our final night and day in Sanur. This time around, I didn't have to do hardly any of the planning because we went there with the Castello family and Amanda was kind enough to work out all of the major details. She really planned a great trip and we had so much fun traveling together!

Let's move on to the more exciting part of the post...the pictures!

On our very first morning, we biked through Ubud which gave us a real feel for what local life was like...

I have never seen (or heard!) more roosters in my entire life. They were everywhere in Bali.

Roosters are the very reason I'm sure that I could never live on a farm. They sure are annoying at 4 a.m.!

So as our biking group continously checked out the roosters, a few of our guides thought it would be fun to let us watch some angry roosters fight. OK, my first thought was to walk away because even though I'm not crazy for roosters or anything, the last thing I wanted to watch was one of them kiling the other! However, we were assured that it wasn't a "real" rooster fight (apparently those involve blades and the loosing rooster dying within minutes) and these two would do nothing but peck at each other...which ended up being true, thankfully!

Well, even though they didn't kill each other, it sure looked like they wanted to...

Stone statues like this one are present all throughout Bali.

As our bike ride went on, we finally came to what I was most excited about seeing in Bali - the rice fields! To be honest, I was expecting to see fields of rice in Vietnam, but we never really did. I know they exist in Vietnam in areas outside of the places we traveled, but at least going to Bali allowed me to see the fields...and they looked just like I had imagined!

(...and for the few that may be wondering, that's me with an [almost] 5 months pregnant belly. I can't really hide it anymore!)

The people of Bali were so friendly! These folks happily waved and smiled at me as I snapped their picture!

A path along the rice fields. The day could not have been more beautiful than it was!

Never ending fields of rice!

The bike tour ended with a home cooked meal at the house of the man who owns Banyan Tree Bike Tours (I highly recommend them should you ever find yourself in Bali). I would have taken pictures of the meal, but I was far too busy inhaling all of the delicious food they gave us! :)

We spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing by the pool and goofing off at the resort...

The hotel grounds.

The next day we departed Ubud fairly early to make it to our next destination, Tulamben. As I mentioned above, Tulamben is mostly a dive town. Since diving and pregnancy don't mix, I decided to snorkel and Matt was super sweet and decided to do that with me rather than dive (which I'm sure he would have had even more fun doing). We still saw a ton of fish and even managed to snorkel over the shipwreck which was really cool! Unfortunately, I failed to take out my camera the entire time we were in Tulamben so I didn't get a single picture from our day and night there. Guess we'll have to go back some day!

After we left Tulamben, we headed to Sanur to spend our final night and day relaxing. We stayed at a beautiful resort and as soon as we arrived, Matt and decided we weren't going to do anything else the rest of the time except relax by the pool and beach! It was the perfect decision for us! :)

Lunch by the beach...is there really a better place to eat?

The water was extremely shallow which I guess provides a perfect opportunity for the locals to fish in waist-deep water.

Now I said we went to Bali with the Castellos, but I bet you were starting to think I made that up, huh? Well, here is the ONLY proof I have that we were there together - the kids playing in the sand and Matt and Jason chatting in the distance :)

And I'll leave you with one last picture from our fabulous trip...

...the best looking guy in Bali! :)