BALI BABY! We arrived and were quickly taken advantage of. As you can see we had many men helping us with our luggage and each commanded an exorbitant $10 tip! we only had 10,000 rupis and they did not make change. so far, so good.
We stayed in a beautiful traditional Bali home with the most amazing grounds. A lush tropical jungle with a gorgeous pool and waterfall! this is heaven!
Our gorgeous jungle boys had a fantastic time running through the banana trees and playing in the pool.
the view from the second level bedroom was gorgeous, serene and so relaxing. And it was air conditioned! so wonderful!
the lower level and living area was totally open all around but was so great to hang out in, we still felt like we were virtually the only people staying there even though we were so exposed. It was beautifully decorated with traditional Bali furnishings, and a great Bali bed!
The pool was great! so cool and relaxing, unfortunately it gave both boys a bad bacterial rash, ugh. because of this we chose to move down to the beach house instead of remaining here in Ubud. also since i had made our reservation for March of 2012! (ooops!) other people had booked the large house we were in for 2011, boo!
Lovely little girl helping her mother create the offering baskets used for the many offerings the Hindu make to their Gods many, many times throughout the day.
We happened to be staying just down the road from the Healer Ketut Liyer from the book "Eat, Pray, Love". I, of course, had to go to see him.
It was a lot of fun and really neat to see an authentic family compound in Bali. there were many beautiful buildings and courtyards with lush plants, and dozens of birds in cages, a peacock too!He read my palm, back and legs. I didn't learn much new but it was interesting. He was quite the flirt!
We visited the Elephants and made a new friend Nikko. Jaxon really enjoyed walking around with Nikko, and he really took to the boys. they walked around and played with him for a long time. so darn cute!
the boys also got to ride the elephants again, and the guides were so great! they let us all sit on the trunks of the elephants! so cool!
We visited a local shrine lovingly known as the "Bat Cave" the temple is built into the side of a mountain that has a cave that goes in miles and miles. it is filled with thousands of bats! rumor has it very large Pythons come out of the cave to feed on the bats too. yikes!
it was quite a creepy, crawly sight! eww!
At the end of our drive was a wonderful artist that i commissioned these paintings with. He made them just for me to fit in our stairwell. I can't wait to put them up at home!
We also visited Monkey Forest! there were hundreds of monkeys that roam the grounds. Some were rather scary, very aggressive, we were warned to watch out for the thieves. they like to steal cameras, glasses and drink bottles.
Ghett got a fantastic hair cut in Bali! it cost me less than $2! wish i could go back whenever the boys need hair cuts!
We moved down to the house in Candidasa on the beach and loved it! jus gorgeous! more heaven!
We took a ride in a submarine and saw tons of fish! it was a really fun experience! the boys loved it!
At Safari Park we saw all sorts of wild animals in a very natural habitat. One of my favorites was the Tiger who treated us by swimming by and later by coming very close to the safari bus.
Another fun ride was the camels. The boys are really having a great time meeting so many different kinds of animals! We all love it! such an amazing adventure!
Safari Park also boasts a huge water park with tons of pools and slides! boy heaven! and a poolside bar for mom and dad!
At the restaurant we were treated to an up close viewing of the big female Lion who came to take a long drink. The theme of the restaurant was the African tragedy that occurred while they were building the railroad. The two Lions that killed many railroad workers. not sure about that for a restaurant, but it was very cool to see the Lions so close up!
This is the view from the deck of our new house on the beach. it was a wonderful place to hang out, paradise!
The sunsets in Bali were gorgeous! It really is a spectacular paradise! we are so lucky!
We visited the Elephants and made a new friend Nikko. Jaxon really enjoyed walking around with Nikko, and he really took to the boys. they walked around and played with him for a long time. so darn cute!
the boys also got to ride the elephants again, and the guides were so great! they let us all sit on the trunks of the elephants! so cool!
We visited a local shrine lovingly known as the "Bat Cave" the temple is built into the side of a mountain that has a cave that goes in miles and miles. it is filled with thousands of bats! rumor has it very large Pythons come out of the cave to feed on the bats too. yikes!
it was quite a creepy, crawly sight! eww!
At the end of our drive was a wonderful artist that i commissioned these paintings with. He made them just for me to fit in our stairwell. I can't wait to put them up at home!
We also visited Monkey Forest! there were hundreds of monkeys that roam the grounds. Some were rather scary, very aggressive, we were warned to watch out for the thieves. they like to steal cameras, glasses and drink bottles.
Ghett got a fantastic hair cut in Bali! it cost me less than $2! wish i could go back whenever the boys need hair cuts!
We moved down to the house in Candidasa on the beach and loved it! jus gorgeous! more heaven!
We took a ride in a submarine and saw tons of fish! it was a really fun experience! the boys loved it!
At Safari Park we saw all sorts of wild animals in a very natural habitat. One of my favorites was the Tiger who treated us by swimming by and later by coming very close to the safari bus.
Another fun ride was the camels. The boys are really having a great time meeting so many different kinds of animals! We all love it! such an amazing adventure!
Safari Park also boasts a huge water park with tons of pools and slides! boy heaven! and a poolside bar for mom and dad!
At the restaurant we were treated to an up close viewing of the big female Lion who came to take a long drink. The theme of the restaurant was the African tragedy that occurred while they were building the railroad. The two Lions that killed many railroad workers. not sure about that for a restaurant, but it was very cool to see the Lions so close up!
This is the view from the deck of our new house on the beach. it was a wonderful place to hang out, paradise!
The sunsets in Bali were gorgeous! It really is a spectacular paradise! we are so lucky!
We met a local woman on our rice field trek gathering roots and mushrooms, loved her teeth.
the rice fields were amazing! so green and lush! just gorgeous! one of my favorite trips. very hot but we were lucky to have a little waterway running along the path that the boys tromped through and I soaked my hat in to cool off. the views were amazing!
Along the way there were people selling crafts made from the grasses and bamboo, weavings, baskets, and jewelry. Kirk got a bracelet. there was even a little snack shack were we bellied up to the bar for drinks! sprite and water but worked for us! the homes in the hills here have no electricity or plumbing, very rustic and traditional. many little huts lined the path for people to cool off in as they worked in the fields. little alters were placed along the way to give thanks to the Gods for good harvests, etc.
Local women work carrying big concrete bricks on their heads. i often saw women with big buckets or baskets on their heads. i can't imagine being able to do this! i was told that because of their ability to balance things on their heads they retain good posture far into old age.
Ghett in traditional Bali dress ready to visit the Mother Temple. the largest Temple in Bali, and because there were special festivals going on during the time we were here there were thousands of visitors in traditional dress carrying baskets on their heads and making offerings.
It was such a wonderful sight! all of the local people come to make offerings and then relax on the grass to picnic. the streets were lined with vendors with sate's, cotton candy and balloons!
A family in traditional dress.
Next door to our house we found a huge hotel in renovation but they allowed us to use the huge pools while we were there having food or drinks. it was not finished and did not have a full kitchen so they offered us a suite of four rooms, including breakfast for $55 a night! I tried to convince Kirk to let us stay, and maybe he could work from home? but no!
We took a traditional boat out to an island and did a little snorkeling although we could not convince the boys to try the masks. hopefully by next time we can get them used to masks so that they can enjoy the amazing fish as well!
at White Sand Beach the boys had a great time body surfing and riding on boogie boards! they were naturals! when a big wave rolled them i thought for sure someone would come up crying but they loved every minute of it! there were many great thatched roof restaurants along the beach and beach chairs with umbrellas for us to relax and cool off under. More heaven!
One day i took a cooking class at a beautiful hotel. it included a trip to the biggest market in the area. it was amazing to see all of the different foods and so many familiar ones all piled up for sale. so many colors and sights and smells it was fantastic and so much fun!
the people fascinated me with their faces and traditional dress. i loved to people watch and i know they got a kick out of watching our little group go through the market as well. it was so interesting! this woman is working on a basket for offerings from palm fronds.
there were stalls of everything you could imagine. here is a stall with flower petals used in the offering baskets.
a local woman buying her chickens, very, very fresh. people walked by with the birds just hanging by their feet or in plastic bags, the chickens just looking around wondering what was up? poor things. there were tons of chickens, ducks and roosters live, kept in baskets awaiting buyers.
the most God awful thing! Durian fruit! smells to high heaven like crap! and tasted to me like bad tuna fish. i almost could not eat it after the smell got to me before i took a bite. i tried it because everyone said it actually was delicious and sweet. ha! no way! i advise you to take a pass. blech!
My cooking class was wonderful and we made many things from the traditional ground Bumbu mixture. mostly chilies, vegetables and herbs all ground together and you add other ingredients, like peanuts and coconut milk to it to make many different dishes. it was all so delicious! and fun to use the traditional mortar and pestle made from lava rock, i brought one home with me. very heavy, but very cool.
Our group from the cooking class. Me, Andreas from Sweden, the chef and Kanami from Japan!
Ghett with the two tiny Balinese dancers from our local restaurant. they were very serious and too cute!
On our last day in Bali we returned to the Safari Park water park and there was a total down pour that lasted forever! we still enjoyed the water since we were wet already!
Our driver took us to an amazing restaurant with tables out on the beach! a traveling Mariachi band serenaded us with Carlos Santana songs! and we ate a ton of lobster and seafood! the boys had fun playing on the beach one last time and there were traditional Balinese dancers giving shows in our, and neighboring restaurants. it was a magical way to end our amazing adventure!
