Hunting Cheese: Travels: It's Bali Time!

Wow! We just returned from an amazing whirlwind trip. Felt like way more than 10 days, perhaps because we squeezed in so many spots: Bali, one special night in Makassar, Raja Ampat (unreal) and Singapore! I'll take each of these one by one...

First up, Bali! I know you've all heard of Bali, famous as a culturally exotic locale, made even more famous by Eat, Pray, Love. Before we went, I also read this blog post: Why Bali is Overrated. Let me just say not all Bali is created equal. It depends what experience you're looking for, before you decide what area / neighborhood you want to stay in. With only 2 nights: we stayed in Kuta / Jimbaran area, which is the closest to the airport. This is NOT at all what is depicted by Julia in EPL. Gloria best described it as "the Australian Cancun" and I couldn't agree more. It's a party town and surfers paradise, but I wouldn't necessarily call it a cultural retreat. If that's what you're looking for, I'd instead head to Ubud, Seminyak, the Gili Islands (the new Bali), or even better Bora Bora! (while not cultural or in Indonesia, it's an amazing romantic retreat, i.e. our honeymoon)

Additionally, I made the mistake of reading "Hotel K" while we were there. This is a fabulously fascinating book, but if you read it when you're actually in Bali, you may or may not become paranoid that there are drugs everywhere and that someone will plant them on you at the airport.

Regardless, of all of the above, we had an amazing time! Especially, thanks to the tips and lovely surprises along the way.

For one night, we headed to the Kecak Sunset Dance at Uluwatu Temple. Uluwatu is an amazing temple on the cliff-side overlooking the ocean. Backed by the beautiful scenery, the Balinese perform a fascinating dance in an outdoor amphitheater. The "music" is performed through the percussionist vocals of about 30 men and the performance is at the center of the circle telling a story of a Balinese legend of a kidnapped Princess. There are no words, so luckily they give you a printed guide to follow along. :)

For dinner, the hotel recommended "one of the best seafood restaurants" in Jimbaran. As we walked out the back of the hotel, across an alley to a smoke-filled, unimposing, drab cube of a restaurant with petshop fish tanks, I thought, "well, this is interesting... " but once we walked through to the beachside, I was in awe. There were beautiful candlelit tables laid out on the beach for as far as the eye could see. It was simply breathtaking. Not to mention, the seafood feast was delicious! Grilled spiny lobsters are tasty!