Monday, March 9, 2009

Bali bound (Mar. 7/09 - Ubud, Bali, Indonesia)

Since today was all about getting to Bali on our 7pm flight, we basically had most of the day to relax at the hotel - a rarity! So after a decadent sleep-in in a super comfy bed with clean sheets and even tv and coffee in bed, we went down for some breakfast and a morning swim. We headed back to the airport mid afternoon and eventually left the ground on a plane packed full of locals, Bali bound. We had assumed that there might be more tourists at the airport and on the flight (it is Bali, after all) but in the two hours we were there, we saw only one. Either people are just not traveling to Indonesia, or they are flying directly into Bali. It was late by the time we got out of the airport, thanks in part to the huge distances between places in this country and the resulting time zone change.

The area around the airport, known as Kuta, has a reputation as being a loud, rowdy party place, something like Cancun. Not really our thing, so we opted to base ourselves out of Ubud for a while, a small inland town about an hour north that is known as a quiet, chilled out spot with great shopping, cheap places to stay, nice hiking, and excellent food. Need we say more? It was too late for the bus to take us there, so we resorted to taking a cab. The driver turned out to be full of information, telling us all about Indonesia's bizarre government system (there are 35 political parties and thousands of senators!) and his take on American politics. Ubud was dead by the time we pulled in at 11pm, but staff at the guesthouse we had picked showed us to their last room - a beautiful, big tiled room with Hindu carvings on the outside like a temple, beautiful Balinese artwork on the walls, and a four poster bed. It was a bit out of our budget again, but seeing as today was actually our four year anniversary, we figured we deserved it!

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