Bali

After the hectic pace of Java, we needed a bit of relaxation. Luckily, Bali was the perfect spot. Bali is beautiful, interesting, and definitely relaxing.

After spending one night in the beach town of Sanur, we waded out to a boat heading to Nusa Lembongan, a small island off of Bali's south coast. Nusa Lembongan has few cars and the pace of life is centered around the constant Hindu ceremonies and the tidal harvesting of the seaweed.

We stayed in a beach hut on the remote side of the island and rented a motor scooter to get around. One the scooter it takes about an hour to tour the whole island, so we had a lot of time to read or nap on the beach. It was a perfect spot to spend a few days.

Then we headed back to the bigger Bali, where we toured terraced rice paddies, visited the Hindu temples, and wandered the streets of the artist town of Ubud (of Eat, Pray, Love fame). Almost 90% Hindu, Balinese life is dominated by ceremonies and the homes and towns are all centered around temples. Even though the temples there are very old, they are still used almost daily, and we ran across many elaborate ceremonies involving entire communities.

We could have easily spent another week in Bali, but were getting pretty excited for our next destination: Borneo.

Check out some of our pictures from Bali.

Bali