Arriving in Bali, instantly you can feel a laid back island vibe, much more so than Java. Ubud is known as the cultural center of Bali, and it’s a great place to spend a few days. It has a lot of yoga, total well-being type places, vegetarian and all-natural food galore, a lot of western influence in its shops and restaurants, but still brimming with Balinese culture. We were lucky enough to be there for the end of one of their bi-annual festival, tied to the predominantly Hindi religion (vs. Java, which is mostly Muslim).
From Ubud we headed to Legian, which is on the same stretch of 15km sand between Kuta (BIG party scene, overrun with young Australians) and Seminyak (quiet, expensive resort filled). We cashed-in Marriott points to stay at a really nice hotel and could celebrate Jen’s birthday in style. Thanks to her special day, we were upgraded to a private “plunge pool” suite.
Our lost stop in Indonesia was a five-night stay in the Gili islands, a set of three islands off the coast of Lombok. As you can see by the pictures, we were obsessed with the crystal clear, warm, turquoise water. It was gorgeous. We snorkeled every day. Reefs were really cool, lots of fish, starfish, corral, two SEA SNAKES and a dozen or so turtles, a few of which we swam with for up to 10 minutes! Beautiful undersea wildlife and sunsets made this one of our favorite spots of the trip.
Amazing photos as always. I love to see the people who live there. Glad you had a birthday to remember!! The beaches look a-maazing.
Your pictures are beautiful! I love the pic with Jon in his scuba gear!!!