Caroline, Sydney Side: Bali in a Day

Christian and I planned well. Yesterday was all about relaxation, today was all about exhaustion and seeing as many of the sites as humanly possible, tomorrow is again about relaxation - and we will need it!

Today started early with another dragonfruit probiotic shake, bacon and a fresh croissant - fuel for our day! We hired a driver from the W...for 9 hours with all parking and other fees covered, it was only US$100. DONE. What follows is a brief play-by play....I could go into each and every detail but I am not sure they allow blog posts that long!

Stop 1: My absolute favorite of the day. PURA LUHUR ULU WATU temple built in the 11th century. After paying about US$2 entry fee, we were wrapped in sarongs in order to enter the temple (legs must be covered) and were guided by a wonderful if shrewd 80-year old woman with a stick. The stick's purpose? To fend off grey monkeys. There were so many, and man, were they aggressive. CC and I heeded all the warnings, and removed hats, sunglasses, earrings and the like. Others did not, and as a result their hats, flip flops and sunglasses were quickly snatched by those little troublemakers. Rescuers were in place (elderly men in brightly colored sarongs), and swapped fresh fruit for the goods with the monkeys and all was well in the world. The temple itself was breathtaking....perched high high high atop a cliff overlooking the Indian Ocean. (Photos to come once I can download them, but nothing will do it justice.) I definitely took a few moments to breathe in the beauty.

Oh, on the way to Ulu Watu we stopped at a local market in Denpasar. Fascinating! We certainly saw the requisite fish with flies on it -eek! - but also saw interesting wares like offering baskets, soda bags and the like. CC taught me that soda bags are when locals buy a drink at the market...the vendor will pour the drink into a plastic bag and tie the top around a straw, and then keep the bottle for himself. Everything is used here...for example, Absolute vodka bottles are used to store Petrol on the side of the road for motorbike drivers to buy and quickly refuel.

Stop 2: SEE FISH MARKET in Denpasar. This is a local joint, for sure. Our guide kept telling us that it wasn't fancy, and we responded each and every time "great! that's what we want". It was really cool. Fish of all shapes, colors and sizes in tiny stalls on ice. We saw shark, huge snappers, prawns, skates. And all local. We were the only Westerners anywhere close. We then stopped in Ganesha Puduk Cafe on the beach. We selected white snapper and prawns from the fresh catch displayed out front, and ate our handpicked delicious grilled seafood right on the beach, with our feet in the sand and a view of all the fishing boats.

Stops 3, 4 and 5: Various temples. Each has its own theme and selection of Gods to worship.

Stop 6: The RICE TERRACES in Ubud. We had quite a long drive to get there but WOW. We stopped outside some small shops, and peered over the side to the most amazing rice fields, manicured and tiered on the side of a volcano. Magnificent.

Stop 7: The WATER TEMPLE (Taman Ayun). A temple with 3 worship areas, each surrounded by its own moat with lily pads abound. It reminded me of the house in the movie Great Expectations with Gwyneth Paltrow and Ethan Hawke. It was once where the Royal Family worshipped, and after the family lost its royal hold, the temples were not kept up. It was also hit by an earthquake in 1917, and they are still slowly rebuilding it to its original state. Yep, you heard me.

Stop 8: PURAH TANAH LOT near Semanyak. A beautiful temple built atop rocks jutting out over the Indian Ocean. We made it here for sunset, and wow was it a treat. There were unfortunately tons of people, but we still made our way through it. We were blessed by holy water and luckily avoided the holy snake....a huge boa constrictor, I presume, since there were men with their boas hanging out around the temple. We jumped our way over rocks and sand to get good snaps of the temple, but decided we were tired and skipped the firedance.

After relaxing and showering for only an hour, CC and I dined at Luchiolla, a fabulous Italian restaurant right on the beach. The service was impeccable, as was the view. I had a lovely tuna carpaccio and a risotto for dinner, and great company and conversation. A beautiful nightcap to a beautiful and memorable day.