Bali

December 18th - December 25th

A bit of a last mintue pack - a few goodbyes and off we went.  Jetstar to Bali - no too bad only a bit of a delay - yet they sell beer at the gate lounge - so all happy.  Landed in Bali paying our arrival tax - ha what a joke.  Then off we go - transfer waiting (unusual for us - but surely something we could get used to!).  RF had purchased a week stay online through one of those last mintue deals.  It was actually really good.  We arrived at the hotel and although 3* - very nice and room was great.  A week of touring and relax to follow.  We had always been aprehensive to go to Bali - after to bombings in 2002 etc - but truely we were very pleasantly surprised.  It was HOT in Bali - as bad if not worse than Darwin at this time of year.  The first things you notice are the massive number of motorbikes - oh my there are thousands.  It was unbelievable to see a mother feeding a baby on the back of a moving motorbike, babies huddled in the front whilst parents weave in and out of manic traffic.  At times it was hard to watch. 
We did a lot of sightseeing - we had a driver Komung - local man with wife and 2 children.  Looked after us amazingly.  All the photos are on Facebook.  Rich was keen for us to taste the roadside delicacies and that we did.  Some Goat.  Rich thought that we were having Satay from the "Gods" yet small miscommunication and all of a sudden we are eating Goat satay and soup - really good.  We have previously had Goat in Fiji - and really it is quite nice - it is just a head space thing!

Goat Curry and Soup - $1.50

Suckling Pig, Duck, Chicken,Satay, Baby Banana Plant Soup - $25 (for 3 people)

We loved Bali - you can keep Kuta, Nosa Dua etc - but would love to go back for the other things.  On Christmas Eve we decided to head to one of the Orphanages.  Our driver too us to a bunch of local shops and we brought some clothes, toileteries, food and school books. We arrived and found 95 children being very well cared for by a couple of locals that had set up this place.  A young local showed us around and we hope that in some way we have made a difference.  Merry Christmas!!

Christmas Eve 2011

Apart from the thieves that stole our Vodka - we found Bali a very peaceful and loving place and understand why so many people love going there.