We have had a great first day in Bali. We'll catch you up with our own photos next week. Here are some highlights from today. It has been a really nice break from the whirlwind of work, for me.
We did a bit of the touristy thing - having the driver zip us to and fro in his jeep, bit of a frenzied pace - we did not settle in and chill for Day One. Perhaps we shpuld have, our villa would have made an inviting location in and of itself - it's a fantastic place! Some illustrative pictures are below... this is indeed one of our (outdoor) bathrooms and our Buddha statue, but the (salt water) pool and the (again, outdoor)living area are from the villa next to ours - but they are essentially the same as what we have.
Really nice!
And to think it costs as much as a Motel 6 next to i-95 in Pulaski County, Virginia.
^ This is a Hindu island in the Islamic nation of Indonesia - and we Christians went to the temple today to witness a huge festival (a Hindu festival, who would have guessed?) that was taking place. Hinduism looks and sounds different here, yet it has some attributes that just like the Hinduism of India.
^ We spent a good amount of time trekking the streets of Ubud, a town that was filled with shops that were packed with cool things - it was at that moment that Tara and I realized this trip would have been vastly more enjoyable without children. But, alas, the kids were with us.....
^ We were psyched to see the terraced rice paddies around the Ubud area. Dramatic and awesome.
^ We spent the latter part of the day in the Monkey Forest around Ubud. Very excellent experience until I realized the macaques knew I had bananas in my pocket and insisted on going into the pocket to retrieve them. A bit freaky. At one point a full-blown dominance fight broke out between two monkeys while Tara and Jonah were near to them. A little too close for comfort, so we left.
