BALIcious!

Way too short of a stay on the wonderful island of Bali, Indonesia - only 5 days to enjoy the many varied delights the island has to offer. Our first two nights we stayed in Legian (which is just up the beach from Kuta - worldwide party destination) at the Alam Kulkul Resort. Very nice place right on the beach - wonderful grounds, service and room. The beach was great - wide and flat, super for walking, sunbathing, etc. Watching the surf and surfers was also good fun! Apparently the good waves were breaking a bit south of us in Ulu Watu, so we didn't see a ton of surfers on our stretch of beach. We definitely took advantage of the reknown nightlife of the area. The first night we hit a couple of clubs - kind of spooked me as we were people watching, from our perch on the verandah of the first club, as tons of tourists were posing for pictures in front of the massive 2002 bombing memorial. Not much of a party scene at the first club, so we moved onto M Bar Go - where there was a fun DJ and dancing. They also had a couple of sets where a big troupe of drummers came onstage and supplemented the dance beats - that was really fun to watch/dance to, and really got the party rev'd up. Our second night we hit the infamous club Bounty - pirate ship themed, with a bevy of different rooms and options. We joined the packed dance floor and shook it until 5am when they shut the place down. Fun to watch all the cute young'uns and their dance shenanigans - especially enjoyable because all the surfer boys had their shirts off. Sorry to report, there was not a dance sando in sight - I propose a Rialto field trip to Kuta to introduce the dance sando to the international audience!!! So, after a day and two nights of life in the fast lane, we were ready to head to Ubud and soak up some tranquility. We arranged for a driver and took off after a filling lunch of Indonesian specialties at a local Warung - enjoyed a big bowl of veggies, rice and tempeh with peanut sauce and a chicken curry with rice that had been steamed in banana leaves. We found a nice little homestay bungalow in Ubud - Sania's House Bungalows. Our first room was a bit of a dungeon, but we upgraded for the second two nights into a gorgoeous 'castle' room right next to the pool. Lots of fun with carved wood and stone accents. Ubud was not exactly as we expected (not that we really knew what to expect) - not quite serenity. It is a gorgeous and lush city - with decorations and temples and local flavor everywhere. It is also a huge tourist resort - boutiques, bungalows and restaurants crammed into every available space. Had some great meals there - a lot of upscale restaurants with Indonesian influenced menus. Our most amazing eating experience was at the Ubud suckling pig institution - Warung Ibu Oka (don't tell Sucky Pig!). For 7 bucks we each had huge portions of all sorts of pig bits - skin, belly, blood sausage, leg, loin, etc. All served with rice, awesome pickled chilis and a yummy slaw of coconut, green beans and fried shallots. We went on a short walk through some of the lush rice paddies, but didn't get too much of a chance to explore the beautiful country side. We also indulged in a half day at one of the many local spas - we each had multiple massages and treatments - 4 hours for about $40! Definitely a highlight of the Ubud visit. We will definitely need to revisit Bali at some point, I think we barely scratched the surface...