Back from Bali,Inodonesia

sunset soccer
Originally uploaded by morningmilk8.

This is one of my favorite photos from the trip... The afternoon into the sunset was the best time of day on this beach (kuta)... not just because of the sunset, but because so many people local and tourists came out to play soccer, swim, hang out etc..... many tourists were from indonesia, just different islands, so it was cool to see their reactions so someplace so beautiful in their own country....
bali was amazing and probably one of my top 3 places i've been to. the food was the best i've ever had!! it was not only vegetarian friendly, but so delicious! i have a set on my flickr site devoted just to the food.......
we spent some time in kuta at the beginning of the trip... i found it to be a bit of a nightmare as it was a huge tourist trap and a place for those who have a money to spare on a vacation... not too budget traveller oriented. but like i said the beach was great, the waves were huge and it was great place to people watch. kuta is the town where some terrorists bombed a nightclub in october of 2002... it was quite sobering to go to the memorial site. people from 20 different countries were killed, mostly australian.....
after kuta we headed to a town in central bali called ubud... it was absolutely amazing. it is a town known for its art and temples and was great place to see the countryside and visit some temples and see some great art. we visited two volcanos and huge temple called besakih, which sits on the side of a volcano. on of the volcanoes errupted in 1995 and there are fields and fields of lava at the base now... we were able to climb around the rocks. it was so great and beautiful in such a strange way.
after ubud, we headed to a tiny island off the southern coast called lombonganon.... it was great place, but i hate boats and was seasick on the ride there and back.... i repeat i HATE boats..... we hung out on the beach there before we had to head back to kuta to catch our plane.... our flight didn't leave until 11:50 at night, so we had a full day to hang out in kuta and we were able to go to a town called ulu watu to catch the sunset. ulu watu is also a famous temple on the side of an amazing cliff overlooking the ocean. it was so beautiful......
they also do a type of "trance dance" called kecak dancing... its a hindi ritual which also a story of the monkey king trying to capture the king's wife.... i had seen a film called baraka a few years ago.. its more of a documentary where the filmaker went to 30 different countries and filmed different religious rituals, daily life, and natural wonders.... anyway, in the film they do the kecak dancing, except when i first saw the film i didn't know what this was or where it was... when i discovered that they did it in bali and it was a hindi ritual i was sooo excited to see it. the men are the "orchestra" so to speak and they make all the music and sounds with their mouths. it is quite amazing to see.........
this is just a brief summary, i'll fill everyone in on the good stuff later when i'm not so beat. i've only been back for one day and already i've a ridiculously "chinese" day in which i had to be on camera again.... i could never be a celebrity, i'm not vain enough to want a camera in my face................
happy mother's day to all those wonderful and beautiful moms out there!!!
peace,love,and seein' the world
nicole