Bali, Day +6

Yipeey! Its the Sports day! The time was fixed for 10am - an excellent opportunity to snore for a while more in the bed. Woke up lazily, had a light breakfast and waited for Ketut to come. He had arranged to take us to a contact of his who runs the local adventure sports on the Tanjung Benoa beach. In a few minutes he arrived with his cab, as enthusiastic and eager to take us to the sports site as we were to reach there and get into snorkeling and para-sailing. It took as around 15 minutes to reach there from our hotel. The beach was less of a beach, more of a mini harbor, with as many boats tied to it as there were those racing out in the sea. The place was lively with lots of people enjoying different activities - para-sailing, jet skiing, flying fish, banana boat ride, etc. Lots of people were wearing the diving gear which took our enthusiasm to the next level in anticipation of the snorkeling that we had planned. The tide was high and it was a good time to start our adventures.

After a short discussion with the adventure club representative - Uede - we learnt that the waters had become a little turbid compared to few days earlier. And it may not be very good idea to go in for snorkeling or the glass-bottom boat considering the not-so-good visibility of the sea bed at 6m to 9m. So what do we do now? Simple, suggested Uede - go for the scuba diving! Diving? We hardly know how to float in swimming pool water, and diving? What about the sharks? Piranhas? Crabs and all of those creatures? Well, not here, not in this part of the sea. The the Master Diver with us is over 25 years experienced, and will ensure our safety in all aspects. And we remembered - "Risk to Spiderman ko bhi lena padta hai, hum to sirf software engineers hain." And we were game for the dive. The Master quickly made us aware of the under-water sign language, breathing techniques and few tips; we put on our diving gear and were off in the boat towards the vast sea. I think we were quite away from the coast, there was no land around in any direction. The Master picked up a spot and dropped the anchor. Next we had our weight belts on, and I was the first to jump in. It looked pretty easy at start, but once you are in the middle of the sea in the water, waves splashing you against the boat, only your head above the water, and the water itself tasting salty, breathing is difficult indeed. Its the first time in your life you release that breathing which we take for granted, no not for granted any more. All of your life you have practiced and learnt to breath from your nose, involuntary, and now you have to change that in a minute - you have to learn and adapt to breathing from your mouth. Its not easy to start with - take a few long breaths under water and suddenly you realize the the air is not enough, and you try breathing little harder, and the face mask sticks to your nose, you cant breath any longer, you panic and wooh! There goes the breathing regulator out from your mouth and the salty water literally shakes you up inside out! I need a break. And climbed back on to the boat. Haah, I am safe now, for the time being.

We had limited time on our diving trip, and she was next. It took only 5 minutes at max for her to get used to the all the stuff that I tried for 10 mins, and before I could realize, she disappeared with the master in the water. I waited, and waited, and waited a bit more, it was 5 mins and she had not surfaced. Another 2 minutes, and she surfaced for couple of minutes to tell me how beautiful and calm it was under the sea, and went back in. I was amazed at the speed she adapted to the water, and ready to go at it again for the second time. Well, that definitely pepped me up. I went in after she came out. This time two breaths for practice and I was in with the Master. Every word she said about the world beneath the surface was so true. Its amazingly calm under the sea; all you can feel is your own heart beat, and hear the escaping bubbles your own breathing. The water was clearer than I expected, at first nothing was visible, but as I descended further I realized that I was already 6m down under. The whole world suddenly comes alive - the sea floor made of beautiful colorful corals all around you, and schools of different color and types of fish - small to large - just swimming past you as if nothing has changed. There are no words to describe the over whelming experience, you have to be in there to feel it alive. I wanted to stay there for ever, but I had a good 10 minutes under the sea. Back to the surface, back in the boat, and wished we had done diving daily for at least 4 hours for each day that we stayed in Bali. :)

Back on the shore, a quick shower with fresh water and ready for the next venture. Para-Sailing. This time, it was only her. The instructor quick got all the gear out, 5 minutes of instructions, still little hesitant but finally went up in the sky in a flick. It was a 10 minute long hovering over the sea and the coastal area, before exhibiting a precision landing at the designated spot! The joy of the flight along with the thrill of the adventure and happiness from the act was reflecting all at that very moment on her face. Wrapped up our things reluctantly at the adventure club, as we had to carry on to our next destination - the Turtle Island. It was a 10 - 12 minutes boat ride, arranged by Uede, to further north and north west of the Tanjung Benoa. Its a small island, funded by the government, primarily for the turtle conservation. They have a good collection of turtles - most of them come across to the island to feed during the high tide. There are separate tanks, I guess for breeding purpose or special care of injured / rescued turtles. What amazed us was the sheer size of turtles - though have seen it on Discovery and NatGeo - this is the first time we touched them and experienced them in the same water as us. Pretty inquisitive by nature, they all start squirming around you the moment you step into the water - small ones from the size of a hand to huge ones over 100 years in age and I guess around 50kg in weight. Try feeding them some sea weeds (the island authorities keep that) and they snap it right from your fingers. Note of caution: turtles have very strong snapping jaws, you and only you are responsible for your fingers! :)

Besides turtles, the place also has bats, python, osprey or the fishing eagle, one or two birds - mainly to attract tourists and spread awareness. You may see lot of school going kids on outing here, getting themselves familiar with the nature and the various species. The care taker staff is very polite and hospitable, and encourage you to touch and feel the different species, and built trust and confidence in conversing all wildlife around us. You may also donate if you like; the funds would be used for the upkeep of the place. There are various options - the payment can be done right there against a receipt, or you can get a receipt and go back to your hotel to leave the donation in a sealed envelop at the front desk, which the staff comes and collects against the issued receipt number. In all we spent an hour and a half there; tired, hungry, thirsty, but still full of enthusiasm to go on and experience more Bali. The were already getting the feeling that its our last day here, and were wishing if we could stay more. Anyways, we jumped in our boat to be back at the adventure club where Ketut was waiting and more than eager to find out if we liked the island. He dropped us back to our hotel, and was hesitant to accept any payment for the whole day he had spent taking us out in his cab. It was more of his kind gesture which he, in lieu of our association with him over all these days of our stay and outings in Bali, politely extended to us.

Back at the hotel, straight to the bar, ordered some amazing lunch, couple of drinks, cool breeze blowing right across your face, and it feels like heaven again. She decided to visit the hotel Spa for some relaxation therapy massage; I whiled away the time over pool (pool table!) and darts board. Went off to our room, rested for a while, freshened up, and back on deciding the dinner venue. We had tried almost all good looking places in the same lane as our hotel except one - The Tree. And that was the venue. No one else had return from their day trip till now, so we headed for the restaurant, located around 100m from our hotel. The food was simple - beef curry and vegetable curry - well cooked, low on spices, and fantastic. The live music made the place a lot livelier and turned the simple dinner into quite and experience. Started feeling a bit low, walked our last-leisure-walk back to our hotel, settled the hotel bills - part in USD - part in SGD - part in IDR and the rest in INR of the CC, booked the taxi for the morning ride to airport, and went for the last view of the sea shimmering under the moonlight. Sat there for quite a while, watching the endless expanse and never ending waves, the subtle sound of the breeze and cold sand beneath our feet. Back to the room and were busy wrapping up things, packing up luggage, and off to bed in the wee hours of the morning.. wished we don't have to wake up to go back! :)

Bali, Day +5

There are no excuses today. We did wake up early. More importantly, all by ourselves; got ready and headed for the breakfast. RM, who had joined us yesterday night from Singapore, were not in for the trip we had planned for today. Little confusion over the the taxi reservations, and soon we were heading towards the Besakih Temple, also know as the Mother Temple of Bali. Kintamani Volcano, or the Mt. Batur was next on the agenda, followed by evening at Luhur Temple at Uluwatu. Ketut was as usual our driver, guide and consultant for the trip. As we hurled out of the city limits and ventured into the hills, beautiful scenic landscapes ran throughout our journey till the temple. After paying up the entrance fee of 10k IDR per head and 5k for Cameras, you reach the parking lot. The temple association has had problems with locals from other areas of Bali over earnings from tourists, and thus do not allow anyone except them to be your guide to the temple. Going to the extent of telling you that you will not be allowed entrance at places inside the temple, they would give their best shot at negotiating their fees as well as a donation for the temple. Regardless of the fees, which is usually be around 50k IDR, it is a good option to hire a guide to explain you the history and parts in the temple, which otherwise is left to your homework on history lessons and relating it to the monument. We hired one. The donation is voluntary and we decided against it as the up-keep of the temple is covered by the government (as per our sources) and there is no shortage of funds.

Ketut had though well in advance for us and brought with him sarongs and belts that one needs to wear before entering the temple. He even helped us wearing them in the traditional style, which came out looking very funny on us indeed. The temple entrance looks grand - a flight of stairs running up to a huge gate - every inch has idols on either sides of the stairs - every one unique. A few steps on the stairs and you start realizing the beautiful view of the valley behind you, lush green and tantalizing your senses. Though I did not hear much of what the guide was narrating, but for sure the temple was complex, with many different sub-sections, different levels connected through stairs, each level with its own set of wonderful spires. Unique idols are spread all over the place - each adding a distinct attraction to the place. The main prayer area has three idols based on the Hindu mythology - Bhrama, Vishnu and Shiva - the Creator, the Preserver and the Destroyer. Recommended by the guide, we offered prayers in traditional style to the almighty, and took couple of shots of the place before proceeding. As you climb to the higher premises of the temple, the view keeps getting better and better. We saw a couple of more sub-sections of the temples before deciding to head to our next destination, rather quickly, as the it seems that the clouds had a big time plan to cover up Mt. Batur, and we did not want to delay things further and land up in the same situation as Tanah Lot temple letting the sun hide behind the clouds just at the time of the sunset!

Back on the interesting twisting road, up and down between the hills, and we were looking at the majestic Mt. Batur in no time. Clouds have achieved what they wanted, or what we feared; but we soon learnt that the it was not unusual for that place to receive a bit of rain during the day. The nature has molded the landscape in such a way that Mt. Batur on one side and a a continuous chain of small hills on the other side, separated by the Batur Lake in between, all form a kind of channel to drive in the clouds from one end and gather them up to do a fly-by over the cliff side restaurant - Lakeview - where we were standing right now - showering nice cold droplets all over. The restaurant serves only buffet lunch, no breakfasts, no snacks, no dinners. The food is Indonesian, and pretty good, though the service was a little slackly. The best part of Lakeview was the view of Mt. Batur and Batur Lake it offered from the open seating area - its right on a cliff standing on the Batur lake with Mt. Batur on one side and the chain of hills on the other - forming a closed end. The paths of the lava flow from the last time the volcano went active can be clearly seen as relatively darker areas than the surroundings. The crater was visible but not clear, even with our 300mm lens, due to very less ambient light from the ever-growing cloud cover. We gave our cameras another chance to shoot a couple more times at the mountain and the crater on our way to Luhur Temple at Uluwatu.

The drive was long, but beautiful and scenic - most of the times running through paddy plantations. We passed through the Seminyak town - from the glimpse it looked relatively posh than the rest of Bali - good branded shops on the roadside - also known for its stylish bars and legendary clubbing scenes. May be next time, we would put this town on our agenda too, for now lets rush to Uluwatu. The drive was made interesting by our cab driver Ketut, with information on the naming tradition of kids in the family. Balinese do not have a surname, and the first name is either Woyan (first child), Made (the second), Nyoman (third) or Ketut (the fourth). The second name is usually the given name; in Ketut's case, it was Suryawan - Surya referring to clouds, Awan means the clouds - since he was born on a cloudy day. He resides with his parents and wife and is blessed with twins - a boy and a gal - 8 months old now. We learnt couple of other day life things typical of Balinese culture from him too. And thanks to him, he did warn us to beware of Monkey Business at Uluwatu - a practice very common at the temple where the monkeys snatch any accessories you have - your hat, glasses, earrings, slings, etc., and a local helping you out in retrieving the same from them in return for some money. The arrived a bit late and hastily went in after paying up for the entry tickets and free sarongs n' belts which we needed to wears as a tradition in the temples. Sun was again behind the clouds, but the orange gleams piercing through the clouds in the background of the temple's silhouette was amazing sight.

The Luhur temple also features a Kecak dance, if I remember correctly, on all days, which is more like a very alive play of the Hindu scripture - Ramayana. Almost all the people who visit the temple gather around to see this performance by beautifully dressed local performers. There are separate tickets to enter the performance area, an open auditorium with multi-level seating arrangement all around the center stage. A handout is available along the tickets to read about and follow the sequence of events in the mythological story enacted by the performers. The performance was great - carried out in parts - each signifying an important part of the scripture. A fire-dance sequence is also a part of it and was done with live fire to give a very dramatic effect to the whole act. A must see if you are visiting that temple. It had gone dark by now, we roamed around a bit in the temple complex, before taking the cab back to the hotel.

While others headed to a dinner at Nusa Dua area, we headed straight back to our hotel. Asked Ketut to take us for the water sports tomorrow. A nice cold shower is such a relief after a long day. For the first time over our stay, we tried the local cuisine at our hotel itself with some good Mojito and Long Island Ice Tea. Both the food and the hospitality was great, so was the live musicians who played "I cant help falling in love" by our table side. Overall a well set evening, better than expected. Spent some more time talking a walk along the beach, couple of night shots, and dozed off dreaming of the wet sand under our feet, the touch of the sea waves and shimmering ocean under the moonlit sky..

Bali, Day +4

Ok.. Let me put the blame on my wrist watch this time - the alarm did not sound at all! When I woke up, the watch was in the running in the India timezone. I guess the timezone button must have got pressed while I was asleep and switched over from Bali local time to India time. And, we woke up late. For the third consecutive day, her dream - to jog on the beach in the early morning - got shattered. And we missed to go for the water sports. But what the heck! We enjoyed lazing around in the comfy confines of the bed. Missing the breakfast was not a big deal for us who are not used to having breakfast for quite some time (I mean in years).. But the thought of missing out the fun did provoke us out of the bed and hurry downstairs to start living another day in Bali. Grabbing a quick bite at the breakfast table, we went straight to the travel desk and the coordinator was more eager and enthusiastic than us to plan our day. Where in today's world do you get to meet such genuine people? In no time we were all chalked out for the Bird Park and the Bali Zoo for the day and back to square one after a quick stop-over at Kuta.

I have never been to a Bird Park before, but definitely have been to a zoo even though it was long back over my childhood days. At the most I have seen birds kept at home by some of my friends, and also seen them at the pet shops. Two things were very common at such places - one, the beautiful birds themselves, and two, the stink from their feathers and the poo they leave behind, which unfortunately, does not even go after regular up-keep of the place or the enclosure. I would relate all that to the big bird park now, and was sure to get both of them in a much amplified way - the beauty and the stink. All pepped up and ready to step in, we arrived at the bird park, got ourselves entry tickets which included an entry to the adjacent Reptile Park too. Our entry was greeted by a big and beautiful blue-golden Macaws, sitting on a small tree directly in front of us. It seemed to be not bothered by our presence at all even though we were just a few feet away - perhaps got used to people coming in and going out and has stopped giving any attention anymore. Soon there were more of the same spices, scarlet Macaw, a white Cockatoos, sitting on the surrounding flora, busy in their own activities, chirping and fluttering in a free world. A little ahead and you are in a whole new world of birds - some never seen before - some only seen on discovery - some just heard of - and all are there, right in front of your eyes. A few are in open, and the others in a range of enclosures - small ones, medium ones with little vegetation to create the natural environment effect, and large with complete trees and bushes and water bodies inside. Though the walkways are well defined, you can walk up to the enclosures to take a closer look. My camera could not be happier if it wasn't due to these birds; and of course, us too! The park is full of surprises - you find yourself walking along an small lake - coming to life with lots of pelicans, herons, egret, hornbills, and similar species - all in open, right in front of you - that you can stretch and touch them. No sooner had we formed our opinion of the best experience in Bali, we had another surprise in stock - Aviaries - not one, but a couple of them - organized as per the regions to where the birds inside belong to. Africa, Borneo, Papua, Java, Bali and others - spreading over huge spaces, perfectly landscaped with water bodies, trees and small hills with raised walkways above the ground to experience the rain-forest aviaries from above, with the birds flying and whizzing past your heads. No, I am not scaring anyone, it indeed is an exciting experience!

Almost everywhere around the enclosures, even within the aviaries, there are placards with detailed information on the birds - their scientific name, common name, habitat, preferred food, etc. And you have no difficulty in recognizing them throughout the park. In case of doubt or clarification, there is plenty of staff in the bird park whom you are ask all your queries. At places, the staff even promotes holding birds in your hands and getting familiar with it. We did it for the big preying birds - Great Horned Owl and the Brahminy Kite - the owl being almost 60cm in height, perfect yellow iris, as majestic as anyone could be, confident, bold and firm. The kite was more eager, responding to even the slightest sounds in the surroundings, constantly analyzing everything around. A truly amazing experience of a lifetime! Mandarin ducks displaying their beautiful plumage, Yellow Flanked Skinks sun bathing on the pathways, lead us to the restaurant section in the park. It semi-enclosure with three sides open to the park, and gave us the opportunity to have our (late) lunch with Peacocks which come on and off and roam around the tables in the seating area. The park also holds regular shows at fixed timings and we happened to sit through one of such programs - Meet the Bird Star - where a collection of birds are showcased with information on their behavior and specialties. If you get a chance to witness any of the shows in the park, they are definitely a go.

Right adjacent to the bird park is the reptile park - a comparatively smaller area - has one dark and humid alley or rather tunnel to walk through along with a guide from the park. I guess that maintained to provide an environment natural to the reptiles. A lot glass enclosures feature different reptiles found in and around Indonesia - from snakes, to tree frogs, to skinks and lizards. Similar to the bird park, there are placards with every enclosure to read and learn about the reptiles showcased. The tunnels lead you back to the open area housing Iguanas and a variety of Crocodiles in fenced enclosures. Holding the Iguanas in your hands is a cool thing - contrary to our beliefs of the slimy, slippery and yucky reptiles, they have a dry, rough and patchy skin, relatively cold, and are very silent and calm in your hands; perhaps they are used to it. Learning and seeing couple of more enclosures with different species of Crocs and a few pythons, we had finally finished touring the park. The whole trip to the parks is no immensely involving, that we hardly realized using up all the time - even the one we had planned for the zoo. What else? Though a bit sad about it, we had to skip the zoo; but eventually were happy on the fact that at least not even for a single minute in the trip around the park was in any way wasted - it was all worth it.

We are on our way back now.. all the way looking back the snaps we have clicked at the park.. Recalling the birds and the reptiles.. I guess we did not care whether it was Kuta that we were going to or Aston Bali. Arrived in Kuta well in time to catch up with other friends who had been to Ubud for some more shopping, only to learn that they were delayed by 2 hours or so. Planned to go to the local market which, unfortunately had closed early by that day due to local celebration for full-moon nights. Well, shopping never stops, whether one market is closed or not. And we found ourselves in the Discovery Mall, with a good coffee as the first thing on our agenda. The mall is well organized with almost all major brands as well as small shops and stalls retailing local products, mainly dresses and accessories, wooden artifacts, footwear, souvenirs, etc. The back side of the mall opens up on a beautiful west facing sea shore, giving us another chance to witness a beautiful sunset. Sat there for a while, I tried a few clicks and we were back in the Mall. By the time she picked up a new dress, and few accessories, and few footwear, and few living room decorations, and, ok ok, and nothing else, our friends had arrived. Dinner was next on the agenda, and Ifiori Ristorante was a good choice. An Italian restaurant with good food, good cocktails, good service, and I don't remember anything after that as I had Kamakazi running though my veins.

I think by default but involuntarily we have fixed on the our pre-sleep activities - the moon, sea, sand and beer in hand - comes naturally. And today was no different. Spent some time watching the endless sea.. waves shimmering in the moonlight.. with plans to visit a volcano and the mother temple tomorrow, we slipped into the comfy confines of the bed in a perfectly air conditioned room - the same place we woke up from. :)

Bali, Day +3

Though we had planned yesterday to start off the day little early, I guess the hotel rooms are too comfy to leave that early! With great effort we made it to the travel desk on time, SP were the next to join. Inquired about the trip around the island and decided upon covering Batubulan - famous for batik art and paintings, Mas - known for unmatched craftsmanship in wood carvings, Ubud - identified as one of the major arts and culture center of Bali along, and then traveling through the Monkey Forest to visit Tanah Lot temple before wrapping up the day. We finalized the day's itinerary with the travel desk and booked a cab to take us around. AS joined us soon over the breakfast and we were all geared up for the day outing. Our cab was already waiting for us when we reached the travel desk and were greeted quite warmly by our driver-cum-guide-cum-consultant Ketut Suryawan - who helped us settle well in the Toyota Innova. In no time we were unwinding the city roads towards Batubulan.

The stop over in Batubulan was at a big art gallery with an in-house unit for demonstrating the art of Batik Painting. The painting is finished in stages with wax coatings at each stage covering up areas on the base material to prevent the color bleeding. Each stage applies colors in the sketched areas on the material. Finishing the material is boiling it to remove all the wax revealing the beautiful colorful painting. We went around the gallery and came across a wonderful piece with five faces reflecting distinct emotions. Liked at the first sight, bought in the second. A little expensive, but surely worth it. Picked up a couple of silk scarfs too before heading out to the next destination - Mas!

As you start nearing the Mas village, a number of small and big roadside establishments catch your attention with amazing carvings. Though advised by Ketut on bargains and negotiations, we decided not to stop over for these shops and instead headed to a main wood carving gallery. Its was our first time looking and wood art, and I must admin that it is very difficult to make head or tail out of it. Every carving had something about itself and an excellent piece of craftsmanship. There were a few from the junior artist, but the difference between the them and the one carved by a master was quite evident. We learned quite a few tips about assessing the artwork like differentiating between the types of woods used, the finesse of the craftsmanship, etc. and the things made quite some sense in checking out the vast variety and hundreds of pieces of artwork. Carving of Buddha, Hindu gods, birds, dragons, reptiles, copulating humans, mythological faces, etc. were the main attractions - different shapes, sizes, and colors. The native specialty of wooden masks fascinated us a lot, with idol of meditating Buddha being the second thing that worked up its priority on our shopping list. But the particulars one we liked in the shop were of ebony wood and crafted by the master himself, were quite expensive and way over our budget. Even though we did not pick anything ourselves, the overall experience was quite appeasing.

It is afternoon now and in plain words, we all are feeling very hungry. Reaching Ubud was marked by our anxiety to reach out the first decent restaurant and cater to our appetite on an immediate basis. We soon found ourselves sitting at the Bumbu Bali local restaurant opposite the Ubud Palace entrance, and soon were concentrating on munching away to glory. Though the place did not appeal that much on the first looks, the food was good and delicious. Fully recharged now, the next destination was most obvious - the shopping streets - the main attraction of Ubud. The cotton dresses are unique, graceful and quite appealing. Picked up a few and realized in time that we need to refuel our wallets with more local currency as not all small-time retailers accept dollars. Found a ATM, unfortunately to realize that both the options for language selection - English and Bhasha Indonesian - resulted in Bhasha Indonesian! Did not want to take risk with our already constrained funds, delayed the withdrawal to a later time. So the tip is to make sure you refuel your wallets sufficiently before hitting any local market as your would find lots and lots of stuff that you wanna buy! Besides dresses, the place is full of unique handicrafts, copies of all wood carvings that you would see in any of the authentic galleries of Mas, masks, accessories, paintings, n' all. Our search for Buddha is still on - we are looking for neat Buddha statue which we liked in Mas, but all copies were below the craftsman ship that we were expecting. I think the main reason is seeing the best of the works which has raised the expectations. And now all copies are falling way below the expectations; even though they were dirt cheap, we could not make up our minds to settle on one. Bargaining is the key, start with 40% of the quoted price and you can easily settle up around that price. Thanks to Ketut for sharing the tip with us.

We had already hit our deadline to leave the place and be at the Tanah Lot temple in time for the sunset, though not by a very large margin. Tanah Lot temple is know of its beautiful and serene sunsets. Started soon to continue our journey.. The cloudy weather was not very appealing, continuously shaking our plans to see the sunset. Anyways, we crossed our fingers and carried on directly to the temple, dropping the plans to spend some time at the Monkey Forest as initially planned. A line local shops lead us to the entrance of the temple and the first view brought big smiles on our face. The entrance point is relatively on a higher ground gradually leading downwards to the beach on one side, and leading upwards on the right to a cliff top! A beach on one side, temple in the middle and the sea waves splashing against the hard cliff walls make up an amazing sight. The Holy Water Spring site was a huge rock on the beach with temple on the top and a small cave inside. The cave has a sweet water spring which did surprise us - there is lot of water around - all but salty sea water - even if you dig a well, natural filtration won't be enough for taking out all the salt.. But yet, the spring water is fresh water - sweet to be honest. Unbelievable! Offered our little prayers, took the blessings from the water, and started enjoying the scenery around. Explored the scenic surroundings for some time, enjoyed watching the sea playing with the rocks, sending waves across to us. Listening to the waves is altogether a different experience - brings a feeling of endless peace and tranquility - makes you feel relaxed and refreshed! Before we figure out, the time had run out, it was getting dark and difficult to shoot any pics too!

Ketut suggested to try out a Balinese restaurant near out hotel for dinner. Fantastic idea after a long day's outing, who could refuse! We got dropped in front of Kecak Bali - the Balinese restaurant at a stone's throw away from our Aston Bali. While we munched on the complimentary sea food crackers, our food was on its way to our table. The choose the typical Balinese preparation Ayam Betutu - a grilled chicken dipped in a bit of sauce served with white rice, while she choose to feast on her all time favorite Cap Cay - one of the few known vegetarian dishes. Good preparations, but a bit dry if compared to the Indian cuisine, but for sure not lacking in taste! Hitting bed was as usual preceded by a drink or two at the beach in our hotel, walking on the cool sand, the waves calling you out to the sea, sea itself shimmering like quick silver in the moonlight.. A difficult decision to go back to the room, but have to, got an early day tomorrow at water sports and birds park.

Good Night.. :)

Bali, Day +2

With the AC set to 16°C over the whole night, trust me, it is really difficult to drive yourself out of the cozy confines of the bed even though its way past 10 o' clock and you are about the miss the breakfast! Breakfast? That thought was more effective than any alarm clock or motive in the world! Lets go and feast! Aston Bali - here we come! I don't think we had time to even take a bath before landing up at the breakfast table and gobbling up the delicacies! The spread was amazing - wide variety of breads, egg preparations, fish n' meat, cold salads and sandwiches, fruits, juices, regular coffee - tea, and what not! Though we were a little late, but managed to grab a good bite! The ambiance was great - lot of people from across the world, good decor and arrangement - fantastic. We are truly in Bali! :)

Next on our minds? What else? Its the pool.. and in no time we were in our swimming costumes.. and sipping super cooler right off the bar in the middle of the pool! Always imagined doing that back in India.. but most of the pool have a no alcohol policy.. What the heck! And who cares! When in Bali, do what Balinese do! And we were actually doing it.. Dip - dip - dip, surface a little, and have a sip! Couple of hours in the pool, we suddenly realized that we have come to Bali for the beach, and that's where we are headed now.. Low tide has made the waters retreat a little.. For around 200 meter it was calf-deep, cooler than the pool, and so clear that one can see every detail of the sand underneath as it keeps changing its surface in line with the waves. Walking through the soft sand at first, followed by a little rocky floor for a while, we crossed the smoother sand and a bit of floating sea weeds before reaching a kind of island which has surfaced due to the tide. The sand was wet and cold with strong sea waves consistently hitting the shore. Lying flat on your stomach in the waves and letting yourself pushed and pulled along, with a soft feel of sand slipping underneath, is something one has to experience to believe. Being in the water since morning has started taking a toll on our energy levels and the need to refuel was growing stronger by the passing minutes. Eventually giving in the desire to hit the pit stop, we walked back to the shore, on the way to be greeted by couple of star fishes. They kind of look dead from the top and even to touch from above, but the moment you pick them up and turn them upside down, you can see the numerous mini suction pads moving back to get concealed into the five zipper like openings. I have never been very familiar with the sea and was little hard to believe that you can find the star fishes so easily.

Lazed around for quite some time in the hotel shacks on the beach.. Ordered some snacks and food.. over fed ourselves as usual.. and just wanted to lay like that forever in the cool breeze and soothing sight of the alive beach. By the time we went to our rooms, caught up on our power naps and got ready, it was late to make a trip to the city. So what? We have our cameras with us and made full use of them to capture everything around. The photography shoots ended up with is exploring the street outside our hotel which was full of star properties and mini marts, before settling down for dinner at a local restaurant - Laguna, at a walking distance from our hotel. Planning for the next day was on our minds the whole time during our walk-cum-exploration, and one of the exciting ideas was to hire high cc bikes to ride to ride around the place. Found a local vendor who did show a great interest in arranging the high cc bikes for us, but had to call up his sources to confirm the make and cc. The high cc bikes turned out to be the regular 150c bikes available as entry level lay man transport back in India. Hmm.. quite a disappointment, but anyways.. food was waiting for us. The hotel was playing live rock, with majority of the audience rocking to it. Cocktails are typical Balinese variants though the names sound quite global and familiar. They aren't bad, just different - you may not get the same taste or style as you are used to in the west. Food was good; limited choice for vegetarians - Nasi Goreng, a kind of fried rice, Cap Cay and Vegetable Curry was all that was on menu for the vegans. Lot of options in non-vegetarian though, but we chose the familiar sounding ones to be on the safer side on day one. Kwality Walls Chocobar feast and similar scoops / cones were the post dinner deserts from the local mini mart.

Quite a start at Bali.. A few last-minute low-light shots at 300mm from the hotel corridor and we are back to the rooms.. spent some time planning the next day - a trip through Batubulan, Mas, Ubud and Tanah Lot temple were the agreed agenda.. As we had moved ahead in the timezone towards east, we were already famished on the sleep and had a lot to catch up on.. Hardly remember when we dozed off..

Bali, Day +1

It is past midnight – into Day +1.. Tasting Singapore Sling at the cruising altitude is quite an experience.. a signature drink of the country created in 1915 at the Long Bar of the Singapore Raffles Hotel.. a bit different but wonderful concoction of dry gin, Dom Benedictine, Cointreau and cherry brandy, shaken up with lime and pineapple juices, with a dash of Angostura bitters and Grenadine. It was a new taste, rather a mix of distinct hints of various ingredients.. neither strong, nor faint.. a good blend indeed.. though it did not strike a chord with her. She likes drinks to be more subtle, usually single flavored, perhaps little tangy. Anyways.. the other most obvious thing on the Singapore Airlines is the elegant look of the crew, neat and crisp, warm smiles and the hospitality. If not the best, certainly among the best I have come across so far..

We are flying somewhere over Thailand now.. directly below Phuket, in between Pekanbaru and Kuantan island.. with 1 hour of flight time still to go, cruising at around 11000 meters above sea level with average speed little over 850kmph and quivering -47°C outside.. It would be early morning at Singapore.. and we plan to freshen up at the airport, deposit our luggage at the left-baggage counters, and head straight into the city! Shopping, roaming, clicking and fun is all that is on our minds at the moment.. almost done with our quick round of in-flight snacks, drinks and the power-naps, we are counting minutes to land.. :)

The Changi Airport is very well designed, organized and maintained.. lots of information displays to guide you around. We had no difficulty in clearing the immigration and retrieving the baggage. YourSingapore counter is what you need if you have any questions about Singapore on your mind, and that’s exactly the one we consulted to plan out our day trip. A courteous and eager staff, with promise to attend to you within 5 minutes latest, made sure that we knew our way around the town - at least for the places that we planned to visit – including the shuttles that we are going to take. We had around 6 hours on hand before we need to be back at the airport for the connection to Bali. The Flyer was on top with Bugis Street and Orchard Road on our mind, while others preferred IKEA over the later.

The Singapore Flyer stands at 165m at its highest point which makes it the world's highest flyer. A 40 minute ride for SGD15 (Singapore Airlines have 15% discount on standard rates) doing one round is a wonderful experience and provides a scenic view of the Singapore landscape - skyline, sea shore, stadium, F1 street-track, and other impressive buildings. All passengers are provided with radio sets which feed constant information about the landmarks in view according to the location of each flyer capsule. The ride is good and well timed making sure you do not miss out anything while enjoying the view, clicking your cameras or listening to the information through the radios. We did it in the day light as the first thing in the morning to align with our flight timings, but believe the view would be spectacular towards the evening when the city lights up for the night. Though not a must, but a ride is definitely recommended.

Next on the agenda was the Orchard Road and Bugis – the later being the largest street shopping in Singapore. A quick assistance from the Tourist Information center at the flyer, and we were on the Green Hopper Bus to take us to our destination with an all day pass costing around SG6$. If you are visiting first time, running around in taxis may be more convenient, but would make you miss out on the beauty of the city. The bus takes a fixed and longer path to the destination but makes you feel the city – passing through various zones – some green, some commercial, other residential – Chinatown area – Little India – Botanical Gardens – and many more. You are free to hop-off and hop-on at any stop you want, and catch the same bus again to continue your exploration. The bus runs every half an hour except for lunch time when its once an hour.

Orchard Road is one of the main commercial areas with various malls and shopping centers on both sides of the road. All the major brands are very visible occupying huge floor areas and endless collections, latest trends, mostly fashion and lifestyle.. Well, as we get all these back in Bangalore, we decided to stay off these malls given the time constraints we had. Another short ride in a local bus at less than SG1$ per head to the Victoria Street junction and we were at the much-heard-about Bugis. By this time the hunger pangs had a tight grip on our minds and we were not able to focus on anything else. With Burger King refusing to serve anything vegetarian, we went off to McDonalds in the hope of some good news. I won’t say that they gave us the good news, nor did they disappoint us – they offered to serve us with any burger of our choice and will take off the non-vegetarian patty from it – rending it completely vegetarian! Our hunger drove us to take the offer without a second thought and trust me, it was a very satisfying meal we had since the day break.

At the first look, Bugis looks like a larger version of Commercial Street in Bangalore, the missing branded stores being the only difference. You can find almost anything to everything here – dresses, tops, t-shirts, shorts, scarves, hats n’ caps, footwear, accessories, bags, local restaurants, snacks stalls, fresh juices, vegetables and fruits, groceries, you name it – it is there. You may bargain – may be up to 10% or slightly more – but the prices are already quite low. If you are expecting a good long lasting branded stuff, please return to the Orchard Road. Not to forget, the place is crowded – very crowded, and alive. We managed to grab a couple of items, and fresh juices to quench our thirsts before headed back to flyer in the local bus from where we had the pickup point for the airport shuttle.

A very hectic, short and amazing experience of the city.. very careful, well thought of and substantial amount of planning must have been put in setting up the city infrastructure – be it the tourist spots, shopping or commercial areas, residential blocks, sports and amusement premises, public transport and connectivity, or simply the landscaping – everything is fascinating to see, feel and live through. We realized that with just a short bus ride through the city and visiting two regular spots; we still have not visited the recommended tourist places and the amusement zones. Imagine if we had enough time on our charts to be here to live a couple of days and experience more?!!

In no time we collected our luggage and caught up with the rest of the gang who had loads of stuff shopped from IKEA. A little relief from the Starbucks chillers, and we headed straight to the check-in counters for Bali – the last leg of our onwards journey. One side is the feeling of having had more time at Singapore, and the other side is the anxiousness to be on the beaches of Bali! We are in the plane and waiting for it to take off.. all set, let’s go!

Landing was pretty exciting as till the last second we were flying over the sea as if gearing up for a water landing.. The touch-down is almost at the same time as you start seeing the runway appearing out of nowhere in the middle of the sea. The first feel of the Denpasar airport is somewhere lesser than the even the small airports in India.. but that notion soon gives way.. This time to a little better organized one.. There are proper signs and officials to guide you.. Yes, straight to the payment counter for the Visa On Arrival.. At US$25 per head with 30-day validity, the Indonesian Visa is quite a deal - at least they have a well printed VISA sticker to paste on the passport than the stapled plain A4 printed sheet for Singapore! A couple of minutes through the queue for the VISA, bought some local currency and we are off to the five star Aston Bali in a pre-paid taxi..

Nice roads greeted us, much better than Bangalore, making us feel that the place is much better. And before we could realize, a two wheeler appears from nowhere and zooms past our cab zigzagging its way through the low traffic at that hour. Boys, will always be boys! It is a good feeling to see all those resorts and places that you researched over the net for days, went through the profile snaps, now looking right at you as your drive through. It is around an hour or so since we landed in Indonesia. Finally we arrived at Aston Bali.. Greeted with courtesy, welcome drinks, and the bell boys guiding us to our rooms after check-in. Heaven, is what you call it when you get what you want the most in your life - a good bed, to stretch your legs and straighten your backs.

Room is quite spacious, well equipped, clean and tidy, and so is the restroom. Though our bodies did not want to get up, the minds were wondering about the private beach and the sound of the sea, eventually dragging us to the beach side open bar, and treating ourselves with some chilled beer. The lounging for the bed came over pretty strong in no time and our feet dragged us to the beds again. Getting up ever, ever, was never on our minds! A good night's sleep is all you need to be fresh and shining the next morning.. but for some, it takes a little more.. Adieus Amigos! :)