Bali, Baby

The alarm went off at 3:30 in the morning.

Three hours of sleep and a really early wake up call are not usually the way someone wants to start his/her day.  But Sunday was different.  We had just wrapped up our classes the day before by finishing a three hour investments final, and we were headed on our way to vacation. (Though, as Matt Kristek points out, it's kind of our vacation from our vacation - we've been really lucky with the amount we have been able to travel while over here).

Although I was looking forward to sleeping on the four hour flight down south, that plan was thwarted from:

• The lack of legroom on Air Asia flights (if the guy in front of you puts his seat down, any person with legs the length of mine will have to scrunch) 
• The French ex-pat living in Bali who wanted to tell me everything about his recent trips and what to do on his island 
• The six year old that just wanted to scream like a baby 
• The grande Starbucks coffee I drank before getting on the flight 
• My excitement about our vacation - after all, we're headed to Bali, baby!
• Or any combination of the above

Coffee beans

I have to say though, looking back, it felt like a short four hours before seeing turquoise blue water that rivals the Caribbean.  When flying into Denpasar, the capital of Bali island, the ocean just keep getting closer and closer, until it seems like the rear wheel of the airplane is going to skim the surface.  The airport has got some of the greatest views of all!

Coffee

We headed straight for the hills after landing. Ubud is a town about 2 hours north of the airport and is everything that comes to my mind at least when I hear the word "zen." You don't see a ton of tourists. The hotels are all set back in what feels like the jungle. The town shuts down around 9 or 10pm.  Besides the few touristy things you can do -mainly just purchase post cards, go to a monkey zoo, and watch Balinese opera (which we ended up going to) - the town is really known for yoga and massage.  Life is slow and the living is easy. 

We went to a coffee "plantation" and tried the most expensive Balinese coffee.  Why so different?  The raw coffee beans are fed to a mongoose, someone then waits around and collects the mongoose droppings,washes the excreted beans, and makes coffee. You may be into pooped coffee beans, but they have less caffeine, and I think they actually don't even taste as good! 

After being hyped up on mongoose coffee, ginseng coffee,vanilla, and ginger coffee, we hit the open road on a mountain bike tour.  We did have to break off from a slower group of Australians. It's not like Americans like to win, or anything....(let's just attribute it to all the coffee we had....)

Rice paddy

By the end of our trip to Bali, I think I may have seen well over 50 different rice paddies, but the bike ride through the paddies is most memorable. Like I said, Ubud is like a living connotation of the word"zen".... so next time I'm trying to either de-stress or do yoga, I guess I just need to meditate on rice paddies.... Wonder how many people that has actually worked for?

Scarecrow in the rice paddy

Bike tour!