Just Put In On The Tab- Bali, Day 6

Our day at the pool.  I could definitely use about five more of these.  While the hotel was not our favorite, the pool was pretty great- we spent the entire day either in the water, laying out in the sun or resting in the beds built over the water.  It was pretty tough to beat.  Especially when there was a bar you could swim up to, if you felt like expending that much energy.  If that was just too strenuous, (which at certain points in the afternoon, it most certainly was), you could just have them bring you your drink.  Life is tough in Bali. 

For dinner, we headed out to Jimbaran Bay for dinner on the beach while we watched the sunset. 

We all got too hungry and impatient while we waited for our food so we took a walk down the beach to visit a man selling roasted corn on the cob.  I took the opportunity to show off my Thai dress that I bought in Phuket three years ago and have never had the opportunity (or courage) to wear.  Tonight was the night.  It was the right thing to do.  The dress was overdue for a night out.

 

 

 

 

Some guys from the restaurant gave Aliana some blue lobsters to play with.

We had a great meal.  But then.....

We should have known.  

We were still in Bali.  

The Good and NotSoGood rule still applies.

Yep, all was going very well until my mom got very sick toward the end of the meal and provided us all (driver included) with a very eventful trip in the van back to our hotel on the other side of the peninsula.  

There are (thankfully) no pictures of this.

A note to fellow travelers: there are many strategically-placed convenience stores and gas stations between Jimbaran beach and Nusa Dua that may come in handy if ever you find yourself in rough spot.

From forest to beach: Bali, Days 4 and 5

So, I have decided to pretty much skip over Day 4.  It was pretty lousy, due to the patch on my eye and an insanely tired and cranky daughter.   Mike and my mom spent most of the day at a cooking class while my dad and I entertained Aliana and attempted to go to lunch- a disastrous afternoon and one I would not like to relive through this blog.


By the time we all headed out to dinner, however, life was better- we spent some time in the market doing some shopping and ending up with some great spices.

We spent some time listening to Balinese musicians

beautiful fabrics.

Shopping in the market.

 

We packed up in preparation for our departure from Ubud the following morning, put Aliana to bed, and Mike and I spent some time in the hot tub outside of our room.  It was lovely.








The next morning we headed for our final breakfast at the mansion, said goodbye to the great staff, and Mike, my mom and I went off for a walk through the village in search of some batiks, before packing up the car and heading down to Nusa Dua.

Artu, one of our great waiters at the Mansion, who took Aliana while we ate breakfast.  Aliana adored him.

basket lady

batiks being made

We found a place were batiks were being made to be sold to Tahiti- most of the batiks at this 'factory' (not much of a factory, really, more like a four people making batiks in their backyard) had "Bora Bora" or "Moorea" written on them- they were beautiful, though, and my mom and I both bought one. 

Kids taking a break for their morning snack at a local elementary school.

 Then, we packed up the car, said a sad farewell to Ubud and headed down to the beach.  (about an hour and 1/2 drive).

We arrived in a resort town that basically looked like it could have been anywhere, and regretted having left Ubud.  At first we were not very excited about our hotel, but quickly settled into the beach/pool scene, and while my dad headed off for an afternoon of golf, we headed to the beach.

Aliana wasted no time making friends in the water.

Aliana drew a crowd of beautiful girls who sat and played with her for a long time.  We considered handing her over to them for the rest of the day, but alas, the girls had to go.

We all loved the ocean. 

We headed back to the hotel, hot and exhausted and long overdue for a nap.  We stuck close to the hotel for dinner, enjoyed a great Thai meal and went to bed.