Monday, December 26, 2011

Christmas Day+

On Christmas we went to a village to see original Balinese, the Bali Aga. They are a small group, maybe 300 families and had some handicrafts for sale. One lady was really nice and explained some of the history to us. I bought a fun new scarf from her for next winter.

We headed to a nearby bay from there where our driver helped us find a snorkeling crew and lunch. The restaurant made all the arrangements and as always were super nice. For around $15 each we rented gear and went out for two hours. We were skeptical at first because no one else was there, but once under the water it was great and we had it all to ourselves!! I tried out my new underwater camera (thanks Mom!) and hopefully got some good pics of the colorful fish. We even belted out some Christmas carols while out there. Pretty sure our boat captain thought we were nuts.

We came back just before the rain. Perfect weather again!! No strenuous evening activities and we headed to bed around 8:30/9 as we had a wake up call for 2:30am. Yep, we were going to trek up a volcano (Mt. Batur) at night to see the sunrise.

The alarm went off and we headed out. We were with a nice Canadian family of three, including their 11-year old. I just wanted to do as well or better than him. Failed :). But, we did not miss the sunrise even with my slow self. It was cloudy, but the clouds blew in and out so we got some good views when we were patient. The guide was great and cooked us breakfast, hard boiled eggs and cooked bananas, from the steam of a volcano hot-spot. It was super hot! We headed down and were back around 10:30 for the Bears/Packers debacle poolside. Then we headed to town, Ubud, for lunch, shopping and dinner. It was a long day and we were knackered! Another early night to bed. Awoke at 2am to a downpour. So happy we went trekking the day before. Weather thwarted again!!

This morning we walked to a nearby hotel for a western breakfast. Then we pack up at noon and start the trip back to Singapore. A lovely holiday that anyone should make should they find themselves in Asia or planning a trip.

More pics to come, but I did take these two with my iPad (so not sure on quality): the rice paddies next door and the pool at our villa.

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