Southern Bali

Our first stop back on the island of Bali was Sanur.  This beach isn't anything spectacular, but it happens to be the home to a kite-surfing school we were both interested in.  We spoke with the instructor and were told that he'd take us out as soon as the wind showed up.  Unfortunately, the wind never showed up, but we did manage to fit in a few things in the surrounding area.

We booked a driver and headed south to the tip of Bali.  Our first stop was Padang Padang, a beautiful cliff-lined beach popular with surfers.

We headed to a platform atop one of these boulders for a view of some great surfers and some even better wipe-outs.

We continued onwards to Ulu Watu, a temple at the southern-most tip of Bali.  The temple itself can't compare to some of those we've already seen, but it is popular for its dramatic views and monkey population.

As you arrive, you are warned by scores of people to remove any and everything that a monkey might be enticed to grab: sunglasses, hats, purses, necklaces, etc.  This proved accurate as we saw people in tug-of-war matches against the monkeys.  One monkey managed to grab someone's camera and carried it away to a high tree limb. Many of the guides threw nuts and bananas at it, which eventually it went for and inturn dropped the camera.  This one was perched high over the waves.

Following our tour of the temple, we attended a traditional Kecak dance.  The performance consists of several elaborated dressed characters interacting within a circle of about 50-100 men chanting "cak" and throwing up their arms.   Their actions depict the Hindu story, the Ramayana, which to extremely simplify it, is about a princess being rescued from an evil king by a prince with the help of a monkey.

We enjoy it, although we would have opted for an abridged version.  Fifty minutes of guys going "cak-cak-cak" can be a bit much for a first-timer.  The freakiest part is the way in which the female dancers are able to bend their fingers backwards. 

The following day we walked along three of Bali's most well known beaches. We began in the over-developed and backpacker-haven of Kuta.  This should be avoided by anyone heading to Bali and as the waves are filled with trash, and the town looks like a strip mall.  We continued onwards to Legian, which is little more than a buffer-zone to the higher-class Seminyak.  All of the beaches are known for surfing and boards line the beach.

We had planned to meet up with friends from New York here, but due to a last minute injury they were unable to join us. Get better Jay!  We did take a stop to look at their planned hotel, the Oberoi, which we'd highly recommend. It was simply amazing.

We continued walking through the botique filled streets of Seminyak, and just as Steve was about to collapse of boredom, stopped into a Moroccan restaurant for dinner.

We left southern Bali and headed just a bit north to Ubud, disappointed we missed out on kite-surfing, but excited for some famous local food.