Beautiful. Busy. Bali

Bali -- the trip we had been looking so forward to.  Eric and I booked our trip back in August and scored a great deal over Chinese New Year, when Penang is super crowded and busy and Eric has an extra two days off of work.  We hoped to escape the hustle and bustle of home for beautiful beaches and serene landscapes.  Our trip became even more exciting when Dave and Em added Bali to their SE Asia itinerary to join us! 

We arrived late on Thursday night in the midst of a heavy tropical downpour.  After a quick soaking on our way to the taxi, we were on our way to our hotel in Kuta for the evening.  We enjoyed a few Bali Hai beers at our rooftop bar and called it a night.

On Friday, we hired a driver to take us clear across the island to Lovinia where we had booked two wonderful nights at our own private villa.  Along the way we stopped at Bali's famous terraced rice paddies, visited a mountain temple and experienced Bali's unbelievable traffic and windey roads. 

After a mere day in the van with our driver, Gadae (pronunced - good day) we arrived to Villa Kupu Kupu and the beautiful volcanic black sand beaches of Lovinia.  Five months ago when I found this villa, I could hardly wait to stay there.  Private, secluded and gorgeous our accommodation definitely met expectations.  Our villa came complete with staff -- Cadet, who cooked and cleaned for us and our "Security Gardiner" who watched over our house at night and tended to the gardens and pool by day.  Unbelievable. 

We spent our first night enjoying the complementary welcome dinner of mee goreng (fried noodles) that Cadet prepared for us, drinking beer, playing (more) Euchre and enjoying our plush accomodations.

The next morning, after Cadet prepared us breakfast and kept our coffees and teas full, Dave and Em left the villa to explore Gadae's village and check out a few local temples.  Eric and I played on the beach and enjoyed having the entire beach and ocean all to ourselves.  The water was perfect and we even stayed out swimming during the rain.  It was super romantic.

It cleared up in the afternoon and we enjoyed poolside massages in our oceanside cabana.  Heaven.

Later that evening we headed into town for dinner on the beach. We enjoyed watching the sunset over the volcanoes and seeing the traditional fishing boats come back with their daily catch.   

Our time at Villa Kupu Kupu was way way too short!  I could have easily stayed another week.  We traded in our private and very quiet villa for the bustling streets of Ubud.  Along the way (back across the mountains) we stopped at a nice waterfall.  

After another long day in the van and Gadae's crazy driving, we made it to our last stop on our Bali tour, cultural Ubud.  We stayed in a very traditional Baliense villa, complete with open air rooms, large vaulted ceilings and big patios.  It was a nice retreat from the traffic in the town.

We spent most of time in Ubud walking around the city, taking in the culture, shopping, eating and figuring out what all the "buzz" is about.  Emily and I spent an entire day shopping and sweating (it was soo hot!)  We caught up with the men and did more shopping and eating with them!  We stopped to hydrate (aka drink a beer) every few blocks.  In fact, Em and I were late meeting the boys and sure enough we found them at the bar next to our meeting location....doesn't that sounds like a nice vacation?? 

Our last night we attended a traditional Balinese music and dance performance.  A nice ending to a nice vacation.