The Alaroni Big Trip: Bali High

Our time in Bali has been quite relaxing and enjoyable. Our first few days were spent on the north east of the island in a small diving village called Amed. We had basic accommodation looking out at the sea and spent our time diving and snorkeling right off the beach. I also had the change to rent local outrigger canoes to fish with Maya (late afternoon) and Mira (first thing in the morning watching the first light hit a 10,000ft volcano called Mt. Aging).

We then moved southeast to a place called Umulas where we had a house for two weeks. The place was great - lots of outdoor living space, a pool, and nice grounds. The most exciting part was having good friends from Rhode Island, Jay, Denise, Charlotte and Jimmy Robbins join us. It was so nice seeing the kids having so much fun with their good friends and for Nadia and I to catch up and spend time with our good friends Jay and Denise. Some days we would go to the beach and the kids would surf, other days we just hung out at home. Not having to pack an unpack for an entire two weeks was also a major plus of having the house.

We did manage a trip to Ubud, in the center of the island, where we hiked through terraced rice paddies and visited a couple of interesting temples including one that was 1100 years old.

Now we're in Sanur, on the southeast side of the island where Maya and I spent the late afternoon on an exposed sandbar/reef and saw incredible starfish, pufferfish, eels, manta shrimp and much more. We'll spend one more day here before flying to Yogyakarta on Java where we hope to visit Borabador, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Cheers, Rob