Bali, The Final Chapter

I am finally going to finish telling all of you about our trip to Bali.

Our fourth day in Bali was Balinese New Years Day. Also known as the DAY OF SILENCE, yes that is right I said silence. Once all the evil spirits have been scared out of hiding the whole island is still. The belief is that the evil spirits will see that the island is uninhabited and leave. SO I am sure you are thinking what does the day of silence mean. It is truly a day of silence. No one is allowed to go out. No planes come and go at the airport. Cars do not drive. TV's are turned off. People are supposed to stay inside and keep quite. When I first heard about the day of silence my initial thought was how in the WORLD am I going to keep Carley silent. Luckily we learned quickly that hotels have special allowances since people are visiting and you are allowed to move around, we could watch TV even swim in the pool. We had to have all our meals at the Westin. But we were not allowed on the beach or in the ocean. It was a little odd to see the security men standing at the front door and at the edge of the beach making sure you did not go out and break the rules. When we were checking in we met a man originally from California that now lives in Bali. He told us that lots of families with children check into the hotel for the day of silence so they do not have to worry about breaking any rules and getting fined. And he was right. The hotel was packed with kids, pool over flowing not a chair to be found, the kids club was packed and when it started to rain. Suddenly there were all sorts of indoor activities for all ages. The next day the island returns to normal and the hotel became a ghost town. The pool was empty and Carley did not have to wait in line for the trampoline. We spent the day of silence swimming, reading , eating and napping. It was a great day.

On Saturday we could leave the hotel, so we went out. We went to Uluwatu. A temple that sits high above the ocean and has a beautiful view. It was built in the 11th century and after the original one fell into the sea they rebuilt it again in the 16th century. There were a lot of monkeys and the temple was closed but the view of the ocean made up for it. We then headed over to Kuta which where a large number of hotels and resorts are located. The beach here is very popular with the tourists and locals. It is famous for its surfing, rip tides and many beach side vendors. You can have a massage, buy souvenirs, shells, t-shirts and sarongs, and have lunch ordered and delivered all with out leaving your towel. We hopped out of the car long enough to take a picture and dunk our feet in the ocean. For lunch we searched out a restaurant that is supposed to have the best Mexican food this side of the Pacific ocean, but alas it was closed. Like many other shops and restaurants they were shut down due to the New Year celebration. While driving around town I took this picture because I was just amazed to see how much western culture has seeped into this little island. I am not sure if you can see the third sign, but yes Lou that is a Krispy Kreme But luckily it is limited to this very touristy area. After Lunch it was off to the beach, now many of you know that I love the beach and my daughter has also inherited my love for sand and sea. But this was James first excursion to the beach where he could sit up by himself and really play so I was not sure what would happen,

But luckily it looks like my love f all things sandy must be in the blood. We hit the beach at low tide so there was plenty of sand. The beach has very little waves since it is protected by a coral reef about 500 yards out. We watched many fishermen walk across the flats looking for their dinner. We even did a little exploring and came across this beauty

as well as several sea urchins. They were very scary looking and that would explain the signs at the top of the beach to watch your step and not to swim beyond the buoys. Since before the buoys the beach was clean of most creatures and coral. That night we dined by the sea on a delicious dinner of barbecued seafood.

Our last day in Bali was spent packing up. Carley did manage to get in one more swim in the BIG pool as she liked to call it. She even learned how to swim with her floaties. We had an afternoon flight out and we were home by dinner. Bali is a beautiful island that I would like to go back to one day. But our travel list is long and our time is limited. But I really think we will get back there especially since I need to have a gong.