Bali

In case you didnt know, we are back in California. We just spent some time in San Diego and also took a trip down to Baja Mexico for three days. Josh didnt turn his phone back on but Erika's cell phone is working FYI. Before we have new stories to tell (we are gonna continue our trip through northern California and out to the east coast starting next week) let's get through the rest of our time in Indonesia.

Our last two weeks abroad we spent on the Indonesian island of Bali. I'm sure everyone has heard of Bali before, its a very popular vacation spot, and for good reason because it is absolutely gorgeous. We spent a few days up on the north side of the island in Lovina, where we went to see a few cool waterfalls and chilled out on the beach. Side note-there weren't many tourists here so we got hounded by people trying to sell things on the beach.

We bought this cacao fruit to sample and decided the flesh wasn't nearly as tasty as the dark chocolate made from its seeds

Josh and Erika bathing in Sing-Sing waterfall with one of the local Balinese

Josh wadding into the falls at the base of Git Git, a 60 ft waterfall

More delicious fresh fruit, mangosteens - a mutual favorite

Snakeskin Fruit, tasted a lot like a green apple

Farmers clearing out their rice field

The same rice field flooded with water for the next harvest

The amazing view from the balcony of our hostel in Lovina

From Lovina we took a bus to the southern tip of the island which is known as the Bukit Peninsula. We stayed for 5 days in the town of Uluwatu, which is also the name of the famous surf break located there. We rented a motorbike while in Uluwatu because everything is far away, and spent our days touring many pristine beaches.

Uluwatu temple at the southernmost tip of Bali. Josh's sarong is traditional dress that is required before entering the temple.

Beware of the monkeys who like to steal cell phones, cameras and Erika's sunglasses.

Balinese man fishing on Dreamland beach, he secures his bait and holds the fishing line in his hand... got skunked

Dreamland Beach

Watching USA v. England in the World Cup which aired at 2:30 am local time

We slept at the beach after watching the game

Balangan beach on the Bukit Peninsula

At low tide Balangang beach turned into tide pools with algae covered rocks.

After Uluwatu we spent our last week in Kuta, the main tourist town in Bali. It was a little hectic, but very lively and a fun location to watch the world cup. There were people from so many of the participating countries rooting for their teams and the soccer games were on TV in every single restaurant, bar, and hotel no matter what time of day or night they were playing. It was a good time in Kuta and the beach was nice for laying in the sun and going swimming. One day we took a long road trip from Kuta on a motorbike and saw some sweet temples and went to a monkey forest.

The beaches in Kuta were way more crowded than Uluwatu

Rice fields along the road from Kuta to a local temple

The motorbike we road, crashed, recovered and road again on our day trip outside of Kuta

Statue outside of Monkey Forest

This monkey jumped right up onto Josh and started picking for lice

Offerings like this are all over the island at temples, store fronts and peoples homes, the ants enjoy them for the sweet rice and coconut inside

Taman Ayun water temple

Erika next to pagodas at Taman Ayun

This giant leaf fell from a tree in the temple garden

Tanah Lot, an island temple off the west coast of Bali

Waves crashing at high tide on Tanah Lot

Banana leaf offerings left on a guardian statue of the Tanah Lot temple

Lotus flower blooming at the temple gate

Next up, we'll put up some photos from Mexico....