Bali- What's all the fuss about?

Bali has been known as the Indonesian place to visit even before Eat Pray Love came out on 2010, but afterwards Bali's allure skyrocketed.  Bali is part of the Republic of Indonesia and was originally under Dutch law.  The island is located just south of the Equator and is only a 2 1/2 hr flight from Singapore. Being so close, most families we know have ventured there to check it out.  There are so many beautiful beaches and temples all throughout Southeast Asia, what makes Bali so wonderful?

Bali has pleasant weather all year long.  It's average temperature is 85 degrees with cooler evening temperatures and a breeze that keeps the daytime comfortable.  Coming from Singapore the weather alone is a big draw.  Our evenings never cool off, so it's just hot and muggy everyday.

Bali has many distinct tourist areas.  The northern Island is less densely populated and not touristy, but those who want to dive head here for some terrific offshore diving.  The center of the island is where you go for the arts or to do yoga or meditate.  It's higher elevation offers great weather conditions and the green views maintain a relaxed atmosphere.  The east and west coasts are populated with many beach towns.  We chose to stay on the west coast near the airport mainly because long car rides after flying and going through customs and immigrations in never high on our list of activities.

Many of our friends stayed at the Hard Rock Bali where there is easy beach access and an enormous pool with multiple slides (for kids under 12- unfortunately Jen and Katie are 13 and really look it). The pool offered an evening fire show, which is fairly common at most large hotels in the area.

The beach was directly across the street, so we got a quick photo of the girls and I as we headed out to explore the town.

The town we were in is Kuta, it is a high tourist area with lots of hotels and shopping.  However, being a tourist trap area there were no real bargains to be had and many of the trinkets and clothes are exactly the same as everywhere else we've traveled.  We ended up buying very little even though I had paid for extra baggage weight thinking we would be loading up on the great deals.  After quickly realizing shopping was not worth it, we decided to just enjoy the amazing beach.  Many people come to Bali to surf.  The beach is long an relatively flat with decent enough waves to surf.  We offered Jen and Katie surfing lessons, but they preferred to just boogie board. They hadn't had the opportunity to do this since being back in the U.S.

We spent an entire evening watching the girls boogie board and a beautiful sunset.  As the evening progressed we looked around and realized the beached was packed with locals and tourists enjoying this perfect night too.

Here's my attempt at an artsy photo with a piece of coral I found on the beach, that may have also ended up in my luggage- the best souvenirs can be those found in nature.  

So our quick trip to check out Bali was relaxing and enjoyable.  Come to enjoy the beach, not the shopping, and we heard and saw some friends photos of beautiful temples and rice terraces to see. However, sightseeing wasn't what we needed this time, maybe we'll have to make a trip back again. By the way- the airport was so beautiful I included a photo below.  

 Selamat Tinggal-- Goodbye