Bali - Part One: Nusa Dua and Southern Bali

I'm finally getting around to posting about our trip to Bali nearly two months ago...

After spending Christmas in Singapore, we headed off for Bali on December 26th. The flight was easy, less than 3 hours and not enough time to finish watching the movie "Up." I'd read some horror stories about the lines for the Visa-on-Arrival, but we didn't have any problems and were headed to the hotel within minutes.

For the first half of our visit, we stayed at the Grand Hyatt in Nusa Dua, which is essentially an enclave of 5-star hotels and resorts. The Grand Hyatt at a lovely beach and pool, which we didn't get to use enough, as well as numerous restaurants, a spa and cultural activities. Here are a few photos of the hotel's environs:

While staying on this part of the island, we spent most of our time visiting temples during the day and enjoying amazing restaurants in the evening. On our first full day, we spent several hours at Waterbom water park and made our way to Tanah Lot for sunset. Our driver tried to convince us that we would be too late for sunset, but we told him to go any way. Good thing we did. We joined the evening crowds and enjoyed an amazing sunset over the water.

That night we had a wonderful dinner at Chandi in Seminyak followed by drinks at the ever-popular Ku De Ta.

We spent most of the next day hanging out at the hotel and grabbed lunch at Bali Collection, the shopping center across the street. In the late afternoon, we made our way to Uluwatu for the Kecak and Fire Dance.

We finished off the day with dinner in Jimbaran Bay where the numerous beachside restaurants allow you to select your fresh catch for dinner. This setup seems to be a big hit with most tourists, but to us, it was exactly like dinner on the beach in Goa, but only more expensive.

Back at the hotel, Ani surprised me with midnight birthday dessert and champagne. What a great way to start year #32!