Bali, Indonesia Photo Blog

Bali is such a beautiful place with equally beautiful people. 90% of the Balinese people follow the Hindu religion and you can see so much of their beliefs in the genuine warmth they share in every interaction with their friends, family and even us. There is a celebration for just about anything they can think of, but always tied to time with their family and community in prayer and time together. Our guide and new friend, Tribuwana, has taught us a lot about the customs, ways and beliefs of the Balinese. They are different from the Hindu people of India, but still share the core values, morals and structure of the formal Hindu religion.

Here are some photos from our time in Bali, where we are spending a quiet week before moving on to Cambodia. We walked through the Besakih Temple in sarongs and the boys wore traditional headdresses, visited and spent time with the sponsored boys and girls at Bali Children’s Project, fed Balinese Gray Monkeys at the Monkey Forest in Ubud, explored our home town of Candi Dasa on the eastern coast, snorkeled in crystal blue waters inside a reef with amazingly colorful tropical fish, surfed some pretty big waves out on a reef break in Sanur (very proud of Brayden and Brooke), visited the Green School, and learned a ton.

Besakih

    

Monkey Forest (see if you can tell the difference between Brayden and Brooke and their monkey friends – we thought it looked like a day at Creekside)!

Bali Children’s Project – making new friends, Mom & Dad learning about the educational philosophy while Brooke & Brayden teach English to the children and learn a little Indonesian.

     

Balinese cooking class at Bali Asli – cooking Balinese style with ingredients hand-picked right from their organic garden.

Hike past the volcano and through the hillside villages, tasting a little fermented beverage harvested right out of the tree sap that was offered to us in a village (no one was carded so we assumed it was fine):

Fun in the sun at Amankila, where the buildings are set into the hillside and the beaches are a beautiful black sand from the volcano ash:

     

Coffee and tea tasting, including the infamous Luwak coffee (beans hand-picked from the feces (aka poo) of the Luwak Animal:

Dinner conversation topics each evening:

 

Villa Jukung in Candidasa, Bali…our home away from home during our stay

 

 

Yoga in Bali –

Fun –