Tokyo-twentyfive: Bali

It has been a really long time since I have written a post, mostly because I could not locate the notebook with my own password in it. Pathetic, but true. Well, said notebook has been located and we are back in business! There is much to share, but I'll start non-sequentially with our recent trip to Bali, Indonesia.

When Peter and I looked at the calendar back in early November and realized that the kids would have off of school for 3-1/2 weeks (!), I realized that we absolutely had to get out of town for at least a part of the time or this mother bear might end up eating her cubs. Being novices to Asian travel that does not include hitchhiking, sleeping overnight on airport sidewalks and sharing hostel rooms with unseen roommates who keep you up at night with various noisy shenanigans (all true), but instead includes two short and highly-demanding travel companions, we were unsure of where to go. We looked at Okinawa (not warm at this time of year and pricey), at a JW Marriott resort in Phuket (loved the idea of the Kids' Club, but seemed a bit too isolated) and going to my parents' in Virginia (seemed too wimpy of us). Finally, Peter happened upon a website for villas in Bali. The villas in the photos looked really too good to be true for the price. Little did I know that the price even included "a staff" of cleaners, cooks, gardeners, not to mention the butler (he was kind of our babysitter who made sure we took the right taxi and remembered to order our breakfast and to not go out without our umbrellas...). Anyway, we decided to go to Semenyak in Bali and to stay at a villa called the Kalimaya II (www.villakalimaya.com). The villa was paradise and Bali was a sensual and exotic pleasure of warm breezes, tropical fruits, spicy food with lots of peanut sauce, kind, gentle, smiling people and lots of spirituality with an abundance of Hindu temples and religious offering to the gods in front of every doorstep. I am hoping this becomes a December tradition...

Peter just sent me the following article about problems that Bali is facing with overdevelopment of tourism. It's an interesting and sobering read. All of that luxury for tourists comes at a big price for those who live in Bali. By the way, did you know that Indonesia is the world's 4th most populous country? Another amazing fact: Indonesia is comprised of 17,500+ islands. Much of the land is rainforest and, as in Brazil, is rapidly disappearing due to the lumber industry and development. Consequently, Indonesia has the largest number of endangered species living in it.

http://bloom.bg/K9BkBP