Going from Brisbane to Bali was a short trip but when we stepped off the plane, like so many other places we’ve traveled to, it was a different world altogether.  Bali conjures images of Julia Roberts eating, praying, and loving her way around rice fields and we saw plenty of…well, most of that.

Our first stop was in Kuta beach.  Anyone who has ever traveled to Indonesia will slap you on the wrist for stopping here but we didn’t mind because it was our first time in the country.  We try to not let people tell us what we should and shouldn’t see in a new place, preferring to make up our mind as we go.  Yes, Kuta was touristy but we had a blast here and it was a great jump off for our Southeast Asia trip.  We stayed for a few days, visiting the beach, bars, restaurants, and yes even a mall..where a guy tried to scam us by trying to sell us a ‘ticket’ to get into the mall.  We laughed in his face and kept walking and no one asked for a ticket into the mall.

We moved on to Ubud to the north after a few days and saw a monkey sanctuary! Throughout the town, monkeys would be all around on the telephone poles and hanging out around shops.  The strangest thing we saw inside the monkey sanctuary was a cemetery where people were temporarily buried because once every five years they would dig them up and have a mass cremation.  Needless to say we were happy we were there during an ‘off’ year.  We also went and saw rice fields and a lot more of what you imagine in your head as a true Indonesian experience.

Our favorite part of Indonesia though was when we went out to Gili Air.   There are three different islands off the main coast of Bali…Gili Air, Gil Trawangan and Gili Meno.  Gili ‘T’ is the main party island.  We decided to stay on Gili Air, the smallest and most chilled out island and we were very happy with our decision.  The island was so small that we rented bikes and rode around the entire island.  We found a little restaurant/bar that was right on the beach and we could snorkel after we were done eating or drinking and then come back for more food and drinks and then go back out snorkeling and then come back…and, well…you get the idea.

Indonesia was a great introduction to Southeast Asia. We’d soon travel to Singapore, where we’d spend three days in the most expensive city/state in all of Southeast Asia.