BALI--3 year anniversary! {Part 1}

I love the tradition we started when we first got married to go on a trip every year for our anniversary together. I had heard of other couples doing it, and it seemed like the best idea. What better way to celebrate your love than to spend time with only each other?! It is probably one of my favorite traditions because it gives us a chance to spend time and focus on only each other without work, phones, computers, responsibility, and the chaos of everyday life. It's especially fun now while we don't have any kids and can do these long vacations without worrying because when we have kids some years we'll be lucky to get a weekend away I'm sure! 

This year we decided to go to Bali for 2 weeks! It was a place that I've wanted to go and is normally really expensive to get to, so we wanted to take advantage of Andrew's flight points and go while we wouldn't have to pay the crazy $4,000 plane ticket per person. 

We left on my last day of teaching (May 30th) and flew to LA. We had a 6 hour layover there so we decided to take a cab to the nearest beach so we weren't stuck in the airport before our 14 hour flight to Australia. We walked around in the sunny weather and had a yummy dinner on the beach. 

 

Then it was time to head back to LA and board our red eye flight. We actually were really surprised with how much we slept on the flight! We slept 10 out of the 14 hours and pretty comfortably too.

millionaire in Bali! :)

When we arrived in Australia, we had another like 8 hour layover in Brisbane so we were hoping to get to go out and explore the city, but they wouldn't let us go out for the day without paying for the Visa and we didn't want to do that just for the day so we ended up just laying around in the airport watching movies on the iPad. 

I also ran in to the most annoying problems in Australia with my passport. Before we were married I got my passport so we could honeymoon in Bermuda, so it was under Kristen Savage. Whenever we booked international flights we always remembered to book it under my maiden name but this time we forgot. When we left SLC the guy checking us in for some reason didn't say anything about it and I just showed him my license that has Kristen Harding to match my plane ticket. However, when we got to Australia the lady kept saying over and over how she didn't know how I got to Australia.... They had to change my itinerary to match my passport name so then mine and Andrew's reservations were split up. The airline then saw my itinerary by myself and tried to put me on a different flight going to Bali so then it was a huge ordeal saying I wasn't going on my own flight without my husband when it wasn't my fault that it got split up....but luckily Andrew has status with the airline so of course they felt bad for the mess up and were apologizing to him and put us back together! :) They told me it would be fixed for the way back home to the US but of course it wasn't.....Long story short, I'll be changing my passport to my married name ASAP! 

We finally got to Bali late at night and took a cab to our Sheraton hotel in Kuta. Since Andrew stays in a hotel every week we used his hotel points and were also upgraded to the suite for the entire trip. Pretty awesome perk of him traveling this last year! I still can't believe how cheap everything is in Bali. It costs an arm and a leg to get there, but once you are there the cabs, food, etc is all so cheap! The cab was like $9!

Tour of the hotel room in Kuta. Of course Andrew is talking with an Australian accent since we were stuck in the airport there the whole day. haha cracks me up watching it!

We spent the whole first week in Kuta. We had a nice hotel right across the street from Kuta beach and from Kuta Square where all the shopping was. 

I'm so glad Andrew had status with the hotel because the breakfast buffet was to DIE for and free for us!! Seriously so so good. We filled up every morning on crepes, waffles, omelets, smoothies, juice, muffins, pastries, you name it. My mouth is salivating just thinking about it! Usually we ate so much we weren't even hungry again until dinner. 

We were pretty jet lagged after breakfast so we spent the day at the pool. Kuta beach wasn't that nice because it was dirty with a lot of trash, so we spent most of our water days at our hotel pool. Before our trip we bought cheap snorkeling goggles which I was so glad we did because it made our days at the pool and beach so much more fun.

The outdoor shops/mall at Kuta Square was right by our hotel so we walked over there for dinner. They had the cutest restaurant on the roof over looking the ocean. It was interesting because they had different places to sit based on how much money you would be spending. So a normal table you didn't have to spend a certain amount, but for a small lounge bed you had to spend at least $25, and for a large lounge bed you had to spend $50. When we got there, all the small lounge beds were taken so we went with the large. $50 doesn't seem like a lot, but like I said earlier food is pretty cheap in Bali...Needless to say, we were SO stuffed by the end of the night.

Balinese dancers at our hotel

The next day we woke up and enjoyed the morning on our patio and tried to plan out our day. We decided to hire a driver to take us to the Monkey Forest and Tanah Lot temple. When we got in the car, the driver told us that those two things weren't even close to each other and tried to get us to do other things but we insisted he take us there anyways. They get paid by the hour so he kept suggesting different things for us to do that we didn't really want to do. Haha. Andrew did ask if they sold any silver. He meant like bars of silver because Andrew loves having those, but instead he took us to a place where they make jewelry. Pretty funny. We also went to a store where they make Batik fabric. They use a needle like tool with wax to make the designs. It was so interesting watching them make it!

I was a little scared about going to the Monkey Forest. I had only read reviews about how they try to take anything they can from you (hats, sunglasses, water bottles, etc.) and can also be aggressive so I didn't know what to think. When we first got there, they have people out selling bunches of bananas so we bought some. I was standing there waiting to put the bananas in our backpack and all these monkeys just start coming towards me and crawling on me obviously wanting them. The ladies were yelling at me "Give them a nana!!!" hahah so I finally gave them one and then hurried and put them in our backpack. I didn't like the monkeys at the entrance because of that!

There were monkeys EVERYWHERE though! It was so fun to watch them, feed them, and even hold them. Some of them were so cute...especially the little babies. They literally snatch the bananas from you so fast, peel and eat them right away, and then look for more!

After the monkey forest we headed to Tanah Lot which is a sea temple that sits on a large rock that has been shaped over the years by the ocean tide. It is known for beautiful sunsets so that is the best time to visit. 

  My favorite part of the picture below is our bottle of Sprite and can of Pringles! We had not eaten since breakfast and were never really hungry for lunch because of how much we ate, so we were planning on eating dinner after our activities. I did not know how much driving was going to be involved and how long we would be out for though. We were seriously so hungry when we got to Tanah lot for sunset and luckily they had like a convenience store so we could get something. I don't think we've ever eaten a can of Pringles so fast before haha.

There were SO man Balinese people there to worship!

We had read that you should never buy anything from the shops the first day so you can get a feel for how the "bargaining" works. We bought 2 tank tops for like $20 or 25 total the first day, which to us was a good deal. But then we decided to go out again a different day after having a little experience. It is the craziest thing ever. These people all have their own tiny little shops where they basically all sell the same knock off things (clothes, shoes, sunglasses, jewelry, posters, paintings, etc) When you walk by they try anything they can to get you to come in to THEIR store. Some of them even grab your hands and try to put bracelets and things on you so you will buy them. It was so hilarious trying to bargain with them. Sometimes I couldn't even hold a straight face. We wanted to buy me another tank top and the lady started out saying she would let me have it for $35. So then I said it was okay and I would go to a different store for less. They really want your business so they try to say "Ok...for good luck $30." She kept trying to tell me it was better quality (which it was, but not for that price!) We finally got it down to 2 tank tops for $15. SO CRAZY! We definitely could have gotten our first day shopping tank tops way cheaper but didn't know how much they would go down on the price! I also couldn't believe how many salons were there offering a 1 hour massage, manicure, and pedicure for $15. If only the US could offer prices like that....

cutest husband out bargain shopping!

The next few days in Kuta were spent lounging at the pool and trying out the good restaurants near our hotel. I loved how all the places had beds for you to eat your food on rather than just sitting at a table!

After a week in crazy Kuta, we were off to Nusa Dua, which is known as the more luxurious vacation location.