Beauty Up My Life (Part 2)

On our second day, we climbed our way up to Pura Besakih, the oldest and most sacred temple after a hearty breakfast at the hotel. Besakih is also known as the ‘Mother Temple’ in Bali. The largest and most important temple on the island, it sits on the western slopes of Gunung Agung.

Being a cooler day, we were chauffeured by the local tour guide to our destination happily. At the base of the mountain, we were advised to comply with the temple tour's dress code, that is, sarong. Luckily, we were brought to a batik factory cum showroom prior to temple's visit, where we have purchased some nice sarongs for the purpose.

Besakih temple is really a collection of temples, sprawling down the hillside and its humongous size means it has become a tourist trap. When we arrived at late morning, the touts, particularly the young children, were hounding at us relentlessly. Refusing to yield to their demands, we hurried off to explore the first segment of the temples.

Beauty Up My Life (Part 1)

Apologies for the brief hiatus since my last blog. I had "escaped" to Bali with my friends for a quick getaway during Christmas. And it turned out to be one beautiful holiday I had experienced in my life!

At the airport, we were greeted by our smiley friends early morning and whizzed to our hotel. Being a sultry day, we wasted no time to enjoy our shower before heading out to the streets. Like what my friend mentioned in his blog "I like a good shower...", nothing beat a nice shower to relax the body for the day ahead.

Anyway, we roamed around the streets in search of a cheap and good lunch to start the holidays. As most of my friends craved for Indian cuisine, we scouted around. 30 minutes later, we still couldn't locate the Indian restaurant tipped by our local friends. Finally, we settled for an inviting Mexican restaurant hidden in one of the side lanes of Bali. It was an succulent experience, albeit the bill was a tad pricey.

As the weather was oppressively warm, we decided to shop to minimize our discomfort. For me, I purchased a hat from Polo at a very good price (equivalent to SGD10)! The rest of the afternoon saw us checking out the boutiques but sadly, no good bargains. Guess Bali lives up to the reputation of being one of the tourist-driven countries.

Then we retreated to the hotel to freshen up before visiting the highly recommended beach in Bali, Jimbaran for the evening. It was half an hour by car from the hotel and we were lucky to catch the sunset in motion. Simply, the view was breathtaking! A must is a sunset dinner along one of the many delectable restaurants offering the freshest seafood around (including yummy corn offered by cart-sellers), outline Jimbaran beach. The breeze from the ocean and the sound of the waves completed our dining experience:)