This post is mostly around the excursions we went on while in Bali. Our first day was a full day tour to see the sights and sounds of Bali and for this we hired Made Real Bali Tours (http://maderealbalitours.blogspot.ca) who is very much recommended on the FT forums.

Our second day was a sunrise cruise that involved us waking up at 4am to get ready for a 5am pickup to the port. From there, we jumped on one of the Aman boats for a leisure cruise around the bay. It was overcast for the first half of the cruise with some lightening flashes – we were worried that it was going to rain but the captain said not to worry as this is the norm. And he was right, because it did clear up half way through. The cruise itself took 3 hours and the time just flew by. After the cruise, we snorkelled on the Blue Lagoon reef which had abundant marine life and the colours were amazing.

Made driving us for the day.

After an hour of driving, we stopped by a silver shop. Bought a little opal ring for Mrs.I as an advance gift for our anniversary.

Pretty accurate after drinking Balinese coffee.

From there, we made our way to a local temple. From the looks of it, the donations made by tourists are used to restore part of the temple. The temple is used often to celebrate alot of the local Balinese Hindu festivals.

Wearing the traditional sarong.

What are you laughing at?

After the temple, we headed to the waterfalls. As per Made, the water level was low this year – still made a trip of it.

I wonder if the shower facilities are as nice as the Emirates Lounge Shower facilities?

From there, we moved onto the coffee plantation which was more of a place where they showcased how the coffee was grown and harvested. The actual coffee was grown towards the centre of Bali where the dormant volcano was located. Rice fields surrounded the coffee plantation area.

This civet cat was just a display model for tourists and is released back into the wild every 3 months or so. I pushed on this topic to the lady giving us the tour and asked about the controversy regarding the civet cats who are kept in captivity and force fed the coffee beans constantly to produce the expensive luwak coffee that is famous all over. She provided assurance that this was not the case here.

Heading downstairs to the tasting area. Ended up buying some teas, luwak coffee and balinese coffee.

From there, we passed by the tourist trap rice plantation that you could walk through. Skipped it and went to lunch.

Went for lunch which was close to the Ritz Carlton Mandapa.

Three of this dish plus a 40 ounce of beer and juice cost $17 CAD. Very good deal. 🙂

The next morning, we went for our sunrise cruise. As stated, we had to get up at 4am to get ready for the 5am pickup. From there it was a 10 minute ride to the dock.

So sleepy.

Behold the dawn of a new day.

Passing by Amankila.

After this, we anchored at the Blue Lagoon reef for snorkelling.

Good colour.

Our boat.

Back to the dock/beach.

Mrs.I taking in the view after our cruise.

Next up – Diving at Tulamben and another surprise for Mrs.I.