Mojitos and Sunsets

Every night in Gili we would head down the beach to watch the sunset. Some of the best sunsets we have seen on this trip so far. Since wine is typically not very good and expensive I decided to give a Mojito a shot - I have never really liked them, but my options were slim. Well I am now on the Mojito bandwagon - love, love love them. I think they make them a bit different then the traditional ones back home, but I will definitely be making these when I get home.  

What better way to end your day then watching the sunset, drinking a mojito and relaxing after a hard day at the beach. ;)

mmm, doesn't that drink look soo good?

Horse and Cart

After spending some time in Ubud, we decided to make our way to the Gili Islands. Three Islands between Bali and Lombok. We had read about them and heard about them from a couple of people, so we decided to check it out. The first island is the big, main island and then you have a smaller island (which is apparently where the honeymooners go) and then you have the smallest island, Gili Air - the island we stayed on. There are dirt roads, no ATM's and regular power outages. But the best part about this island (well all three) is that there are no motorized vehicles - only a horse and cart. So to get to our bungalow from where we got dropped off by boat, we hopped onto a little cart pulled by a pony. It was hilarious and pretty bizarre.

It took about an hour to walk around the whole island - that's how small it was. We did the walk on our first day and saw signs that would say "we do laundry with sweet water". So of course we were laughing and wondering what "sweet water" was - we wanted to get us some of that water. Well we came to learn quite fast what it meant. Almost the whole island uses salt water - meaning all of our showers while we were there were in salt water. Which is pretty weird - you don't really feel clean. I think only a couple of places offer "sweet water" showers. And getting a hot shower can be a challenge too, but it was well worth it.

Gili Air was amazing!! It took a bit of time to get into the rhythm, but once you get it, you don't want to leave. It is so relaxing - you just hang out by the ocean and read. No internet (unless you go looking for it), no TV and no stress. We would wake up every morning and have breakfast right by the ocean. What more could you ask for. Great people and a great vibe. We will definitely be going back.

Love Melissa and Arnold

Wow, I'm going all out with pics now haha...

Some pictures that we found funny

wow, I'm really taking going to town with the pictures. Guess I have to do it while I can...

Never can be too safe, right? haha Life jackets on land

This picture kills us every time we see it. Happy Bride, sad groom. I think Arnold wants this shirt

Okay, I know, we are being childish, but it was soo funny. I guess the part that I found funny was - how do they police that?? 

And by far, the BEST picture we have hahahahah .... this was the info booklet that they gave out to us for the Indonesian show we saw last week. We felt like we should have told them

Okay, we will grow up now, but I hope we aren't the only ones that found those pics funny.

Love Melissa and Arnold 

Pictures from India

As promised - thought I would upload some pics from India. This is by far the best wifi connection I have ever had on the trip, so the pics download pretty fast.

Have a couple more posts coming

 Yep, cow alley ... sick haha

It was so hard to pick and I can't really see the pics that well when i'm picking ... but I hope you like them. I have so many, I wish I could show you guys them all.

Ferry Rides

While we were in Thailand and Indo, we needed to take ferries to get around to the islands near by. I never really had an issue with taking the boats to get around, until recently. If you want to torture me, put me on a boat in rough seas. I have decided that I HATE ferries and if I can get around taking them I will.

First bad ferry ride was in Thailand. We were taking a ferry to head to Ko Tao (about 1 1/2 hours) and our boat left right in the middle of what felt like a tropical storm. Okay, it wasn't really a tropical storm, but it was raining, windy and the seas were rough. I thought I was going to pass out. Our boat was moving in every direction possible - it was like being on a ride at Stampede. And this was a big boat - we were getting tossed around like a rag doll. I had to focus on the horizon otherwise I don't think I would have made it. But I survived and prayed for better weather on the way back.

After spending some time in Bali, we headed to some Islands just off the cost (about 1 1/2 hours away). This time it was a speed boat though - so much, much smaller then the ferries they use in Thailand (about 30 people per boat). I honestly never thought that this ferry ride would be bad, but it was the worst boat ride I have ever taken. I was terrified and trying to keep it together and trying to keep my breakfast down. I remember thinking that I could see why there was so many ferry accidents in Indo - it's crazy. We were crashing around in really rough seas. The worst part about it though, is that we had to take that same ferry back!!!

I was dreading it AND we were going to a different port this time, so we had to be on the boast for 2 1/2 hours this time. The first part of the ride wasn't too bad, not nearly as scary as the first one. But then it turned ugly. I honestly thought that the boat was going to tip on its side. And then the waves were so large that I was actually coming out of my seat. At one point, I let out a bit of a scream. haha I was so nervous. I kept looking at the life jackets getting ready to pull one down. (FYI this boat ride is now the worst boat ride I have taken)

I have come to realize that I am terrified of boats (unless they are on a calm lake) and don't plan on getting on one any time soon. Forget about a cruise ship as well. I'm done with boats for a while haha. I was too focused on holding on to my seat to take pictures, but believe me, it was really horrible. Arnold has a fear of flying and I have a fear of boats - good match, hey. LOL He would rather be on the seas and I would rather fly.

Love Melissa and Arnold

Ubud

The first place we decided to head to when we got to Bali. We had heard a lot of amazing things about this city, so it seemed like a pretty easy choice. Not really knowing what to expect, we jumped into a cab from the airport and made our way there. 

Ubud is about an hour from the airport inland. It is really lush and green - very jungle like. We were totally blown away with Ubud. We actually wish we had more time to spend there. It is so BEAUTIFUL, but I think the big reason why we loved it so much was because of the people. The people there (an in Bali) are some of the nicest people we have met on this trip. I have fallen in love with them - we were both soo surprised by how sweet and friendly everyone was. Definitely made a pretty great first impression of the country. Since we had heard mixed reviews about Bali, we didn't really have high expectations, so Ubud was setting the bar high.

We spent 3 nights in Ubud going to markets, visiting the rice fields and relaxing in the city (or at our resort). The one night we went to see a traditional dance, which of course didn't disappoint. Since it was a bit in the hills, the weather was a lot cooler then by the beach, but I'm talking +29 vs +33 LOL.

On a quick side note about our resort, we had booked a spa appointment the one night and when we got there, they asked us if we could pose for a couple pictures to promote the spa. haha. It was pretty funny - Arnold had a good laugh about it. If they post the pictures I will send out the link so you can check out our super amazing modeling skills ;) haha.

Love Melissa and Arnold

Kuala Lumpur

The only way for us to get to Bali from where we were in Thailand was to go through KL, so we decided to spend the night there and check out the city. We had been warned that KL wasn't very exciting and that you only needed to spend a day there in order to see the sights - so that is what we did.

KL isn't a very exciting city at all haha, but I found it to be very pretty. I thought the city was nice, BUT would not want to spend more then 24 hours there. Arnold really wanted to go see the Petronas Towers while we were there, so first thing in the morning we got onto the train and made our way over to see them.

The towers are attached a BIG mall with a lot of fancy brand names. It's probably a good thing that we didn't have more time, otherwise I would have wanted to spend the day in that mall shopping haha. I didn't really like the vibe in the city, hard to explain, but I just didn't like it. After our brief stay in KL, I am really glad that we decided to head to Indo vs Malaysia.

A funny thing about our stay - we picked a hotel that was located in "Little India" (I don't know if that's the name of the area, I just made that up, but there were a lot of India people and food in this area). All Arnold wanted to do was get away from India and not think about India and here we are, back in India again. It was a bit trippy.  But the food was soo good - I had to get a Chai to go because it was that good.

So pretty boring post, but it was a pretty boring city.

Love Melissa and Arnold