Alvin and Lisa planned the Bali portion of the trip and we joined them in their Vacation Club unit at the Marriot. Quite the luxury accomodations! This plunge pool was cold water - if it had been hot, I would have been in it twice/day!
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Lisa and Alvin in the "plunge" pool of our suite at the Nusa Dua Renaissance Resort in Bali |
It is a beautiful resort. We especially like the pool bar!
There were several excellent restaurants at the resort as well.
Alvin and Lisa still had a couple more days of diving that we did not sign up for. So we did some sightseeing.
There's this massive statue that we saw as we landed at the airport. Curious about it, we learned that it is called Garuda Wisnu Kencana. It is a new statue intended to be a memorable icon of Bali. I'd say it succeeded!
Garuda Wisnu Kencana Statue
Statue Height: 75m (246 ft)
Total Height: 122m (400 ft)
Constructed: 1993 – 2018
Location: Bali, Indonesia
It's pretty close to where we were staying, so we took advantage of the resort's transportation to take us there and back. We took the tour that went inside and up to the top of the statue. This is a surprisingly new statue - finished in 2018. It's bigger than the Statue of Liberty, but smaller than the Grand Buddha at Ling Shan in China, or the Statue of Unity in India (the biggest 2 in the image below.)
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More than just a statue, the park is home to performances and music |
The next day we took a guided tour north into the Ubud district. As it turned out, it was primarily a shopping tour, but that's fine, we needed some souvenirs.
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Coffee and Tea tasting in the jungle
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We learned how they make Batik - and bought a sarong.
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Our purchase.
Elephant cave temple. For Hindu temples, your legs must be covered so they lend you a Sarong |
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One last day to relax around the resort. Chris took a Bali dancing class.
Then we headed back home. 13 hour flight from Bali to Istanbul, 9 hour layover in Istanbul, and another 13 hour flight to Miami.