Where in the World is Janelle?: Day 1 in Bali

Saturday we decided to have a chill day at the hotel followed by a trip to a temple called Ulu Watu ending with a dinner at Jimbaran Bay. I had researched and we were going to hire a driver name Made Dodi for the weekend. He was excellent and as far as we were concerned- cheap (500,000 rupiah for up 12 hours...$55). There was one hiccup with this plan. A fellow by the name of Barack Obama was in nearby Nusa Dua for the Asean Conference. Roads were blocked, beaches were closed and security was high. Our driver ended up getting rerouted and stuck in hours of traffic, that we didn't make it to Ulu Watu that day- we only had our romantic sunset dinner. It was excellent day!

The hotel was absolutely gorgeous. Quite the contrast from the rugged backcountry of Bali. It's low-season here because it's monsoon season so the hotel was empty. We lucked out and had great weather.

Sweet suite

Our HUGE suite

Suite-only pool and the breakfast, afternoon tea and cocktail area

My first time in the Indian Ocean

That afternoon we got our first taste of bartering. After walking to and from the suite and pool, we got approached by multiple guys to do my favorite thing ever- JET SKI!!! Melissa had never been so we negotiated it down from $40 for 15 minutes per person to $40 for 30 minutes total. Best $20 I've spent in awhile. The water was choppy getting out, first time I've ever had to battle ocean waves. Once past the breaking waves and outside the kayakers and banana boat, we had it zooming pretty good. It was awesome!! Perhaps my favorite thing of the trip.

Looking like a pro

Melissa did great for never driving a jets ki before!

Jet ski operator

We got back to the room, showered and headed out for the complimentary afternoon tea at the hotel.

Could not decide- so I had 3 drinks!

Then we were off for our dinner. Made (pronunced Ma-dee) knew the place to take us to and I got my first glimpse of real Bali during the daylight. It's WAY different than the glitz of the resorts. Made showed us how to order and then politely went and sat in his car while we ate. He returned to eat some of the leftover fish and then unfortunately received a call about a family emergency. So after dinner we just went back to the hotel and totally crashed after our day out in the sun. Tomorrow was going to be a big day anyway.