Balinese Dance

When the sounds of the gamelan take over your body you can do nothing but sit in a trance as you watch what unfolds before you. Dancers enter the stage with the most intricate of movements. Subtle yet quick gestures with their fingers, feet and bodies. Then you will become transfixed on their eyes. The intensity is astounding, quickly switching from side to side without blinking they will have you speechless. I honestly don't know enough positive words to give this show it's proper praise. 

Ubud Palace

After a few days attempting to surf in Kuta and Seminyak in southern bali we headed north by taxi to Ubud, the cultural hub of Bali. Surrounded by rice fields and rolling hills it's a picturesque town ready for tourist. While the major sites are lovely, the boutique shoppes and cafe's will most likely fill your days here. When I had my fill of Kopi Luwak, we ventured to Ubud palace, a baliense hindu temple on the main road through town. 

A stark contast to the Hindu temples we had seen in Kuala Lumpur and Singapore these had a touch of class and style that the balinese folks do so well. While this temple wasn't huge or elaborate the relief carvings we're meticulous and had every visitor in awe. I threw in one smiley face as well since I realized our blog was missing one of my favorite things about traveling... The local people you meet. 

Bali Nights

When you're on the road you quickly realize that friends are fleeting. You share a few laughs over beers and before you know it your going your separate ways. This easily could have been the case when we first met Sarah and Aaron, but we just liked them too much to let that happen. We first met in Kuala Lumpur at a Chinese restaurant, Aaron walked by with a Seattle Supersonics hat on and it grabbed our attention. We quickly started chatting over beers and realized we had a lot in common. A week or so later our paths would cross again, this time on the Perhentian Islands. We loosely talked about meeting in various places with no solid plans, until they invited us down to Indonesia about a month later. We hopped a plane, and before we knew it we blew off half of Thailand to hang in Bali with these two crazy Canadians.

One of our first nights there we hit the clubs of Bali where the drinks are free (for 30 minutes) for tourists. This certainly is a good way to start any night, although it doesn't always make for the best way to end a night, like Aaron's suggestion for McD's. (Side note, I still ate the Big Mac burger patty that fell in the seat between me and the taxi driver). Read their fascinating blog plane life.

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Historic Ayutthaya

One of the great things about Bangkok is how easy it is to get out of Bangkok. We took advantage of this after only a few days and headed north by train to Ayutthaya. Founded in 1350, The historic city of Ayutthaya was the second largest capital of the Siamese Kingdom. The city flourished from the 14th to the 18th century before the Burmese army in 1767 burned the city to the ground, leaving only traces of the city's past size and splendor. 

Once we settled in our humble accomidations and found some breakfast we ventured out to find some of the temples dotting Ayutthaya. With names like Wat Chaiwatthanaram, Wat Lokayasutharam, Wat Ratchaburana, and Chedi Phukhao Thong we had plenty to see and do. I'm pretty sure I walked around with a grin from ear to ear soaking up all the beauty that surrounded us.

My final impressions of this side trip couldn't be more positive. The sites around Ayutthaya are beautiful and show how advanced the Thai people were so long ago. If you find yourself in Bangkok and can't stand the busy streets, pollution and hawker stalls jump on a train and visit this historic city. 

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The Grand Palace

To visit Bangkok and not see the Grand Palace would be blasphemy. So like millions of visitors before us we walked into this huge compound to see what all the hype was about. Built in 1782 the Grand Palace is undoubtedly the city's most famous landmark, and it is grand. It just didn't wow me like many other temples I have seen on this trip. For one, there is to much going on. So many temples, all of different styles and there seems to be no continutity between designs. They're lovely and some of them are awe inspiring if on their own but together it just didn't mesh for me. Should you visit this site? Yes, without a doubt. The gold is bright and the amount of it is astounding. The red, blue and green roofs are vibarant and contrast nicely with the stark white of the walls holding them up. Just be warned, it's packed. it's expensive and you can't go into many of the temples.

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