The DeSmet Family Worldwide: Finally, only a month and a half late.....Spring Break in Bali

This spring break we headed to Bali, Indonesia. It was a fantastic vacation for the whole family. Bali is an island and smallest province of Indonesia. It is also the biggest tourist destination in the country.

Getting ready for take off with one of our 2 Flat Stanley's. First stop, Bangkok, Thailand.

We got into Bangkok really late and our next flight to Bali was really early the next morning. Because of this we spent the night in the Bangkok airport. It was NOT the best sleep I have ever had. (I did not feel like I stayed at a Holiday Inn Express) It was also freezing in there so we resorted to digging random clothing items out of our suit case to keep warm. This is Ella's fleece shirt doubling as trousers. Oh boy! If you look past Ella you will see Kelly sawing logs with his feet shoved in a pair of swim trunks! Good times!

This is Flat Stanley in a basket of snake fruit. They are only found in Indonesia and they get its name from the fact that the skin really looks and feels like a snake. It is really a good fruit. It tastes like a crispy strawberry.

My loves at breakfast!

Our first day, we didn't waste time. We hit the beach immediately and spent the day baking in the sun. Literally......baking. We were fried by the end of the afternoon. What a bunch of morons!

This was Ella in the beginning of the day with snowy white skin.

Julia doing some surfing.

Never fails, Ella will make friends with every stray street dog EVERYWHERE we go.

Always tumbling and dancing!

Check out this chubby guy in the skirt. The statue was pretty funny too!!

The family.

I don't even know what to say about these two.

Having dinner on the beach, watching the sunset.

My view from the dinner table.

These guys serenaded me. They asked where I was from and then sang Pretty Woman. They obviously wanted a big tip!

Heading up the mountain to do some white water rafting. Behind us is a volcano that last erupted in 1974.

Bali is also known for their terraced rice fields.

The girls got dressed in traditional Balinese attire. (Note: check out the ridiculous sun burns.)

And learned to do one of their creepy traditional Balinese dances. They do specific finger and eyeball moves. Super creepy!

We headed out for a day of snorkeling and a trip to Sea Turtle Island.

This is a 50 year old turtle.

Julia playing with a turtle.

Ella with a baby turtle.

Kelly and his new friend.

I definitely didn't want to make friends with this guy!

This snake was so much bigger than Ella.

Julia with a toucan.

Julia with the toucan as the it crapped down her back. LOL!

This is a fruit bat. He is hanging by his feet. That is his head at the bottom. He does not have an extra set of eyes and a nose, even though it may appear that way. This bat was definitely a male.

Ella para sailing.

So, we went on a bike tour of Bali with some friends of ours from Beijing. On our way we stopped by a coffee plantation to see how coffee is processed. But this is special coffee. This is a rodent called a civet. These animals are fed only the best coffee beans. Once they are digested and passed out of the civet they sift through their poop and pick the coffee beans back out. They then roast them and make a really expensive coffee out of it. It is around $50 per cup. I am pretty sure PETA would be all over this because it seems kind of cruel.

Our friend Owen holding a civet turd with coffee beans in it.

The girls are mashing the roasted coffee beans.

Here I am sampling my "poop coffee". It was strong and definitely not worth the hype. I would even go as far to say it was a shitty cup of coffee (no pun intended) but I had to try it....right?

The story behind the coffee...literally.

While we were riding our bikes through Bali we would pass villages, schools and rice fields. We stopped to watch and "help" this family strip the rice.

Here is Ella stripping the rice.

These people love their life here. They all had big smiles and were enjoying working together in the hot Bali sun.

This lady was adorable. I love, love this picture.

Biking along. Most of the bike tour was downhill. That is my kind of biking!

Our guide invited us into his home for lunch with his family. It was amazing food! Entire families live together here and each "housing compound" comes complete with their own temples. For people who don't have a lot of financial wealth, they sure do have beautiful homes and temples. Mind you there are no showers or refrigerators and I am not even sure if there is electricity. We would see women washing themselves in water that constantly flows through the ditches. It was something straight out of National Geographic.

You see roosters in cages all over. I am pretty sure when there is no TV to watch they find entertainment in watching cock fights. Again, PETA would love Bali.

This was our guides mom. She is making offerings out of reeds.

This was our bike group. The DeSmet and the Bigg's families, our 2 guides and his son. It was one of the best experiences we have ever had on a vacation. We actually got to experience life as the people of Bali do.

Ella chilling in a hammock at our hotel. She laid back in this and said, "I could get used to this." I think we have created a monster. Good luck to her future suitors.