Dream Trip to Wonderful Island of Bali

My wife & I leave for our first trip to Bali on April 30, 2001. It is as though our dream is coming true. This trip is a combination of my wife's 50th Birthday present, our 25th wedding annivversary and meeting with some wonderful Balinese people that we have been corresponding with through the Internet.

Smile Please Mr. and Mrs. Michael A. Stewart from Florida, the United States, pose for a picture, while displaying the certificate awarded for winning first place in the indo.com "Writing Contest for Travelers" at the indo.com Bali Office. Also taking part in the photo session were the indo.com Bali Office staff. The couple shared their planned dream trip to Bali with the world at large.

Our dream vacation grew into a school project to help 1,392 students. We will be donating school supplies to 3 schools in Lovina & having Glenallen Elementary students communicate with Bali students. Florida residents will learn about Bali from the T.V. interviews & newspaper articles written about our project & the video that will be produced. All involved in our project feel they have grown learning about people & a country on the opposite sides of the world.

While planning our Dream trip to Bali we became aware of the wonderful people of Bali & their history. After reading about Bali's economical struggles, along with their love of family & children we decided to start the Bali - Florida School Project to raise school supplies.

We have read so many accounts of Bali we can hardly wait to see the turquoise waves breaking on the sandy beaches and the outlines of the Islands Volcano's when our plane arrives in Denpassar. We will be met by Chandra our Internet friend. Then go to Bakung Beach in Kuta, our first hotel. Relax, and then hit the streets to enjoy the new sights, sounds & even fragrances that we have read about.

Our first stop is to the Embassy to complete the paperwork to renew our wedding vows. All accounts are that Bali is thee perfect place to be married or renew ones vows. The beauty of the Island & atmosphere is romantic.

Then we plan to shop for some of Bali's famous bargains. As suggested we packed very light, planning to buy the local products during our travels. We plan to visit Tootsies in the Sindhu Market place, JL.Tamulingal Supermarket & Matahari's to pick up some needed supplies & appropriate clothing to visit the temples with unbelievable prices.

Then on to the food of Bali that we are looking forward to experiencing. The reports are in that we cannot miss Poppies Restaurant for a gorgeous & romantic evening or Kori Restaurant voted the Best Restaurant in Bali. We made reservations for Krambitan's Puri Night which is a Royal Banquet & entertainment in a Raja's Palace. Another event we do not want to miss is Saturday night at The Bali Cliff Hotel. It is the Cave Night which includes a BBQ & incredible dances from groups of dancers who tell the story of the battle between good & evil.

We will then move to Celuk Agung, our hotel in Lovina on the North coast of the Island. It is our second location to stay. We will make daily plans to see the dolphins, visit Singarja the former capitol of Bali, and check out their night market. Not to miss Bedugal temple, a magical place on the way to Git Git waterfalls. But we are also looking forward to relaxing on the black sand beaches & doing some snorkelling, possibly at Turtle or Manjangan Island. Then we meet the teachers & students & present them with the donated school supplies & take photo's. We will be sending daily e-mails to Glenallen School in Florida to have published in our newspaper about our Bali trip & project.

We plan to renew our vows at Celuk Agung and have a celebration after for everyone who has worked on our project. We are looking forward to finally meet the people who have helped us.

Then onto our last & busiest destination in Bali. We will be staying at the highly recommended Honeymoon Guesthouse on Ubud.

While in this area we plan to be on the go constantly from Riding the Elephants through Bali Adventure Tours, White water rafting with Sobeck Rafting Company or Riding camels on the beach from Hotel Nikko Bali. We are looking forward to the walking tours that we can take on our own listed in the Bali Pathfinder or Travel Treasure Map at the Tourists Office. We hope to be able to attend a festival or celebration. And visit as many temples as possible.

We would love to visit Tenganan to take a trip back in time in Bali. And purchase some world renown Gring Gring Double weave Ikat cloth.

We plan to visit some of the famous restaurants for our meals such as Warung Astawa, Warung Penatih & Lotus Tavern. A must for us is to visit Mr. Heinz at his Bumba Bali Restaurant. Not only to taste his wonderful Balinese dishes but to tour & learn about his save the turtle project.

It is impossible to put everything we want to see, enjoy & try in 750 words about the wonderful Island of Bali. And it is impossible to do everything in 3 weeks but we will certainly try. We know we will miss things we want to do so as may tourists say, there will always be another trip to Bali in our future.

Mr. & Mrs. Michael A. Stewart