Sanur, Bali 10/21-10/26/2010

In Sanur, you can get married in a giant transparent diamond! There is an altar, chairs, and a/c venting from the floors. I wonder what marketing genius thought of this idea.... for laughs, here we are recreating the photo we saw on the promotional brochure.

Another hilarious wedding option we ran across-underwater with giant bubble helmets anyone?

Bali/Lombok has been the most expensive spot on our trip yet. We're trying to cut down on costs by eating at warungs and street stalls, which provide much tastier and far less expensive food (about $4/meal for the both of us vs $16 at western restaurants).

Steve's feet enjoying a swim and beer.

We traveled to Sanur on the west coast of Bali as a transit stop on the way to Nusa Lembongan (another island well-known for its snorkeling and surfing); however, we enjoyed the comfortable and relaxing atmosphere so much that we opted to stay and forego Nusa Lembongan. We've been whiling our days away surfing, drinking in pool swim-up bars, watching videos on our iPad, motorbiking around, getting $5 massages, and attempting to fatten Steve up. He's making a valiant effort with the 5 Dunkin Donuts he ate in one single day. Although not entirely R&R, we decided to get our wedding bands made here in Bali as there are more artisans per capita than anywhere else in the world and we've heard that it is significantly cheaper than in the States since you pay for the rings by weight (weighed by the gram) and not for any of the craftsmanship. However, the shopping trip turned out to be quite the ordeal as we were sitting ducks for touts and people trying to take advantage of us as our combined knowledge of jewelry could probably fill a matchbox. Well we placed the order, and today we will collect the resulting rings. We are keeping our fingers crossed. We have rented a motorbike/scooter for the next week and will drive about 50 miles north to a surf spot called Medewi, where we hear the waves are fun and the crowds much thinner.