Uluwatu is like where you go on vacation, if you live in heaven year-round. It's all turquoise blue water, blood orange sunsets over majestic cliffs, fresh fruit juices and monkeys. Lots of mischievous (and brilliant) monkeys that steal your sunglasses to try and barter them back for bananas.
Monkeys at Padang Padang beach.
This was after they jumped off the rock, egging each other on one by one, like a bunch of little dare devils.
Surfers over Uluwatu cliff.
Scott under the cove at Suluban Beach.
Uluwatu ("ulu" meaning "lands end" and "watu" meaning "rock") is on the tip of Bukit Peninsula, trailed by 5 beautiful beaches: Balangan, the aptly named Dreamland, Bingin, Padang Padang and Suluban. The entire peninsula is sunny and mellow, everyone gets around via scooter and the main road (and it's many twisty turn offs) are sprinkled with fresh juice cafes, budget bungalow and villa homestays and epic views of the Indian Ocean. We first experienced the magic of Warung's (serve yourself Indonesian restaurants where you can get a massive plate of food for about $2 USD) here which have become a dinner staple.
Local banana shop. Bananas are delicious in their natural state, but especially so when they're caramelized and fried, as I've learned here.
Looking up at Single Fin.
Sunset at Bingin Beach.
Every morning in Uluwatu we'd wake up and I'd get bribed to roll out of bed with the promise of an iced (!) cappuccino and we'd cruise around on the scooter to look for the best surf spot. The rest of the day would be a mix of reading on the beach, surfing, yoga and stealing wifi to work in a local cafe. My favorite days ended with watching the sunset from either Suluban or Bingin beach with a fresh mango juice.
It truly does not get any better than Uluwatu.