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After far too long a break between trips it was time to get back on a plane and hit our next adventure: Bali! This was also a good excuse to get away and celebrate both a birthday and an engagement, and this seemed to be the perfect spot...

Arrived in Kuta after a good 27 hours of flying and within the hour we were at our first hotel and cracking a Bintang in the wee hours of the morning, happy to have arrived and too tired to sleep...haha...on a recommendation from K's brother we were to spend the next three nights at the absolutely idyllic Poppies Cottages on Poppies Gang 1, completely recommend it; twenty individual private cottages, all with fantastic outdoor bathrooms, beautiful grounds, a gorgeous pool and very friendly staff. After wandering around the craziness of the town this is a brilliant oasis to relax in and recharge the batteries...

Kuta is short on the cultural side but certainly makes up for it on the entertainment/beach/shopping/party side of things, as evidenced by all the drunken Australians wandering around. Lots of great restaurants and bars to hang out in, great beach with a good surf break for us beginners and the best place on the island to get all those last minute souvenirs. We didn't get up to too much here; just poked around the Gangs and Legian St., hit the beach a few times and hung out by the pool...all in an effort to get adjusted to the time difference and wonderful heat...and man is it hot!

Did manage a fun meal for K's birthday; made a reservation in the morning at Poppies Restaurant and booked a custom cake for the occasion...the restaurant has a beautiful outdoor section under a trellis of flowers, the food is excellent and they really made the evening special (fortunately the rain held off and we were able to sit outside). I brought down some candles for the cake and after some funny covert action between our host and myself the cake was brought out all sneakeroo style with some of the staff singing Happy Birthday, very fun!

Again didn't get up to too much, and we loved Poppies so much that we booked it for the end of our vacation as we had to come back to Kuta anyway to fly out and couldn't think of a better place finish it off!

(Some photos copyright of Karen C., denoted by (KC)...used with kind permission)

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