Milosh's adventures in Bali

We just returned from a two week vacation in Bali, Indonesia. We had an incredible holiday. Milosh had a great time in Bali also and the adventurous side of  his personality became more pronounced this time! These are some of the things he loved the most:

• Swimming: This time Milosh's swimming improved drastically. We had private swimming pools (10' by 15'') for the most part. The first day he could almost do the width, the second day length and then there was no stopping him. He kept swimming lap after lap; and would not stop. He came up with lots of cute games - we would swim from two opposite directions and give high 5 or have our goggles collide; or kiss etc. Races that he had to win. He became incredibly comfortable with water - and very independent also. Very soon we were comfortable leaving him by himself in the pool without life jackets (we would be close by and keep an eye but did not have to be in the water) We even took him for open water swims in the ocean this time; and he even tried snorkeling! He got to see the fishes and beautiful corals, which he fondly calls "diving thins". Even in open water he did not want to wear a life jacket; and did not want any grown ups supporting his direction etc.  Most importantly, he LOVED swimming and would jump in the pool every chance he got. Also, thanks to swimming, he would fall asleep at 7:30 pm sharp - standing or sitting. 

Goggles high 5

Swimming by the shore

V for victory

Swimming by himself - in an infinity pool

• Monkeys: Milosh loves monkeys. The last time he had spent so much time with monkeys was in Jaipur, and instead of the forts etc he had wanted to sit and watch the "beautiful monkeys". Bali has a lot of monkeys and we had told Milosh we had got him from a zoo and if he does badmashi we might leave him with the monkeys. He kind of bought it ;) But for real, he was too comfortable with monkeys. He handed banana to the monkey, posed with it.  

Monkey climbing on Milosh in Monkey Forest, Ubud

Milosh feeding banana to monkey, Kintamani

• Bali Safari and Marine Park: Milosh is the most amazing 4 yr old - he supported his parents for diving. While taking turns we went diving and he mostly patiently waited. By the time we came to the end of our diving; we wanted him to enjoy a kiddie place and took him to Bali Safari Park. He enjoyed the safari, watched an elephant show but he most loved their water park. 

• Bali Treetop Adventure: This is probably one of the things we almost decided not to do because we wanted to reach Ubud sooner and because they needed shoes, but would have been a serious miss if we had not done this. We had no idea he has such an appetite for adventure - was not scared of anything; and was too adept in these circuits. Our fellow people were commenting - he is ready for army. Based on his height he was eligible only for two circuits, which he did many many times. He loved zip lining a lot! He was negotiating hard to be able to do the next circuits! 

• Dolphin tour: We planned a 2 day stay in Lovina, mainly so we could show wild dolphins to Milosh. We got up and loaded the little boats at 6:00 am, I was wondering if we will get to spot some today. Soon enough we saw scores of dolphins. We would all point in some direction - and say - there! And we would all look that way. It was a little game, dolphins would appear for some time and then disappear with no clue where they will come next. The dolphins did come real close to our boat a few times and while we did not see a super high jump, we did see them jump and leap many times. We had our heart full of watching dolphins. After about an hour of watching dolphins, we were all kind of done; but Milosh spelled it for us; when we pointed - look there, he would say "I don't want to see any more dolphins" 
• Feeding fishes: There were many places with little koi ponds but this one place we went to two times and Milosh spent a long time there waiting with his dad while his mom had some spa time. He fed the fishes. He was very excited to feed them, took good care to make the pieces really small; and soon commented - the fishes are really hungry (they would not stop eating and kept asking for more). We even tried putting food on top of lotus leaves and the fishes would literally crawl over the leaf to get the food.

• Turtle farm (Feeding turtles, taking pictures with snake, bird, bat, you name it): While his dad and mama went diving, his mami and I took Milosh and Jaadu on a glass bottom boat to turtle farm. Milosh loved feeding the turtles - he could do it for ever; and also posed with a lot of scary animals. While I typically stay clear of such photo type touristy places, Milosh really surprised me by enjoying it. When the guide asked me, I said no to taking pictures with snake etc because it might be scary - but there were tears in his eyes and he really wanted to do it, by himself and was not scared at all. 

• Time with his baby brother: Milosh loves his baby brother (his first cousin 2 years old). Most of the times their interaction is over Skype where he shows little cars to his brother. This time his brother came from India to Bali. Even though his brother was a little sick, they connected well and played a lot. Milosh would diligently make cars etc to cheer up his brother. They of course had their share of little fights - both wanting the same thing at the same time etc. But Milosh loved being around his brother, wearing the same shirts like him, everything :) 

Milosh was not just a co-operative kid, but a super fun travel buddy. He had minor stomach issues, which he got over really fast. Thank you Milosh for being an awesome travel buddy! I look forward to many more fun travels with you!