Bali, November 2019

When we were first planning our trip we decided that it would be a good idea to stop off somewhere on the way home from New Zealand so that we could relax and chill out after such a busy and packed itinerary. We decided on Bali after having heard so much about it and we both agreed that it would be a perfect mix of somewhere both new and exotic to explore, whilst also being a good base to relax. We stayed in a beautiful villa outside of Ubud which honestly felt as if you were in the middle of a jungle. We barely saw anyone else whilst we were there and it really did feel as if you were in the middle of nowhere. We had a lovely massage at the hotel while we were there, and also saw wild monkeys almost every morning whilst we were eating breakfast overlooking the river and the jungle. We even saw the monkeys sometimes using the swimming pool to cool off! 

Now anyone that knows me well will know I'm not one for relaxing too much, so I obviously turned our three-day break into a manic 'we must see everything we can' much to Arrons dismay haha. First, we explored a few of the temples in Ubud center although it was honestly so hot it was tiring even just wandering around these. The carvings and statues really are fabulous to see in real life, but the mix of modern and traditional is very odd to see - The Water Palace even has a Starbucks just inside the temple grounds! There are also lots of glamourous looking people taking Instagram shots in every doorway humanly possible, which although could take away from the feel of the place, part of me thinks if they're enjoying it then what does it matter. Also not going to lie, I would love to know their secrets for looking so flawless in above 30-degree heat. If I knew, I'd have some great doorway photos to share with you haha!

I loved the Ubud art market and now am a proud owner of a few (too many) pieces of cool Balinese art... Which was honestly pretty hard to bring back in one piece in a huge backpack, but luckily they did make it back in one piece. We also booked and did a Batik class which is a traditional style of Balinese art using hot wax and ink, which was so much fun. I would recommend anyone to try it as it's a great way to support local people and to learn something about an interesting art form. We were also both really pleased with the results so it's a nice memento of the holiday too. 

We also managed to fit in a visit to the Rice Terraces which was interesting to see, although they are very touristy and have a lot of photo opportunities including swings across the Terraces themselves. We still both enjoyed our visits and felt it was important to see such an iconic view of Bali while we were there, and you can combine your visit with learning about the luwak coffee which is also interesting. We found the best way to travel around Bali was to use a taxi driver that you felt comfortable with - A lot of the taxi drivers have information about set day trips they can take you on, but the best thing is with doing this is that you can tailor the trip to whatever you want it to be rather than having to stick to a group tour guide. 

We both found that the food in Bali was really good and especially great for vegetarian food too which was good news for me! I didn't realise how much fine dining there was in Bali too, and we decided to treat ourselves to an amazing meal in a restaurant called Mozaic. It was expensive but much cheaper than the meal of that quality would have been like in England, and it was set in an amazing open-air tropical garden, only lit by candlelight on the table and fairy lights around the restaurant. It really was an amazing experience. We also attended a traditional Balinese dance in one of the temples in Ubud one evening which was a worthwhile experience, although wasn't quite what we expected. We wanted to see a traditional fire dance, called the Kecak dance, however, when we got there it was a Barong dance instead although the atmosphere was still really good and it was nice to be involved in something cultural.

One of the activities we booked before arriving in Bali was the Sea Walker activity in Seminyak, in which you walk along the bottom of the ocean in a helmet meaning you can just breathe as normal. It's a great experience for people who aren't strong swimmers or don't feel comfortable snorkeling/diving. Even if you are comfortable doing those things, it was still a really fun and different experience which I'm glad we did!

On our last night before our flight back to England, we decided we hadn't seen quite enough of Bali's beaches, so we spent the evening watching the sunset on Kuta beach. The beach is right by the airport and you can actually see planes landing on the runway in the distance so it makes it the perfect place to spend a bit of time before you need to check-in for your flight. A lot of the Balinese people we met whilst we were there had said to us that Kuta was known for the drinking culture and that it could get quite rowdy at night, so we weren't sure what to expect, but we didn't experience any problems while we were there, although we weren't there for too long! A lot of the bars are set quite far back from the beach however there are plenty of vendors on the beach itself who have a big stock of beers that they will sell you, and have some plastic chairs dotted along so you can sit and chill out on the sand which is great.