This summer is #RayRaysBalistralianvacay and is taking us to Bali (Ubud and Nusa Dua) and Australia (Melbourne, Port Douglas, and Sydney). It was a trip over two years postponed due to COVID, but finally came to fruition. I am currently here with my friend J, the same one who I have now gone to Croatia, Greece, Turkey, Italy, (unplanned Germany), Sweden, Denmark Budapest, and Italy with. We started talking about and planning for this trip in December of 2019,
booked and put down our (huge) deposit for it in January of 2020, and then we all know what happened in March of 2020, that is still ongoing, albeit, luckily not as bad.
The pandemic put all travel to a halt and although J and I were highly disappointed with having to wait two whole summers while the world started opening up again, we were finally able to make this happen. With our vaccinations done and borders open, it was go time. So without further ado, let’s start this trip…
Travel Days: We left for this trip on a Wednesday night and wouldn’t actually arrive into Bali until Friday night, and of course, it couldn’t possibly start with any airport drama that included having to repack my suitcase twice <heavy eye roll> and trying to get our vaccinations approved on a horrible app. When we arrived at the airport, lines weren’t long and we got right up to the counter. Immediately the woman asked about our baggage and apparently my personal item (which I have taken on EVERY SINGLE PLANE RIDE EVER) was too big. Fine, I took stuff out of there and placed it in a small backpack and then had to pack that bag in my luggage. Annoying? Yes. But doable. Then they asked for our QR code from the Indonesian app. We didn’t have that and the lady told us to step out of line and download the app and fill it out and wait for our QR code. We hurriedly did that on this horribly designed app, but couldn’t get the QR code on there as it then had to be processed. We asked the lady how long this could take and she said, “oh I don’t know, sometimes an hour and sometimes days.” Cool cool cool. We started to panic that we wouldn’t get this code and would miss our flight. Some other girl in line had the same issue and said a friend of hers gave her this website that you could enter all this info and get a QR code from the government. So we got out of line again and used this website that thankfully gave us a QR code which we then brought up to the desk and showed the lady. She told us this wasn’t from the app so it wasn’t allowed. We argued with her about how it’s giving the same information and she got a colleague to say that our QR code was fine and she didn’t even scan it. That’s right, she asked for this code, then didn’t even use it to check us in. Someone tell me why we had to do this and couldn’t show any random code then? Someone explain this very unnecessary stress that had me with tears welling up in my eyes? She couldn’t and I am still baffled. But anyway, we then finally checked in and it was time to weigh my bag, which is always a nerve wracking experience. My bag was 5kg overweight so she asked me to get out of line to take out some stuff so that I could check a second bag for free. I calmly informed her I would NOT get out of line for a third time and would quickly remove stuff right there. Hey, at least I had my personal item bag that I could put kg worth of stuff in and check. So. Much. Drama. After all of that was finally taken care of, it was off to security which was thankfully a breeze and then to our gate. To my disappointment, there was no McDonald’s in our terminal, so I had to make due. Despite profusely sweating, we made it to the gate for a seamless boarding process and to my pleasant surprise, the seat next to me was empty which is always like winning the airplane lottery. I now had a 13.5 hour flight ahead of me to Doha, Qatar.
The flight actually went by decently quickly (or as quickly as a flight that long can go), and soon enough we were Qatar for our eight (!!) hour layover. Luckily, I had done some research for J and I on how we could spend this time. I found out that this airport, which is gorgeous btw, has a gym and spa, that for $50 you can use for up to eight hours. It also has a really sick pool and showers to use. After sitting for so long, J and I were soooo happy to be able to move our bodies and use the gym. We were there for over 90 minutes, and then made our way to the pool where we spent about another 90 minutes and then took advantage of the nice showers and free wifi. Our time here was money well spent and just a cool airport experience in general. After this we grabbed some Burger King and headed to our gate. The eight hours flew by and we basically crushed this layover. Now it was on to one more flight.
Our flight from Doha to Bali was another 9.5 hours and J and I timed our sleep out so we could avoid jet lag when we reached Bali. We slept as much as we could on the first flight (a lot for her and more than usual for me), stayed up the whole layover, then would sleep more on this flight, This plane wasn’t as nice, but overall, still a very long flight that went by decently quick for what it was. And finally, we landed in Bali.
Getting our Visa on site and going through the health screener and Customs was pretty quick, our luggage came out together, and we found our guide and driver. All in all, a pretty seamless process there even though we had been warned it could take quite some time. We totally lucked out and were on our way to our hotel. It was dark out and we ventured around the grounds a bit to get a feel for it, and then laid around and went to bed. The way we had timed our sleeping on the flight, we were ready for bed and ready to tackle our first day in Ubud. Also fun fact: Similar to London, the steering wheels in cars in Indonesia are on the right and they drive on the left side of the street. The more you know.
Day 1 Ubud: J and I had the day to ourselves without any pre-planned activities, but we wanted to start our day early so we could take some pictures (i.e do a photoshoot) around the resort without any people around. The pool here is an infinity pool with the jungle in the background so we wanted to snap some pics and we were glad we did because the sunrise ended up pretty and the pictures came out sick. We then grabbed breakfast and laid by the pool a bit before going a quick guided walk around local rice terraces. Then we took the hotel shuttle into the center of town. We wanted to walk around Ubud a bit and a couple things on our list to see and do. Everything was apparently close to each other and walkable so we made a plan and got started. First things first was the Campuhan Ridge Walk. That was the furthest away so we wanted to do that first and then make our way back to where our shuttle would pick us up, all while hitting the rest of the things on our list. The signage in Ubud is pretty non-existent so we had a hard time figuring out where to go. The people here are so friendly and we had no problem asking for some help finding the entrance to this hike. We found it and had to hike down some stairs, go across a bamboo bridge and around some rocks and then finally made our way on the trail. It was super hot and hilly, but J and I have now hiked and walked in brutal temps in Croatia and Italy so we were no strangers to this and kept it moving. The views were incredible and there was a cafe at the top where we treated ourselves to some fresh coconut water, in a coconut. It was super refreshing and tasted delicious and only cost us like $1.50. Everything here is so cheap and we are constantly surprised how that can even be. There was so much coconut water that we couldn’t even finish it, but it was perfect hydration to have before heading back down the trail.
Sweaty but accomplished, we headed in the direction we started in to hit up some temples on our list. Again, we had trouble finding some of the places we wanted because nothing was labeled and walked past them a couple of times without noticing or without seeing the entrance. We hit up the Pura Lukisan Museum, Saraswati Temple, Puri Saren Palace, and Ubud market. The museum had some cool paintings in it (like a very colorful mandala), the palace and temples had some beautiful entrances, and we bought some souvenirs at the market. We had seen enough and were hot and hungry so decided we would grab the hotel shuttle back to the hotel to order lunch at the pool and lounge around a bit before our massage.
We didn’t know a massage was part of our package when we arrived, but when we found out, we knew we had to book it and take advantage. The massage was great and it actually started pouring during it which added to the ambiance of it all. As usual during massages, when I am on my stomach my entire head gets so stuffy. I thought this only a me-thing, but it was happening to J too and when her masseuse asked her if she wanted tissue, we both commented how this happened and it turned into an absolute giggle fest. The little Balinese massage therapist (who was surprisingly very strong) who was ON TOP OF MY BACK also started hysterically laughing and then J’s did as well and the four of us were just laughing so hard for a solid five minutes. Once we all composed ourselves, we finished up the massage, showered and grabbed dinner in the hotel restaurant and then got ready for bed. It was pouring rain out so there was really nothing more to do and we knew we had a big day ahead of us for our second day.
Day 2 Ubud: We were getting picked up by our guide and driver to go white water rafting in the Ayung River in the morning, which was something unique to do here. At the site, we were paired up with a family of three from France. The five of us and our guide rode the rapids for about two and a half hours. The rapids weren’t too bad and nobody fell in, but the sites were incredible. Neither J and I brought our phones with us because we didn’t want to risk ruining them or losing them, even with a water case. Plus this allowed us to really enjoy the ride (while getting in some arm and core work on the boat) even being more truly in the moment. Plus the family paired up with us had their phones with them so we figured we’d ask them for some pictures afterwards. I had white water rafted years ago and don’t have many memories of that, but now I can say that I did it in freaking Bali. Was pretty freaking cool.
Following the ride, it was time to wash another elephant. While we waited for our turn, we saw some other elephants walk by and one of them had the biggest boner I have ever seen (bigger than the one of the horse at Medieval Times when I was a kid and totally confused and shocked at what I was seeing then…now I know waaaay better. Hehehe). J and I were pointing and laughing (and of course videoing) this giant 5th leg and it really was just icing on our immature cake.
When it was time to wash our elephant, we each got hoses and a brush to spray and clean our giant elephant. This part was so awesome because we got to be so close to our elephant and touch her as much as we wanted, which as a very curious person, was pretty darn cool. I could’ve studied her forever. The employees also took so many wonderful videos and pictures of us with the elephant. Finally it was time to bathe with the elephants. J and I didn’t want to get fully wet (as we had seen a couple in front of us do) especially in the water there (there were some chunks of elephant poop floating around), so our guide explained to their employees that we wanted to go in the water with the elephants, but just not get wet above our knees. Their employees were so accommodating to us and took us in and around the water and then did some tricks with the elephants allowing us to get some more incredible photos and have this memorable experience. I definitely didn’t want this entire experience to end as it is something I will never forget. These giant, gentle elephants were so amazing to be around.
J and I could not stop smiling all day long and made memories that are going to be hard to beat. We smiled all the way back to our hotel and forgot we had asked to get a flower bath. In Bali, this is a popular thing for tourists to do (and take pictures doing). The hotel had prepared it for us and we had to decide how we would tackle taking our pictures in the tub. We wanted them to be post-worthy on social media so they couldn’t be too risque, so this was tricky. We took turns going in the tub in our bathing suit bottoms and strategically placing the camera angle and the flower petals. The amount of hysterical laughing we had doing this and looking at the outtakes was insane. So much so, we had tears running down our faces. What may have looked like an elbow in a pic from a distance, was definitely NOT when zooming in and there were a lot of retakes. The whole thing was hilarious and we are hoping we got some good ones for each other.
Since it was a really busy day, we decided we would just order room service and watch TV for the rest of the night, plus it had been pretty buggy out and we didn’t feel like getting bitten up much. It was a quality decision for us to just relax around the room and rest up for our last day in Ubud.
Day 3 Ubud: Today was our final day in Ubud before heading to Nusa Dua. It was pouring when we woke up. We packed up and ate breakfast and then hit the road for our cleansing ritual at Tampak Siring. It is another temple that has holy spring water that is supposed to both cleanse, heal, and purify you. There is a whole process to doing this that we really wanted to follow and take seriously. Luckily there was no line when we got there which apparently doesn’t happen very often. When entering the outside of the temple, you had to put a sarong over your clothes. Then once inside, you had to change into your bathing suit and put a different sarong over your bathing suit because you were going to enter the spring water. There were about 12 of the “fountains” that released the spring water and there was a specific process you had to go through each time. Once you entered the water, you went up to the second fountain and had to wash your hands in the water, then wash your face three times, then wash your mouth out three times, then say your prayer (whatever you wish for or want) and then rinse your head with the spring water. You then repeated this throughout each different fountain. I found this to be very spiritual and caught myself crying by the third fountain. Like perhaps this would have some heart healing power for me and actually guide me to the things I desire in life. It was a very touching ritual that I really found to be powerful for me. I am often a sucker for some spiritual stuff (more so than religious) and I definitely enjoyed this deeply personal cultural balinese ritual.
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After the ritual, we changed back into our clothes (without a towel…ew, but to to keep as much holy water on us as possible) and walked around the temple a bit more to see the grounds. Temples here are nothing like the ones at home. They are essentially outside areas with different praying areas, but as I said earlier, all with different gorgeous entrances. Our guide had asked if we wanted to go and see more temples and between this one and the ones we saw yesterday, we figured we had seen enough (they all start to look the same) so decided we would instead go and see a standard Balinese family compound to understand more of the culture and how the people of Bali live. This family invited us into their own compound and showed us their garden, how they cultivate rice and coffee and then offered us a variety of coffees and teas to sample and purchase. Apparently, many Balinese people open their homes to people and also, obviously, try to sell their product to which J and I both were hook, line, and sink her as we did purchase items. They also had one of the famous Bali swings on the property. Cause, of course, if you have seen these swings on Instagram, you know that they are VERY high and usually swing over amazing landscapes. This one just happened to be over the jungle of Ubud which for us was perfect. J had wanted to get on one of these swings, and because I am not a big heights person, I could give or take. But when in Rome (or Bali), you’ve got to do it. YOLO. AmIRight?!? Since it was her idea, she went first and took one for the team and it honestly didn’t look bad so I obviously had to go. By the time I got on the swing, it was pouring again, which I guess added to this experience. I felt very safe on the swing and it definitely wasn’t as bad as I thought it was going to be. It wasn’t scary at all since we were harnessed in so well. Even though I was pretty wet after, it was definitely worth it. Check.
the stone out front and people used to go in the cave and pray all day. It was still pouring so we saw what we needed to see and headed to grab lunch. It rained all through lunch which passed the time for us before getting to our last stop of the day, the Ubud Monkey Forest. This was something I was actually really looking forward to because I love (LOVE) watching the monkeys and gorillas at the zoo. Being some of our closest relatives, I am always so fascinated watching all their mannerisms. It is a life dream of mine to be in the wild and see gorillas (I will spare no expense), but that’s for another trip. As it turns out, the monkeys here are not nearly as friendly or gentle as the elephants we saw the day prior so this experience went a little different than we had imagined in our minds. Our guide informed us of all the rules of the monkey forest and that included no food or drink (the monkeys will try to steal it), no making eye contact with the monkeys, no touching or getting too close, and no sharp movements. We had heard that the monkeys were really aggressive and we didn’t want any trouble with them (i.e., get bit) at all so we were very stressed entering this Monkey Forest. The rain had finally stopped by the time we got there and although we were very freaked out to go in, we decided to go for it. The entire time we were there, we avoided eye contact with the monkeys, didn’t get too close, and really were just pretty uncomfortable with the unpredictability of all of this. We didn’t quite understand why this was such a giant tourist attraction with all these rules, but some people seemed to be enjoying themselves. Every time a monkey would be near, we’d immediately look away so dramatically. Funny enough, on our way out, our guide, who had told us all of these rules, ended up getting her hand sanitizer stolen right off her purse. A monkey saw it hanging, and lunged at her grabbing it. He then clicked off the top and started drinking it before one of the employees gave him some food in order to get it out of his mouth. We could not stop laughing at this. Of course if it happened to us, we would have totally freaked out, but she was a good sport and laughed along with us. We were happy to be getting out of there and took a sigh of relief when finally back in the car. We had maybe been in there fifteen minutes tops and had had enough. I was able to get a very distant monkey selfie and that would have to do. No touching or holding one, but that’s okay.
After the Monkey Forest, it was now time to head to our second location in Bali, south to the beach town of Nusa Dua where we will spend the remainder of our Bali portion of this trip. The weather is supposed to be consistently nicer and we will hopefully be able to dip our toes into the Indian Ocean. I had looked online at the hotel we would be staying at while here, but nothing prepared me for what our room would like. In my next post, I will detail the incredibleness of this room (most definitely the nicest place I have ever stayed and probably ever will), and get into the rest of our Bali trip. Catcha after the beach!!
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