Hi everyone back at home! Sorry for the delay in posting.. We have been super busy having a crazy time! Also, my phone has been playing up and we haven’t had very good wifi, hence a week into our Australia travels, I am only now posting about our adventures in Bali!
Here are our Bali updates, we really are having the most incredible time! 🙂
Friday 15th April 2016 – Kuta – what was supposedly going to be a relaxing day on the beach turned into a very intense day of surfing for the first time!!! We both opted for a lesson & by the end of it were able to catch a few waves! It was great fun but after a full afternoon, we were sure enough ready to crash! For dinner we went to a Mexican restaurant & treated ourselves to a delicious ‘Tex Mex burger’, which had grilled chicken, avocado, nachos, lettuce, sour cream, guacamole & came with side of fries!! It was so so tasty & such an improvement from Vietnamese food!!! (Sorry)
Saturday 16th April 2016 – Kuta – I think it’s fair to say that we both slept like a log & it’s a good job we did, as we had yet another full day of surfing! It was such fun! The waves at Kuta Beach were huge & I got wiped out a few times!! It was a fantastic day though & what was even better was that we were able to watch the sunset…
Sunday 17th April 2016 – Ubud – we had breakfast at the hotel.. I had a delicious banana, chocolate & cheese Jaffle (it was heaven!) & Harry had noodles! It’s so random I know!! Anyhow, we then packed up our bags and got a shuttle to Ubud, which was about an hour and a half drive from Kuta. When we arrived we quickly checked into our homestay before heading to ‘The Sacred Monkey Forest Sanctuary’. It was brilliant, although a little scary!! The monkeys were everywhere & were certainly not afraid to jump on you either!! One of the monkeys jumped on a little girl & made her cry.. bless her she was so frightened! Whilst we were there we happened to bump into a couple who we saw in Koh Lipe (Thailand).. It just goes to show what a small world the backpacking community is in South East Asia!!
After, we called by at a little restaurant on the high street & had a few drinks. Harry was over the moon to discover a large Bintang for 28,000 IDR!!!! Bargain! We also had some more yummy food, this time a healthy grilled chicken breast with salad and a few cheeky fries. On the way back I saw a little girl sitting on the street who appeared to be homeless… I noticed that she didn’t have any water so brought her a cold bottle, which she seemed very grateful for.
Monday 18th April 2016 – Ubud – after a delicious breakfast of banana pancakes & fruit salad brought to our room, we were collected for the “Kintamani – Volcano tour”. Our first stop was the ‘Elephant Cave Temple’. There we were shown a Buddha Statue, which had a scarf covering the head & were told a sad story about it… There were once two Buddha statues until 20 years ago when someone had stolen one and smashed the other. After listening to the story, we were blessed with holy water. Other sights that we visited included ‘The Rocky Temple’ and the ‘Holy Spring Temple’ – considered as one of the most sacred temples in Bali. The healing waters at the temple are believed to be the most holy water source, hence many bathe in the springs and collect the holy water in bottles to take home.
As well as visiting a few temples, we also visited a rice terrace and a Coffee Plantation called “Coffee Garden & Spice”. We were given a tour of the coffee plantations together with the areas that they grow local products, such as ginger, cocoa beans, vanilla, paprika & tobacco. Like in Vietnam, the Indonesians also produce Animal Coffee, called “Kopi Luwak”. It is the most expensive coffee in the world & is made from Luwak (Civet excrete). The animals choose only the best coffee beans to eat, making the final coffee product of a high quality. After the tour we were able to try several different teas and coffees – of course this was one of my favourite parts of the day!!! I rated each tea & coffee based on my preference & found that Bali Spice Tea, Padanus Tea, Coconut coffee (surprise surprise) & Vanilla Coffee were my favourites. We also tried their local dark chocolate, which was much better than we thought it would be! Although it was very rich it wasn’t at all bitter & that is because they use coconut sugar rather than white sugar. Fun fact – the locally produced chocolate doesn’t melt, as they use coconut milk and soya rather than dairy milk. I am not so sure how these ingredients make a different, but apparently they do!
For lunch we eat at a buffet restaurant, overlooking Mount Batur (according to Hindu belief the volcano is one of Bali’s sacred mountains). The panoramic views were beautiful & the food was so fresh! We both could not stop refilling our plates!
Tuesday 19th April 2016 – Seminyak – after breakfast we quickly went to catch a glimpse of the Ubud Palace before catching a bus back to Kuta. When we arrived in Kuta we were both feeling rather peckish, so we stopped at a KFC equivalent for a quick bite to eat! Harry had a crispy steak chicken with salad & fries, which was much better than the apparently “Chicken Catsu” that I ordered….. I am not sure they are quite competing with ole Wagamama just yet!! Anyhow…. We then got a taxi to Seminyak and headed straight to the beach! It wasn’t quite Thailand quality but it was nice to just chill for a bit & catch a few rays of sunshine.
In the evening we hunted high and low for a reasonably priced restaurant….. Who would have thought that Seminyak would be so expensive!!?! Come to think of it I suppose given that there were many expensive resorts, the restaurants are obviously able to make their money’s worth! In the end we did manage to find one & the food was spot on! We ordered ‘Fried Beef Kwetlau’ & ‘Cendana Chicken’ – both so tasty! The bill came to 75,000 IDR… £3.50 for two mains!? So was very cheap after all!! On the way back to the hotel we stopped at the mini mart & brought some brownie bites & cookies, delicious! I signed into Harry’s Netflix & watched the film “Eat, Pray, Love” starring Julia Roberts – it’s a must watch!!! The film is set mainly in Bali & covers Ubud (where we had just visited) & the Uluwatu area (where we were going next). It was a beautiful film & I recommend it to all you ladies out there!!
Wednesday 20th April 2016 – Seminyak – We spent the morning relaxing on the beach and then after lunch we went & chilled by the pool at our hotel. The thing with Seminyak beach was that the sand was so fine that it covered every part of your body and it was a pain to get off! No one likes sand in their bikini bottoms!!
Thursday 21st April 2016 – Uluwatu, Padang Pandang – we checked out of our hotel and got a taxi to Padang Padang, Uluwatu. It took around 40 minutes to get there, which wasn’t too bad! Although, the taxi man couldn’t find our homestay, so in the end we had to use google maps… Us thinking that we had found our accommodation got out of the taxi, only to realise we had mapped the wrong place & were 2.5km away from our destination!! 2.5km might not seem that far, but trust me…. In 33 degrees of heat, up hill & with heavy rucksacks on our bags, it was far enough for sure!!!
When we eventually got to the hotel we were both feeling rather hungry, so had a Nasi Goreng & Mi Goreng (Indonesian fried rice with chicken & Indonesian fried noodles with chicken and vegetables). After lunch we went to Padang Padang beach, which was a 2 minute walk from where we were staying! The beach was lovely & to get there you had to walk down some steps that went through a cave… Very cool!
In the evening, we eat at another Mexican Restaurant (I think I have a new favourite to Indian curry!) & enjoyed nachos for starters and then tacos for our main course. It was amazing!
Friday 22nd March 2016 – Suluban – we had breakfast at the hotel; I noticed they had porridge with banana and honey on the menu, just what I fancied!!! It was “real” porridge too, not just one of those microwave jobbies!! Harry went for the Indonesian style breakfast & enjoyed fried rice & chicken (Nasi Goreng!)
We then packed up our bags & got a taxi ride to our next destination – Suluban, just 5km away from Padang Padang & still in the Uluwatu area. We checked into the most stunning hotel yet… Sandat Mas Cottages had the most beautiful gardens with brightly coloured pink flowers and a water fountain running into the infinity swimming pool. For what we paid, it was unbelievable! We had our own little cottage styled room with a massive king sized bed, impeccably clean bathroom & air-conditioning!! (It’s a winner when you book a standard fan room & get an upgrade with air-conditioning!!!)
Whilst relaxing around the pool, we met a lovely couple from Argentina, their names – Alex & Sofia! We all got chatting & then decided to rent motorbikes, so that we could visit the ‘Uluwatu Water Temple’. The Temple was an amazing sight; it certainly stood out from the many temples that we have visited on our travels!!! However, there was one slight thing that was not so amazing……. The killer monkeys!!!! They may of looked extremely fluffy and cute, but honestly they were the most evil, viscous creatures I have ever see! On many occasions we witnessed monkeys climbing onto people and stealing glasses and even phones!!! It was crazy!! One lady had her top of the range iPhone taken by a monkey who despite all of the food bribery from the ranger, ran off into the jungle with it! Oh & also, not long after we arrived Harry & I were taking a photograph of Alex & Sofi when all of a sudden a monkey launched itself on to Sofi and stole one of her Havana flip flops! It was a great action photo!!! Luckily, Alex was able to throw some food at it, which made it run off so that we could then grab the flip flop back! (Scary times!!) Sofi & I were petrified & so spent most of the time grabbing hold of our protective partners!!! Albeit I didn’t feel so safe when Harry decided that he was going to mess with the monkey to get a poor woman’s’ spectacles back! The monkey kept showing his teeth at Harry & I was convinced at one point that he was going to bite him! It was awful watching the monkey eating away at the poor woman’s glasses frames.
Aside from the monkeys, we had a lovely afternoon & the views were stunning. We even got to catch the sunset!
Saturday 23rd April 2016 – Suluban – we had one of the best breakfasts yet… We had a fruit smoothie (banana & pineapple) & a banana pancake each, as well as a fruit salad! Was soooo yummy!
We set off on our motorbike and went to a beautiful hidden beach called “Nyang Nyang”… Getting there was hilarious though, as the locals kept giving us different directions! (I’m not sure they understood us!) We thought we were on the right track up until the point when we arrived at some rich Indonesian man’s house & were soon told that we were in the wrong place! The track to the beach had very rough terrain, so I jumped off the bike and had to follow behind! We eventually arrived at the cliff overlooking the beach & then had to climb what felt like a million steps to get there! When we got there we pretty much had the beach to ourselves; there was just one lady sunbathing… it was perfect! The water was very clear… The only thing was that the current was violently strong & the waves were huge, which meant that it wasn’t safe enough to swim, but we were still able to dip our toes in!
After a few hours of relaxing in the sun, we decided to head back to get a bite to eat. The walk up to the top of the cliff was the absolute worst!!! Not only was the sun shinning directly on us, we had ran out of water and as a result were extremely dehydrated. Thankfully when we made it to the top there were some ladies selling cold water! Horray!
Getting back to Suluban was rather amusing though, as the bike wouldn’t start and then when it did eventually start, it conked out!!!! We were convinced that we had ran out of fuel but we did manage to make it back to the hotel! Phew! When we got back, we had a few hours chilling by the pool & then in the evening we had dinner at an Indonesian restaurant overlooking Uluwatu beach!
Sunday 24th April 2016 – Suluban – we decided to book another night at the hotel so that the four of us (Alex, Sofi, Harry & I) could all go to Nusa Dua together! We spent most of the day relaxing by the hotel pool, before having a game of pool and then a bite to eat for lunch! We eat at a restaurant down the road from our hotel.. We each had a delicious “Happy Club Sandwich”, which had chicken, cheese, bacon, lettuce, tomato and egg & came with a portion of fries. It really hit the spot & was a nice change from Indonesian food! Besides, there is only so much fried rice you can consume in one week!!!
After lunch, we brought a delicious Magnum ice cream (my favourite!!) & then went and had a few drinks at the beach! Uluwatu beach is very lovely… Like at Padang Padang beach, you have to walk down some steps that go through a small cave to get to the beach! The beach is a little different though, as where there were waves it was full of people surfing!! But instead we were able to relax in the rock pools, which was great! We also got to watch the sunset…. It was beautiful!
In the evening, we went out for dinner with Alex & Sofi… We both went for a sizzling chicken breast with tomato based spaghetti, salad and fries!
Monday 25th April 2016 – Nusa Dua – in the morning we packed our bags, checked out of our hotel & then all shared a taxi to Nusa Dua. It was nice not having the stress of finding a hotel, as we had all been super organised & booked it in advance! When we arrived the hotel staff were incredibly friendly & hospitable. They even offered us a free transfer to Geger Beach even though we had missed the 11am shuttle bus! We all had a great day & enjoyed sunbathing on the beach. For lunch we found a very inexpensive restaurant just off the beach, which sold Nasi Goreng for 15,000!!! (77p!!!) We also had a Magnum…. But this time we tried the Magnum Gold (we took a gamble, desperately hoping that it wasn’t dark chocolate) – oh it’s the best thing ever!! Caramel chocolate with a caramel ice cream swirl! Coooor, makes my mouth water just thinking about it! (I love food so much, haha).
After lunch we had a game of cards… Alex & Sofi introduced us to a Spanish card game called “La Golpeada” (‘Knock’ in English)… We then got the shuttle bus back to the hotel & met a lovely Indian couple who were on holiday. The 6 of us chatted around the hotel pool; it was lovely.
In the evening, we all went to a Warung Restaurant for a bite to eat and we met Alex & Sofi’s Italian friends there too!
Tuesday 26th April 2016 – Nusa Dua – after breakfast we all had a game of cards before catching the 11am shuttle to Nusa Dua Beach! There is a beach 2 minutes from our hotel but it is mainly for water sports rather than relaxing! When we arrived, we rented surf boards. The boys had one each & Sofi and I shared, as we wanted to sunbathe! Unfortunately, the waves were not as good as they were back in Kuta!! They were very small & didn’t have enough force! The boys were determined to surf, so us ladies left them to it & caught a few rays of sunshine instead!
In the evening, the four of us went out to a lovely candlelit restaurant…. Us budget backpackers thought we would treat ourselves once in a while!!! It was a little more expensive, but the food was top! Harry enjoyed a large Bintang & I had a rather refreshing crushed strawberry & lime cocktail! It was the best!! When we got back to the hotel we had a couple of beers, brought some yummy Oreo ice cream & played cards!
Wednesday 27th April 2016 – Gili Trawangan – we had a disgustingly early 5am wake up call! Luckily we had packed the majority of our bags the night before, otherwise we would have had to of got up even earlier!! We had breakfast & then what should have been a 6am pickup turned into a 7am pickup for Padang Bai harbour! When we arrived we went to a cafe, whilst we waited to catch the fast boat to Gili Trawangan. We shared a rather vibrantly coloured mixed fruit shake, which had dragon fruit, pineapple, papaya, melon and banana! It was very pink, so I had to take a photo!!
The boat to Gili T took a lot longer than we had expected! We were told that we would go direct to Gili T but instead we had to stop at Lombok & Gili Air on the way. It wasn’t too bad though, as we were able to sit on the deck and enjoy the beautiful scenery!
When we arrived we checked into our not so nice budget hotel….. The photos definitely zoomed in on the few good bits & it looked nothing like what was advertised! Oh well, who cares when you have just arrived on a beautiful paradise island?!? Aside from our hotel, we were both pleasantly surprised to learn that there are no motorised vehicles allowed on the Gili Islands…. Instead, only bicycles & horse carriages! We were also shocked at how undeveloped the island was, considering its population of both locals and tourists! However, it is certainly very idyllic!
We both felt rather hungry.. So had a ‘Spicy Chicken Baguette’ each with fries! It was incredibly spicy but delicious at the same time! After, we went for a walk around the island… Gili T is a lot bigger than we had both expected, so you can see why the majority of people hire bikes!! We weren’t sure on what our plans were so decided to just explore the island on foot! We managed to find a quiet part of the beach, so chilled for a few hours, before heading back to get showered!
For dinner we eat at a restaurant in the centre… I had the most amazing Chicken Nachos with mozzarella cheese, white sauce, salsa, tomatoes and avocado! Harry went for a Chicken Caesar baguette, which too looked yummy!
Thursday 28th April 2016 – Gili Trawangan – we soon packed our bags and escaped our yucky hotel! We managed to find another hotel for the same price, which was a million times nicer! We had our own little hut & it was very clean unlike previous!! Admittedly, the bathroom was outside but it was actually very nice…. The shower was lovely too!
For lunch we eat at a restaurant on the beach… It was very nice, as we were able to use the sun loungers for the whole day too! After, we went snorkelling and were extremely lucky to spot a huge turtle!! He was SOOOO cute! There were lots of colourful fish too & the coral in the ocean was beautiful.
In the evening we enjoyed a few beers & cocktails at one of the beach bars! We watched the sun go down & then had dinner! The food was very good… It was very reasonable & we got a free starter of salads, potatoes and baguette with balsamic vinegar. We both went for chicken enchiladas, which were top! I think we have both discovered a new love for Mexican food, especially since it is very popular in Bali!! When it came to the bill we were lucky as they had missed our beer & cocktail off from earlier! I felt a bit bad.. But after all they did miss it off & slightly overcharged us on our main meals!!!
Friday 29th April 2016 – Gili Meno – we took the 9.30am slow boat from Gili Trawangan to Gili Meno… It took just under 20 minutes to get there & luckily our accommodation was only a 2 minute walk from the harbour. Our bungalow was adorable, it looked like a little hobbit house, it was so cute!
For lunch we had spaghetti carbonara on the beach, sitting in a little bamboo hut & watching the waves hit the shore. After, we found another bamboo hut, but this one had bean bags, so was very comfy! We had a few hours relaxing before heading back to our bungalow to get showered.
We also had dinner on the beach & ordered a selection of different foods to try, which included – ‘Fried Bihun Chicken’ (similar to a chicken and vegetable stir fry but with a selection of vermicelli noodles), ‘Chicken Satay with Peanut Sauce’ & an ‘Indian Masaladosa’ (similar to a spring roll but with potato inside & it comes served with a spicy curry with cashew nuts – the curry tastes similar to a Thai Panang Curry). The food was amazing & we were so glad to try these delicious treats! After, we treated ourselves to a Magnum Gold and eat it on our balcony.
Saturday 30th April 2016 – Gili Meno – we had the most amazing breakfast at Cha Cha Bungalow – I ordered a yummy banana pancake & Harry went for fried eggs on toast. We also had a fruit salad too, which was super nice! Oh & I must not forget how grateful we were to have the option of a Nescafé coffee……. Sooooooo much nicer than the Bali coffee!!!!
After breakfast we went to the West of the island where the snorkelling is supposedly the best. We had a fresh orange juice at one of the beach bars and relaxed in the sun, catching some sun rays. In the afternoon we went snorkelling and the coral was unbelievable!!! Such bright colours and so beautiful. There were also many colourful fish!
In the evening we had a few drinks & watched the beautiful sunset from the beach, before heading back to get showered and have dinner. We eat at Jali Cafe again & ordered yet another Lombok feast. We had – “Fried Bihun Chicken”, “Indian Masaladosa” and “Olah Olah & Chicken”, which is a dish with vegetables and grilled chicken served in a spicy coconut and chilli soup. The food really hit the spot & was an amazing 93,000 IDR, which is only £4.80!!! Can you believe it!!?! You couldn’t even buy the ingredients alone for that price!
Sunday 1st May 2016 – Gili Meno – we spent the day at the beach on the East side of the island. The beach was absolutely beautiful; the sand so white & the water so clear. It was actually rather similar to the Southern Thai Islands, which meant that it was a close call as to which country has been our favourite. Thailand all the way, although Gili Meno is very very close!!
We sat on bean bags in one of the bamboo huts on the beach and enjoyed an early morning Coconut Milkshake (my favourite!!!). I was delighted to find somewhere that had coconut, as it would appear that most of the bars and restaurants on the island have run out & are waiting for the coconut’s to mature.
For lunch we each had a delicious Spaghetti Carbonara and shared a Chicken Hawaiian Salad (served in a pineapple 😉 ). Although we were both very full, we still had room for a Magnum!! We headed over to the other side of the island to watch the sunset again! It was so beautiful last night that we had to see it again!! Whilst watching the sunset we saw two turtles stick their heads out of the water, we were so excited but sadly by the time we had got our snorkels on & grabbed the Go Pro they had disappeared! 😦
Monday 2nd May 2016 – Gili Meno -after another absolutely 10/10 delicious breakfast, we checked out of our bungalow & headed for my 9am appointment at “Jumping Stone Tattoo Art Studio by Sonteng”…… Yes, it could only have meant one thing….. TATTOO TIME!!!!! (& a brave Jess of course!!!) there is a bit of a long story to it, as when we arrived Sonteng wanted a photocopy of the design to scale, however I only had an image saved on my phone!! In the end I had to tear a carrier bag in half, then trace over the design saved on my phone and then print it on to my skin… Sounds all and well & would have been if the design had printed!!! It was only a faint outline, which meant that I then had to go over it and then make sure that it was in scale & it was oh too stressful! Who would have thought that a tiny cute elephant would be such a chore to draw!!! So yeah, I drew my tattoo with a little help from the faint print!!! The annoying thing was that by the time I had the design to perfection, Sonteng had another customer arriving, so was unable to do the Bamboo Tattoo. I was so gutted, as I had desperately wanted one & had been considering the design since Harry got his in Thailand!! Harry’s bamboo tattoo healed incredibly quickly & he was able to swim straight away, so I was sure that it was a bamboo tattoo or none at all!
Originally, we had planned to get the 15.30 slow boat across to Gili Trawangan & have a night there before we left the island the next day, but the only slot Sonteng had was 4pm! So….. We ended up cancelling our accommodation in Gili T and then managed to find a cheap place to stay for the night – £10, air conditioning, queen bed & breakfast included! Bargain!! When we dropped our luggage off at our new accommodation, the owners were so kind & made us each a fresh Orange Juice Smoothie! It was very refreshing & just what we needed after carting our heavy rucksacks about!!
Cut a long story short (I’m sorry that I am starting to waffle!!) we arrived at the tattoo place at 4pm, me feeling super excited, Harry secretly thinking I have a nightmare girlfriend & please like your tattoo Jess!!! The tattoo only took half an hour & I am pleased to say that it was relatively pain free!! The first five minutes were a little uncomfortable but you soon get used to it! Sonteng made me laugh, as he said “imagine I am giving you a relaxing massage, but just with needles”…. Ok, I’ll remember that!! Ha. I was over the moon to see the final piece… I absolutely love my little elephant & I’m so pleased that I now have a permanent reminder of this amazing trip.
Tuesday 3rd May 2016 – Happy 10th Birthday to my beautiful not so little sister Ella! We got the 08.50 slow boat from Gili Meno to Gili Trawangan where we then had a couple of hours before catching our Ferry back to Bali. The ferry trip was absolutely incredible… We sat on top of the boat catching the last bit of sunshine before flying out of Bali & then couldn’t believe what we were seeing… There was a pod of about 20 Dolphins. They were the cutest! Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to get a good enough photo of them to post! The ferry took about an hour & we arrived in Bali at 2pm. We then managed to get a transfer to the airport where we had a 3 & 1/2 hour wait before we could check our luggage in!!! We had a bite to eat at one of the cafe’s & almost went grey at how expensive it was!! For two chicken panini’s, it worked out more expensive than our nights accommodation in Gili Meno!!! Crazy! The plane took off at around 10pm & we were relieved to have survived the long wait!!
I really could not be happier right now & I’m sure I speak on behalf of Harry too. Taking some time out and travelling around the world has been the best decision that we could ever of made. It’s beyond amazing & we are loving every moment of our travel adventures.
Sending you all health and happiness.
Chat soon,
Jess & Harry 🙂
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