BALLIN' IN BALI - Indonesia PT. 2
After having a very interesting first week travelling we were ready to start the most amazing part of the holiday and the part that we had been waiting to experience since we booked this holiday. Our first part of the next 2 weeks began in Bali, where dreams do quite literally come true. Even though we were staying in what can only be described as a shed (my bed was the floor), I loved every part of the holiday, from the amazing tourist activities, to eating like kings wherever we went, to even nearly being beaten up by a balinese man after offending him and his knock off Kylie Jenner lip kits and fake Nike t-shirts.
Ubud, Bali -
After many more hours of travelling we finally arrived in Bali, more specifically Ubud, the home of the famous Monkey Forest. After running to our 'room' we quickly made our way to the centre of the town (a 1 minute walk) and headed straight towards The Monkey Forest. Although very excited about the Monkey Forest we were also quite skeptical about the scratching, stealing and biting monkeys due to not getting our rabies jab, whoops! However we loved it!! (Even Brad after having a monkey jump up, scratch him and leave a hand print on his arm). If you want to visit The Monkey Forest I would really recommend buying bananas for the monkey's, as our experience wouldn't have been the same; having wild monkey's climb all over you and spit their banana out on you was like something we had never experienced before and it was AMAZING.
We only had two days in Ubud, so our second day was pretty rammed. We started off the day with an amazing banana pancake and then started a trek to find the Elephant Cave - Goa Gajah, however, we somehow ended up on the complete opposite side of Ubud after being told by the locals that it was that direction, walking up and down the same hill 5 times was starting to get a bit embarrassing; so we gave in a got a taxi.
Once we arrived we soon found out it was a very touristy destination and before you've even got into the cave you have been offered sarongs a good 15 times as you need them to be able to get in. Even though Goa Gajah was only small it gave you a good idea of the hindu culture with people praying all around you.
Later that afternoon we made our way to a GIANT waterfall, which was one of the funniest experiences we had (I would advise having bikini bottoms that don't need doing up at the sides and won't fall off easily *awkward laughing face*). This giant waterfall is also known as Tegenungan Waterfall, it was amazing and so much fun to try and swim up to, I would 110% recommend this to everyone!!!
Rice Field Treks are something you often here about when visiting Ubud and is something we really wanted to do; however, after a busy day it was starting to get late and would soon be dark so we decided to set off on a trek at about 5:30-6:00pm so that we would get a sunset rice field trek and it was the best decision we made, it was so peaceful and watching the sunsetting behind the trees and reflecting in the water was like nothing we had ever seen (picture at the top).
Even though we only had a couple of days in Ubud we managed a lot of things and ate at some very, very impressive places, we didn't manage to do everything we wanted to such as Sunrise Trek to Mount Batur, so really plan out your days carefully.
Our next trip was down South to Kuta, Bali.
WE FINALLY REACHED SOME BEACHES!!! Kuta is the best place to surf in Bali and after paying $175,000 each we could really tell why, SURFING IS AMAZING! After falling off many times and being hit in the face with your own surfboard or even someone else's you finally get the idea of it and can do some surfing (remember to bend!!!)
It was nice to be able to finally relax on a beach in Kuta and not have to worry about travelling for another few days! However, if this is your first time on a beach in a long time I would advise not putting on a non-factor oil on your first day because you will burn your whole body and it will really hurt!
After a couple of days of sunbathing and surfing we decided we wanted to do something fun and what else should you do when in Bali other than White Water Rafting through the balinese rainforest! We took a 2 hour drive from Kuta to Denpasar - Telaga Waja River where we experienced a 3 hour (yes, 3 whole hours) of White Water Rafting, nearly losing the GoPro and a delicious Balinese buffet, definitely worth the money we paid for it!
Another thing worth mentioning is that everything is SOOOO cheap! We were paying between £2-£6 each every meal we ate for HUGE portions, so when people say you live like kings in Bali, they really aren't wrong. The nightlife is another thing to mention, there's such a good vibe everywhere you go, everyone's so nice and if you are there with friends and like to drink the club life seems pretty major too.
After a week of lots of activities and sunbathing (sunburning) we were onto our next stage of our adventure, the Gili Islands, which deserve a whole blog post to themselves so check in soon for PT. 3!!!
Hannah x