So, you know we went to BALI. But what did we do? Well…we had ourselves an adventure, duh. Here are some of our favorite things:
1. Bali. In general.
2. We rented a scooter for a day ($4/day…) and just got “lost” on our own. This was a really fun experience because it allowed us to go off the “beaten path.” We were able to see local villages that aren’t filled with tourist and drive out to the rice paddies, which are magnificent. A fun experience was getting gas for our scooter-we stopped on the side of a road, a little old lady walked up, took a clear jug filled with gas and just poured it in for us. As if she was pouring us a cup of tea. No biggie…
3. Climbing Mt. Batur to see the sun rise. This was an AMAZING experience! We had planned on doing it before we even got to Bali and our hotel set us up with a tour. We were picked up at 2:30AM and driven out to a coffee plantation at the base of the volcano. We joined a bunch of other sleepy tourists and were fed a chocolate/banana crepe and tea/coffee. In a short time we got back in the car and drove further up the base until we came to a large parking lot. There were A LOT of people and according to some, this is where the BALI mafia runs its operations. Apparently, you can’y just drive up and go up Mt. Batur on your own (and I wouldn’t recommend that). You have to go with a “mafia” approved tour guide-this is how they make money. Our tour guide was a nice young man who said he makes the trek twice a day and it was obvious he wasn’t a rookie (like us) because as we were huffing and puffin our way up, he didn’t even break a sweat. The climb took around 2 hours to complete, and I recognize that this isn’t too long but you must understand that there was no actual “path” up. Majority of the way up was a steep and very narrow path that was very rocky and actually pretty dangerous. There was nothing to hang on to and if you lost balance, there’s a very high chance that you’d just tumble down the steep side of the volcano and get really injured. What was amazing to see though is the single file line of flashlights walking up-even though it was pitch black, the flashlights created a beautiful reminder that you are not alone and can do it. We got to the first summit and I thought-yes! We made it! I’m sitting down and not moving for the rest of the day. Wrong. Our group continued for another 25 minutes to the very top-and boy am I glad we did! The beautiful sunrise we watched from the very top was so magical- the sun began to rise from behind a mountain that was directly across from us, and most of the sunrise happened below us-or at least that’s what it looked like. We stayed up there for over an hour- watched the wild monkeys wake up and do their thing (literally..DO their thing ;), ate boiled eggs and a banana sandwich (which we shared with these funny monkeys) and just enjoyed the beauty all around us.
It began to get very foggy and COLD so we started the descend down (more like the sprint down)-there was a lot of sand at the very top and didn’t provide the most traction for the bottom of our sneakers. We made it down quicker than we made it up-and it all felt like a dream. I HIGHLY recommend that everyone do this- just don’t try to bypass the Mt. Batur mafia 🙂
4. Golden Hands Massage- at first we planned on getting a massage at our hotel spa, however a couple we met on our Mt. Batur climb said “no way! Go to Golden Hands!” At first I thought he was making some sort of Austin Powers joke-golden hands, really? Well turns out Golden Hands IS real and true to it’s name. We booked a couples massage for an hour after the climb and we walked away feeling refreshed, sleepy, happy, relaxed and ready to come back for more!
5. Monkey Forest- it’s exactly what is sounds like-a forest filled with free roaming monkeys. This little buggers are so entertaining and sneaky that you have to stay on your toes the entire time, or you’ll loose a phone/camera/snacks/etc. Bananas are sold all over the forest and can be fed to the monkeys, but if they suspect that you’re hiding a snack in your pocket, there is no stopping the pick-pocket monkeys! My husband almost lost our Go Pro because he held it in his hands with a banana and when a monkey made a grad for the banana, the Go Pro was almost in the same grab. We watched them take water and juice from people and anything that resembles a snack-and they just sit down in front of you and eat/drink whatever was yours-no shame or remorse!
The monkeys also loved to “pick” each other-I’m not sure what they were picking, but they would pluck something of of their partners skin and put it in their mouths. They just sat around doing this-which was so funny! Visiting the monkey forest is a must-just be smart about what you bring in with you and when they jump on you-play it cool.
6. Ubud Center- filled with restaurants, cafes, museums, spas, people, mopeds, cars, more people and even more mopeds. We live in NYC and are pretty used to traffic-but no, Bali has REAL traffic. The kind where people, cars, stray dogs and mopeds all share a VERY narrow two way street. And by narrow, I mean their two way is pretty much the same size as our one lane. The chaos is hectic but very organized. We came into Ubud Center everyday for lunch/dinner and here are some of the places we loved:
Melting Wok Warung: We ate dinner here with a couple me met from LA (they were staying at our hotel). We were complete strangers but had a few things in common-we both love to travel off the beaten path, are young professionals and driven. And this wasn’t the first couple that we met and instantly click. Along our journey, we met many, many travelers who don’t settle for the any trip, but seek thrill over comfort. Now going back to our dinner at this restaurant: it was fairly small, but always packed (a reservation is recommended). The owner, a foreign (I’m guessing Australian) woman, was very attentive and obviously cared a great deal about the comfort of her customers. The menu was presented on a chalk board-few options, but all full of flavor.
The food here was great and the view beautiful. We came here for lunch on our last day-and it was pouring like crazy!
Cafe Lotus–
We had dinner here on our first day in Bali and by the time our food came, I was halfway asleep. I was EXHAUSTED! But the view of this palace was beautiful and if we stayed longer, we would’ve caught a traditional dance show. Maybe next time 🙂
a simple city life 
