Bali part one- Start as you mean to go on

For the vast majority of this trip, we’ve had a plan. The plan has stemmed from a spreadsheet of budgets, itineraries, and things to do and see. Up until Australia this plan was pretty meticulously adhered to, with some obvious shifts when we get scuppered by typhoons, or when we’ve heard of local secrets of just up to date information on places. When we have moved away from the plan, or just not had a plan for certain sections, we’ve had some unforgettable times! We’ve ended up on a near deserted island off the coast of Cambodia for the best part of a week, we’ve stayed with local families and celebrated Hindu festivals, spent 3 weeks driving the east coast of Australia, the list goes on. So when it came to booking up the next leg of our journey, we thought we’d just wing it. For this stage, this involved booking a flight to bali, and booking a flight closer to home just over 3 months later, with no real plan in between. We had similar between Vietnam and New Zealand and that worked out great! 

This one didn’t start out quite as smoothly though…

So there we were, preparing to board our flight to bali, when we were informed we needed a flight out of Indonesia before they’d let us board a flight! Our rough plan was to spend a month or two working our way across the archipelago towards Malaysia, when we’d cross the boarder. Well that didn’t pan out; with only a couple of hours till our flight we booked what we could: a flight 28 days later to KL. here’s the second part of the initial fail. We had planned to spend closer to 2 months here, but the visa situation has recently changed. We had the choice of a 30day visa waiver, or bouncing in and out of the country to effectively get a new visa. Sadly the extended tourist visa needed some pre planning, a visit to an embassy, all that jazz. Even if we’d wanted to do that (which I guess we would have) doing that whilst driving 4000km wouldn’t have really worked. So now we had a flight out and a massively restricted timeframe in Indonesia. We ended up booking flights out of bali, meaning we’d probably miss a bunch of the route we’d hoped to complete. 

But ho hum; these things happen. 

Then Kelly’s bag got left in Australia….and my favourite (and only) hoodie got left at the airport…

We booked last minute a hotel near to the airport. We were due to land about 2am local time so just needed a bed. The flight was over an hour late taking off, and after sorting out Kelly’s bag info we didn’t even get out of the airport till way gone 3! Being the last people in an airport is a very weird experience… The hotel was a total dump, stank of bug spray, cheap bleach and moth balls, and overall was a total shit hole, but it was a bed. After a few hours sleep we got out as quickly as possible. 
At this point things started to look up. We decided to book into a new hotel that looked amazing, as we’d had enough already of bad hotels (and we’ve stayed in some howlers on this trip). Semimpi basecamp was a brand new hotel in Between Seminyak and Kuda (the Ibiza for aussies). By a country mile this was the nicest place we’ve stayed so far in 8 months! It oozed hipster-chic styling in the rooms, showed movies over the pool at night, served great food, and the staff went above and beyond the call of duty to make sure we were happy! We hired a scooter to explore the surrounding areas of Kuda and Seminyak, and got a proper feel for the area. The rumours are true though guys, Kuda really is the Magaluf for Aussies! The beaches are wall to wall plastic day beds, littered with hawkers selling sarongs and fake Oakleys, whilst the streets feel like any Aussie city, covered in designer surfware stores; not what we were looking for. Seminyak was definitely en par with western opulence, but with slightly more chill. We decided to check out Potato Head, a beach club loads of people recommended to us. And I can see why it was so highly recommended, this place was pretty amazing! A beautiful pool with a swim up bar overlooked a stunning stretch of private beach with an incredible sunset view, cocktails to die for, and a menu that would satisfy any foodie. As you can imagine, it was absolutely filled to the brim with beautiful people all after that idyllic Instagram selfie; obviously we didn’t partake in such heresy, but did enjoy a couple of diet cokes that cost more than most meals we’ve had here. Still, well worth checking out if you’re in Bali. 

One real supeise for us was bumping into Natalie, one of Kelly’s sort of cousins (no blood relations but as good as). We had hoped to see her in Darwin where she now lives but it was just too far to get to in the van. Catching up after so long was great, and as ever seeing a friendly face in a foreign land was just awesome. By pure chance we also managed to link up with my old colleague Katie For a night of reminiscence. 
 After Kelly’s bag finally got to bali our next stop on the list was the inland town of Ubud. There’s nothing else to say about Ubud apart from it’s a bloody cool place! I was trying to figure out where it reminded me of, and the closest I can get to is Chiang Mai in Thailand. Like Chiang Mai, Ubud has held on tight to its traditional cultures, architecture and mashed it nicely with a chilled western vibe. Ubud boasts a huge collection of ancient temples hidden down unexpected back alleys and through shop fronts. We actually found this one hidden behind a Starbucks; what a find! 

Perhaps the most amazing thing though was what lies just on the outskirts. On one of day’s exploring inner Ubud, we literally took a turn right, and within a minute you’d have no idea we were adjacent to a town. We stumbled across fields of rice paddies, surrounded by nothing more than more fields: what a find! For me this was one of the highlights of Ubud as it was so unexpected. We actually did this again at a slightly better known route with again, spectacular views. 

As we were in ubud we had to visit the Monkey forest. It’s safe to say both of us were a little apprehensive about this after our last escapade at a similar temple in India, when Kelly got bitten by a little bugger wanting a banana. The monkeys here were just as michevous; nicking tourists water, sunglasses and hats all over the place, and raiding people’s bags for the slight chance of some grub. Fortunately we were okay this time, and the views along the coast were definitely worth the risk. 
We’ve definitely decided one of the best ways to explore is on a bike. We spent a day driving everywhere and anywhere outside of Ubud, with literally no idea where we’d end up. The only thing we planned to see was a local waterfall, which according to our bike renter, was pretty unknown on tourism routes. He was right; we pretty much had the whole thing to ourselves! After a five minute hike down to the water I had far too much fun getting soaked before heading back to the bike. Another quick search on google maps showed us another waterfall to potentially check out. After a 40 minute ride we hit the entrance, paid our 10000 rupiah entrance fee (less than £1), and made the steep, un-paved hike down to the water. This was definitely not in any lonely planet books or on many blogs. To get to the waterfall, we had to walk along rice canals, down some super steep walkways, through a cave or two, and squeeze through some pretty tiny gaps between rocks, but we made it! Typically it was less impressive than the previous waterfall, but the hike was certainly interesting, and we really did feel like the only people for miles. This is why I love just hiring a bike, the freedom it gives you to see stuff totally off tourist trap routes can totally make a trip. 

Our day continued in a similar guise; just checking google maps, finding somewhere or something that might be of interest, and riding there. We ended up riding through a small parade of people dressed up for a Hindu celebration, a bunch of villages with the cutest kids flying kites (the Bali kite festival is on now), before heading back to the city to enjoy the famous Balinese delicacy, Ibu Oka (roast suckling pig).
Finally, to burn off the high calorie grub we had just consumed, another hike was in order. This time on a slightly more well trodden path; alongside a valley run surrounded by fruit and rice growing. This was another stunning walk called the Campuhan Ridge Walk, definitely recommended if you’re ever in Ubud. 

To finish off our time in Ubud, we decided to climb a volcano (as you do). 

Okay so that sounds crazy; but it’s not that bad. Mount Batur is north east of Ubud, and summits at 1714m. We set off at 2am to make sure we made it for sunrise, which we did with 30 minutes to spare. What a great hike! For the last 400m the terrain was pretty tough, made up primarily of dust or big rocks. With the dodgy terrain, thin air and chilly temperatures (oh and that it was still dark) it wasn’t the easiest, but so worth it. Whilst we battled against clouds, when they did break, the views were truly breathtaking. 

So you’re probably thinking this doesn’t sound like much failing right? Yeah, we did some more fail, don’t you worry. 

Again, we took recommendations from a bunch of fellow travelers we have met, and ventured south. I was desperate to get some more surfing in, so we decided to head to Bingin beach on the south west of the island. Everyone we had spoken to advised we leave our bags at the top of a very high cliff edge, and search the local hotels for a place to stay rather than booking anywhere online in advance. So off I ventured, up and down the very steep steps to the beach and back, stopping at every hotel, guesthouse and villa I could find. 90% were either out of our price range by at least three fold, or were full. After two hours of very sweaty searching we finally found a place for 250k right on the beach. Whilst it was basic as anything, it was still the most expensive room we’ve paid for in Indonesia thus far! But to be honest I didn’t care with a view like this. 

So here’s the next big fail. The swells were apparently huge, abnormally huge for the next few days, hence why everywhere was full I guess! This meant no novice surfing could really take place anywhere on this southern ridge of bali. The waves for the next few days averaged anywhere between 10-14ft, I would have almost certainly died giving that a go. So there we were, in a surfers paradise, without being able to surf, and running out of cash too (no ATM nearby and we didn’t have transport). Needless to say we decided to move on and cut our losses pretty quickly. Still, I’m very glad we made it down there to witness some seriously skilful surfing and a sunset like this. 

The following day, we battled for over an hour to get an uber (companies like uber and grab are apparently banned by the local taxi mafia as they at least cut fees by half of normal local cabbies) to get to Uluwatu. Fortunately we managed to land a genuinely nice cabbie who drove us around a few hotels whilst we haggled for the best price. Once we found a place I went on another hunt for a bike to rent. Again, fail time! Everywhere had sold out of all their bikes! After another 90 minutes of fairly frustrating hunting for a scooter, I finally got one and we ventured along the coast to check out the pro surfers who’d traveled here for the freakishly big waves, as well as another monkey temple; this time right on a beautiful coast line. These photos really don’t do the surf or the temples justice though. 
So after all this fail, we both agreed to just give up and go to a tiny island just off Lombok for a bit. We jumped on a boat to Gili T, where I’m sat now writing this blog. We’ve done very little for the last week apart from run around the island (the whole 7k of it), lie on white sandy beaches, read, snorkel with turtles, clean beaches, dive, and generally chill. Oh I did do one more thing, which was such an experience it deserves its own blog. Watch this space