I was looking forward to being in Bali even though it was the last part of my vacation. Bali is one of the most popular tourist destinations in the world, and I believe 80% of the economy is based on tourism. After the fast pace we were on in Vietnam and then Kuala Lumpur, it was nice to pick a place as our headquarters for a handful of days. It’s nice to not have to pack your suitcase every couple of days. We got into Bali later in the day, so my sister and I took the shuttle from our hotel to town, walked around and had a glass of overpriced wine. We decided to go to the grocery store and stock up on wine and snacks for the hotel. The town has some beautiful temples that we were able to glimpse in the evening. Our first day was pretty low key.
My sister and I stayed at the Alena Resort in Ubud, which was beautiful…a place out of a dream. I am smiling as I am writing this, remembering how lovely it was. I like the fact that it is outside of town where it is quiet and peaceful. Yoga was at 7:00a every day, and you could go for walk afterwards to the rice fields with a guide from the resort. Ubud is a popular destination for yoga practitioners. The room at the Alena was beautiful with a canopied bed, and the bathroom was out of a spa. The resort provided bath salt and bubble bath so you could take advantage. It was nice to end the trip staying in the same place where we could get massages and start the days off with yoga outside…paradise!
The next day, we hired a guide to take us to a few places on the northern part of Bali. There is no way I would drive there after experiencing a car ride in Bali, so I think we made a good decision. The guide cost about $60 American dollars for the full day, which is a great deal since we left about 9:30a and came back around 7p. Admission to the places we went was not included. Our guide was pretty cool since he at least went with us and talked about some of the places we visited. We did this again for a half day and our guide was pretty much just our driver; he stayed in the car while we explored.
The first stop was Taman Ayun, a temple and garden complex, where the royal family of the Mengwi were buried. You have to wear a covering for your legs there, which is provided for you. I had pants on and still had to cover my legs. The inner sanctum is in the traditional style of Balinese architecture. I love the gates in Bali; they look amazing against the blue sky. There is a statue of Devi Sri, goddess of rice and prosperity, a figure we’d see more of on the trip, rice being the staple crop. The tombs are within the pagoda like shrines called Meru towers. I couldn’t resist a picture by the Barong, a lion like character from local lore who is the king of spirits and represents good. The majority of the population of Bali is Hindu, but it is different sect where there is worship of local deities.
We had to see the famous rice terraces at Jatiluwih, which was nominated to be a UNESCO World Heritage site. There are other fields in the area, but I picked this one since there are no merchants there. You can enjoy the site in peace since it is untouched with people trying to sell you something. So if you want a swing picture and to do some shopping, you might want to go to Tegalang Rice Terraces. Your entry fee to Jatiluwih goes to the village cooperative as well. The drive there was exciting. It was pretty funny seeing children riding motor bikes in the village. Our guide told us there is no police there to enforce the age limit for driving, so the kids run free.
There is a path to walk along at the terraces so my sister and I took a nice stroll. I have never seen such a vibrant shade of green that is found in the rice terraces. Pictures do not do it justice. We were having such great luck with the weather then it started to rain after we saw the terraces. At least we enjoyed half the day dry. It does rain pretty often in Bali, but luckily not the entire day. I brought boots and a poncho so it didn’t slow me down.
Our next stop was Nungnung Waterfall. Our guide borrowed umbrellas for us so we went for a nice walk in the rain. It was actually still fun even though it was raining. We weren’t going to go swimming anyway. We made a stop to get a beautiful view of Twin Lakes as well. The scenery was beautiful. I didn’t want to miss a minute. It’s no wonder that Bali is such a popular place to visit. I have friends that have gone back since they loved it.
Our last stop on our guided tour was Ulun Bratan water temple, which was my least favorite stop since it was crowded and full of tourists. The temple is located on Lake Bratan, and was built in 1633. The temple is dedicated to Dewi Danu, the goddess of lakes and rivers. The Meru tower is dedicated to Shiva and his consort Parvathi. I think there is also a statue of Buddha there as well, so you’ve got a lot of spiritual forces on your side. The grounds are full of gardens and look amazing against the background of the lake and mountains.
This was a hectic day but our guide has a friend that has a coffee and tea plantation, Lumbung Sari, so we said we’d like to visit. We got a great sampler of all the different flavors of coffee and tea offered. We decided to skip the Luwak coffee. It is picked from the feces of the Asian Civet, a weasel like animal. It eats the beans and digest them. It is supposed to be amazing coffee, but I think I can live without trying it. We were able to take a look at the civets as well.
The flavors that were offered at the plantation worked really well with the coffee, so my sister and I bought some for home, specifically ginger, coconut, and vanilla. I couldn’t resist getting vanilla essential oil either. I’m wearing it now, and get compliments about the smell. There was also lotions made from roses, lavender and other things that smell nice. I’m sure the guide got a kick back from taking us there, but I liked the coffee and things we picked up. Can’t go wrong with sampling tea and coffee either. Plus there are no preservatives in the coffee so it tasted so fresh.
Dinner was at Teba Sari, a local place in Ubud that specializes in duck. The restaurant is beautiful. If you make a reservation you can eat under tents by the pond. I had a dish with chicken and rice, and my sister had duck salad. We treated our guide to dinner as a thank you for such a great day! The food was delicious, and it was lovely watching the sunset at the restaurant.
After such a busy day, it was happy hour by the pool, followed by some reading, and a bubble bath. It was probably one of my favorite days on the trip since we got to visit so many amazing places on the island. The architecture and design of the palaces and temples was beautiful, as well as learning more about the religious practices there and seeing more of the landscape outside Ubud.
If you like my Facebook page, there are videos from the trip posted that you can check out as well. I also update the Instagram WayfaringGal page with new posts. Thank you for reading, and comments and feedback are always welcome since that is how we learn and grow.