Bali

6.29.2010 – 7.03.2010 || Bali | Indonesia

After three nights in Hong Kong we headed to Bali for the third and final leg of our honeymoon. We continued flying Cathay Pacific Airways and had a direct flight to Denpasar (Bali), Indonesia. Total flying time was ~5 hours.

Upon arriving you have to clear immigration and customs. It was pretty chaotic so I was thankful that we had a local service to help us navigate and fast track the process. After clearing customs we parted ways with the first guide and met our local guide for this portion of the trip – Mawa had quite the sense of humor and was extremely helpful.

It was late afternoon and we had been traveling nearly all day at this point so we went directly to The Oberoi, Bali where we would be staying for the following four nights on Seminyak Beach.

We had reserved a traditional Balinese style garden view lanai which offered a view of the tropical gardens. The setting was truly fabulous and the perfect place to relax and unwind after exploring two large and busy cities, Bangkok and Hong Kong.

The first thing we did was head to the pool to catch the last hour or so of sunlight. My view for the next couple of days consisted of yellow umbrellas and the Indian Ocean. We saw just about everything on that beach from horses, dogs, vendors selling local goods, etc.

The sunsets were amazing along Seminyak Beach.

There are several excellent restaurants within easy walking distance via the beach so that is what we did the first evening in Bali. We dined at KU DE TA and instantly saw why it is so popular – the panoramic views and sounds of the Indian Ocean, good food, and cold Bintang! Highly recommend going there to catch an Indonesian sunset and staying for the food.

We planned one full day of activities with our guide and then left the remaining two days open to relax poolside or to add on activities. We started the day with a visit to a traditional Balinese compound, not quite as extravagant as The Oberoi’s interpretation of a Balinese setting. We also visited an art studio and a wood carving studio and had to buy a souvenir or two from each!

From there we set off to visit temples and shrines. The first place that we visited was Goa Gajah, or Elephant Cave near Ubud. The two most photographed elements of this temple are the entrance to the elephant cave and the bathing temple figures.

I found most temples in Bali offered a sarong to cover your lower body and didn’t require the upper body to be covered. It was incredibly warm and humid so this was a bonus upon entering a temple.

Walk along Monkey Forest Road and you will find monkeys and crazy snake men snake charmers.

We stopped for lunch at a local restaurant that I didn’t write down and I couldn’t find online. If you are in the Ubud area and find this view, tell me where it is, and while you are there order the gado-gado salad, it was delicious!

After lunch we stayed near Ubud and headed to the Pura Gunung Kawi, one of Bali’s oldest and largest ancient sites.

After picking up a sarong (that matched my outfit perfectly) we explored the 10 shrines that are spread out across the complex. It started raining at this point which was a welcomed relief to the heat and humidity.

Afterwards we had a chance to view one of Bali’s hand carved terraced rice fields. Pretty spectacular even in the rain.

For as tranquil as Bali is, the streets are NOT. Traffic was a nightmare and scooters dominated the roads with as many as FOUR humans on them at once. Four humans that were dressed for a different season…

Kura Kura is the main restaurant at The Oberoi and offers open air dining. We liked it so much that we ate there three nights in a row!

After a day of exploring Ubud and the surrounding area we decided to slow it way down and relax for the remainder of the trip. We spent two entire days in a row on these lounge chairs and it was perfect.

We had the best of both worlds, relaxing in a quiet corner of the pool while staring off into the Indian Ocean.

To maximize time spent lounging we dined poolside for lunch. The Oberoi’s Frangipani Cafe menu was unique and not your typical snack bar fare.

After a solid day of reading, napping, and swimming we headed to the beach for a late afternoon walk before getting ready for dinner.

My favorite pictures of all time are from Seminyak Beach. You might recognize this from the header of champagneonplanes.

If you are looking for impressive sunsets, Seminyak Beach is your place.

It was incredibly hard to leave such a beautiful place but we left Bali refreshed and recharged. Bali was the perfect way to end an amazing three part honeymoon in Asia.

What we did:

• Spent a million dollars rupiahs at KU DE TA
• Visited a few temples: Goa Gajah and Pura Gunung Kawi
• Read a ton and chilled beach side at The Oberoi’s pool

Where we stayed:

• The Oberoi, Bali

Question: After learning to surf in Hawaii, I would love to add surfing to the list if we return to Bali. Have you surfed in Bali? Where should we go?