I decided to do a travel diary of our Bali trip because we were only there for a few days – I don’t know much about Bali travel, but I can at least share what we did on our short weekend there!
For work I had to be in Jakarta, Indonesia for a couple of days. We were scheduled to stay in Jakarta over the weekend, but after spending one too many HOURS in Jakarta traffic (look it up, it’s kind of what they’re known for) we decided to jet off to Bali for the weekend. It’s I think an hour and a half flight from Jakarta to Bali, and if you book more in advance than we did, you can get the flight pretty cheap. After learning the really cheap airlines wouldn’t accept my U.S. based credit card, we had to book Air Asia – I think for 2 people round trip from Jakarta to Denpasar it was $300 USD. We went October 6th-8th, 2017.
This is a shot of our room at our Airbnb in Uluwatu (ok it was actually a hut). Looks can be deceiving ya’ll! I won’t link it for you because it was kind of the worst experience I’ve ever had and the worst few nights sleep of our lives. Long story short – I woke up with a centipede crawling on my face in the middle of the night, the A/C would shut off periodically through the night (immediately it became 90+ degrees and just damp with humidity) – and more I don’t need to go into here because we’re going to keep this POSITIVE OK!? But the bed was pretty so we’ll leave it at that.
Through our Airbnb we were able to rent a scooter to explore the area – it was 80,000 Rupiah for the day, so about $6. Yeah, their money is kind of hilarious because it’s so excessive! 🙂
The scooter is a great route to go to see everything – where we were in Uluwatu, it’s really not safe to walk on the streets. There aren’t really sidewalks and the narrow 2 lane roads leave you scared you’ll be hit by a rougue bus or something. Just go for the scooters, and maybe do your own if you are with someone, because it’s easier to control when it’s just you and if you’re inexperienced!
Also in Uluwatu, you can’t use Grab, Blue Bird, Uber or any of the normal transportation methods because Uluwatu has a contract with a certain taxi and you can only use those. When we wanted to go anywhere far we had to coordinate with our Airbnb to book it, and it was much more expensive than normal, so be aware of that if you stay in Uluwatu.
Nalu bowls were a MUST – Bali is known for them. Think acai bowls, but without acai. We got the “Uluwatu” bowl from Nalu Bolws. Their location is adorable, really good for photos if you’re looking for that kind of thing! Also the bowl was delicious.
You can find my swimsuit HERE – it is SO perfect because it’s adjustable for my tall girls, under $50, and protects my shoulders from the sun. My shorts are Blank NYC HERE.
We arrived late Friday night, so Saturday was our only full day. Wouldn’t you know it, it POURED rain the whole first half of the day! This was kind of okay because we were so tired from our horrible night of sleep, but it still sucked. When the rain let up we walked to the beach (again, I don’t advise this – just get a scooter or taxi!) The closest beach was Padang Padang beach and the silver lining on getting to the beach later than we wanted was that it was low tide! We got to walk among the tide pools (I LOVE TIDE POOLS) and see all the critters in each pool. They were FULL of life, little fish, crabs, sea urchins – just tons.
We were taking photos at the entrance and my husband goes, “turn around” and there was a monkey! We had no idea Padang Padang had monkeys, but I guess just in general Bali has monkeys so they could be anywhere. 🙂
The #1 think I’m so glad I packed were my TEVA’S! What would I do without them? It rains a ton in Thailand so I wear them almost every day so as to not slip on the city streets – and I can also wear them walking around tide pools! They’re the best. I love this style especially because they don’t look too “backpacker-y” if you know what I mean?
For some reason I didn’t bring my camera to Padang Padang, so excuse the phone photos. 🙂 P.S. Fanny packs are the best.
Another shot from the pool at our Airbnb, again, beautiful location but I would NOT recommend it!
On Sunday we decided to take the scooter to Uluwatu Temple on the other side of Uluwatu from us. It was a HOT day – and they make you wear these silk skirts to cover up your knees I guess? Not really sure why, but they’re pretty!
There are TONS of monkeys at Uluwatu Temple, and you can buy fruit from the locals to feed them if you want! But watch your belongings, I saw a monkey almost carry off a guy’s iPhone, they’re QUICK! The grounds are pretty expansive and you can walk as little or as much as you’d like, but it is HOT so be prepared to sweat.
The temple also has GORGEOUS views of the ocean! The breeze was a lifesaver in the hot humid heat.
After Uluwatu temple we went and picked up our bags to spend a couple hours at Dreamland beach. It is truly gorgeous honestly, the sunset was unreal and we really enjoyed just playing in the sand and water, and watching the beach-goers. This lady was amazing, that box was HEAVY and she just walked around the beach selling her goods!
I know, a Dreamland right? We took a taxi from Dreamland back to the airport, and flew back to Jakarta from there!
Even a couple days in Bali was wonderful, but I definitely would like to go back sometime and explore Ubud and the rest of the island. Some people were asking about the Volcano situation – we were VERY far from it, the only risk was that if it erupted the ash might obscure the airport and we would be stuck for awhile. I took that risk anyways and it was totally fine! Do your own research before you go though to make sure you know the situation.
Have you ever been to Bali? What do we need to do next time?
xoxo
P.S. Pin this image if you want to remember this post for your next Bali trip!
