Jun 11, 20175 min read

Bali

Day One

From Singapore, Nico and I had a layover in Jakarta on our way to Bali, where we had to collect our bags and go to a different terminal. All of the terminals in Jakarta were very spread out and we eventually figured out that we had to take a shuttle bus, which drove what felt like across the city to out next terminal.

When we arrived at the correct terminal, we decided to enter through door A (because our ticket didn't specify) but the security officer at door A told us we were in the wrong place and to go to door B. So, we walked in the heat to the other side of the terminal and entered door B. We put our bags through a scanner and walked up to the check-in counter but were told by the lady at the counter that we needed to go through door A for our flight (despite being the same airline). She then waved vaguely at the stairs telling us to exit that way (because of course we couldn't just go back out the way we came in).

Nico and I walked up the stairs where we found the security point before the gates where people get their carry-ons scanned. Still carrying our checked bags and feeling rather confused, we asked the security officers what we were supposed to do. The officers looked over our tickets, passing them between each other until one of them finally told us to scan our bags and then talk to the information desk. He pointed to a desk on the other side of the security point.

When we approached the info desk, there was the same process of passing around our ticket until a man told us to follow him. He walked us through the terminal and down another flight of stairs, stopping at yet another desk where more people looked at our ticket and told us to go to entrance A. They pointed at a door around the corner, which we exited and found ourselves back outside on the street.

We walked back to door A, where Nico had some trouble entering because the same officer insisted that he needed to be at door B. After a bit of convincing, we finally made it through and were able to check-in and get to our gate to wait for our flight (good thing we had a long layover).

When we landed in Denpasar, Nico and I got a quick taxi to our hostel in Kuta Beach, where we planned to spend only one night before heading to Ubud. The hostel was called Warung Coco. We dropped our bags off, walked to town to get something to eat, and then went to bed.

Day Two

Nico and I got breakfast at our hostel and then decided to walk down to the beach just to see what it was like. There were lots of big waves with a lot of people out surfing. The beach wasn't the prettiest I'd seen and it wasn't great for swimming, lounging in the sun, or much of anything other than surfing.

After checking out the beach, we went back to the hostel to pack. Nico jumped into the pool and then we checked out. We hailed an Uber to take us to Ubud. It was about an hour long drive.

Warung Coco Hostel

Wifi only worked outside
Pool
Free breakfast
Bad smell in bathroom
Comfortable bed

Our Uber driver couldn't drive down the street to our hotel so he dropped us off and we walked the rest of the way. We were staying at a place called Sania's House, which was located down an open market street. The architecture of the hotel was very beautiful. It was decorated with intricate wood carvings and pretty tropical plants. Even though it was located on a busy market street, it felt serene as soon as we were within its walls. We dropped our stuff off and decided to walk around.

Sania's House

Slow wifi
Terrible shower pressure
Beautiful architecture
Small pool
Free breakfast
Great location

We went to lunch at a restaurant called Melting Wok. I had yellow coconut curry with chicken and rice. Nico ordered the same thing but with noodles. It was super tasty and the staff were very kind and helpful.

After lunch, we walked through the market. I bought a dreamcatcher after the saleswoman kept offering me lower and lower prices.

Later, we decided to walk to the Monkey Forest. We didn't pay to enter but there were tons of monkeys to see around the area. They climbed in the trees and picked bugs off each other. We saw one drink out of a water bottle.

Then, we went back to the hotel to watch the sunset. It was cloudy and we couldn't get much of a view so it was just alright.

Afterwards, we walked around to find a place to eat. We stopped at an Italian Restaurant called The Black Sand Restaurant. We ordered bruschetta, a Greek salad, and gnocchi with three different sauces. Everything was delicious (though the salad was a bit salty).

After dinner, we just went back to the hotel to relax before going to bed.

Day Three

In the morning, Nico and I slept in. When we got up, we went back to the Melting Wok to get crepes for breakfast. I got a crepe with brown sugar, coconut cream, and caramel sauce. Nico decided to get curry noodles again.

After breakfast, we stopped at a coffee/tea shop to get gifts to bring home. Then, we rented a motorbike from our hotel and headed off to the rice paddies. When we arrived at Tegalalang Rice Terrace, we parked the bike and started to walk around. It was very green and beautiful but we were stopped on multiple occasions and required to pay "donations" in order to pass through. They didn't ask for very much money but I would have much rather just paid one fee up front rather than wondering how many times I would be stopped as we wandered around.

After the rice terraces, we just rode the bike through the green hills for a bit. We were pretty hungry so we decided to get a late lunch/early dinner. We went to a restaurant next door to the Black Sand Restaurant called Clear Cafe. I had a chai tea and a spinach & feta quesadilla. Nico ordered sushi. It was super tasty! The cafe was mostly vegetarian (excluding seafood) and had a lot of healthy options.

After that, we went back to the hotel to return our bike and drop some things off. Then, we walked back to the Black Sands Restaurant to get happy hour drinks on the terrace and watch the sunset. It was cloudy again but at least we had a better view this time.

After the sunset, we decided to go get some dessert. We walked to a crepe restaurant called The Spell (Celts & Spells). It had a mythical world theme based off books/movies like Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, etc. It also had a very cute atmosphere with pillows on the floor to sit on around small tables. I ordered "the sweet fairy," a crepe with delicious salted butter caramel and coconut whipped cream. Nico ordered "the secret," which had caramel, cashews, and caramelized apples. Unfortunately, they had run out of apples so Nico got it with banana and strawberry instead. He loved it anyway.