(More Pictures Below!)
I travelled to Southeast Asia for the very first time in March 2016 and it easily became one of the best travel experiences I’ve ever had. I spent half of my time in Bali and I’ll never forget the people, culture, luscious flora, and fragrant cuisine. In this episode, I have the pleasure of recounting the discoveries of this beautiful island with my travel mates. Below you’ll find a photo gallery of the moments we talk about in the podcast (a picture is worth a thousand words!) and a summary of the tips and lessons learned that we shared. If you’re planning to travel to Bali I hope you gain some helpful tips. At the very least I hope you enjoy in sharing with these memories!
Our Adventure Course: Ubud – Jimbaran – Seminyak/Kuta – Sanur – Ubud (for the Bali Festival…which we didn’t even have time to talk about during the show!)
Most Awesome Places:
- Mount Batur sunrise trek – the biggest highlight of my trip. A four hour hike up 1717meters that starts at 1am so that you can catch the sunrise by the time you reach the top. The view is breathtaking as you realize that you climbed so high, you are standing above the clouds. As the sun rises, the whipped cream clouds dissipates and reveals luscious greenery down below. And as with almost all parts of Bali, the monkeys are around there too!
- Ayana Resort – a top notch experience, lavishing us in complete luxury. Cold towels and tea served to us everywhere we went, access to a private beach and personal greetings at events. It’s a highlight as we are sure we wouldn’t be able to afford this level of service back in North America! We actually booked the Rimba, which is the more economical version. It was the perfect choice because the décor was more contemporary than the Ayana plus we still had access to the entire resort including their eleven pools.
- Kubu Beach – Ayana Resort’s private beach. One of the most pristine and beautiful beaches we experienced.
- Kecak dance (pronounced ka – jak) – traditional Balinese dance using the gamelan (looks like a xylophone). The sound, pitch and movements are actually indescribable as it’s not similar to anything I’ve ever seen before. I’ve attached a video (link) because I don’t have the words to describe!
- Sanur – a quaint town perfect for restoring energy during the middle of our trip.
- Fresh tropical fruits – don’t be shy try them all! Snakeskin fruit, rambutan, mangosteen…. They’re all sweet, delicious and pretty mild. Maybe except for durian which is a bit pungent, but try it anyway! It’s the freshest from the side of the street.
- Spas – a huge part of Souteast Asia hospitality. The services are well done and you can spoil yourself for a fraction of the price that it costs in North America.
Tips:
- If you plan to do yoga make sure you bring your own yoga mat or a towel to practice on. Balinese actually don’t practice physical yoga so there aren’t many shops that sell yoga mats.
- Don’t plan a full schedule everyday especially on a long trip. We were there for two weeks and so happy to have had 2 days to rest at Sanur. You’ll thank yourself for the R&R time.
- It’s HOT over there. Be prepared – I was so happy that I brought a bunch of workout tops as they helped wicked my sweat away. Remember to stay hydrated often!
