Bali and the Gili Islands, Indonesia

Ubud, Bali: When we were planning this trip, we were very torn on whether we wanted to visit Bali. We had read a lot of opinions both ways, and decided to play it by ear when we got to Indonesia. We met a lot of people on Java who had been, and opinions were mixed. In general, a lot of people seemed to like Bali, but they didn't love it. This is mostly due to the over tourism that Bali has experienced by becoming everyone's idea of paradise (over development, dirty beaches, locals getting priced out of their homes, etc.). In the end, we decided to visit Bali for a few days since it made sense geographically for us to stop there on our way between Java and the Gili Islands. We decided to just visit Ubud, which is an inland town amid the rainforests and rice terraces of the island and is known for its traditional arts and crafts as well as having a reputation for spirituality, wellness, and yoga.

We took a ferry from Java to a port on the western side of the island of Bali. From there, we were picked up by our transfer service and driven a few hours to the town of Ubud. It was pretty funny getting picked up by the transfer service on Bali, because our driver identified us from a photo our Java tour guide had sent him of our group. This wasn't the last time we would experience the "photo evidence" that many of the car transfers use in Indonesia to prove that they got you picked up/dropped off where you needed to be. The drive from the ferry port gave us our first taste of Bali traffic and driving (intense! Lots of honking and passing), but aside from the anxiety from the driving, the views were pretty; we drove along the coast and through rainforest and we even passed through a national park where there were monkeys all over the sides of the roads. Eventually, our group split up so that we could go to our various locations on Bali, and we swapped into a different car with Juliette to take us to Ubud. By this point we were starving, so we asked our driver (with the help of Google translate) if he would bring us to McDonalds (sometimes you just need something familiar). He agreed, so we stopped for a late lunch and ate a McSpicy sandwich, chicken wings, and the normal burgers. Everything tasted very similar to what you'd get in America, but we weren't that impressed with the McSpicy; it tasted like a less flavorful Spicy Chick-fil-a sandwich, and it was overly salted.

We finally made it to our hostel, which ended up being more like a resort. We decided to "splurge" on this hostel and spent about $27 USD a night for a bed in a 4-person dorm. This is pretty expensive for Indonesia, but the perks made it totally worth it - the bunks had full mattresses instead of twin, there was a beautiful pool with large rafts, free 15 minute massages by the pool everyday, an outdoor gym, free yoga in the mornings, free breakfast, and an on-site bar and restaurant. After waking up early the last few days to see volcanos, all we wanted to do was to relax, and Ubud was the perfect place for that!

On our first full day we only left the hostel to get dinner. The rest of the time was spent doing yoga, chilling by the pool, relaxing, drinking smoothies, and getting our daily massages. The next day we ventured out to explore Ubud, starting with the Ubud art market. We were excited for this, but were left disappointed since it didn't actually seem to have a lot of local artists or original crafts; most of the vendors were selling the same mass-produced items. Next, we visited the Ubud palace and saw other nearby temples which had such unique statues and architecture compared to the temples we saw on Java. Bali is also very unique in Indonesia as the majority of the population practices Balinese Hinduism rather than Islam.

Later that afternoon, we met back up with Juliette and walked through the Monkey Forest. The forest itself is stunning, even without the monkeys (long-tailed macaques), but we went in a little paranoid since we had read that the monkeys can be aggressive and try to steal you stuff. We kept our things well hidden and saw tons of monkeys (including babies). Luckily none showed any interest in us, but two did jump on Juliette near the exit when she took a sip from her water bottle. She was fine, but it was alarming! We then grabbed dinner and went back to our hostel for movie night by the pool. They set up a projector and played Ticket to Paradise which is a movie with Julia Roberts and George Clooney that takes places in Bali.

The next day, we relaxed by the pool in the morning and then went for a walk to some nearby rice fields. We really enjoyed strolling on the road and small trails and seeing the staggered rice fields and jungle. We spent the rest of the day relaxing by the pool and of course getting our free massages. For dinner we wanted something other than Indonesian food for a change and got Mexican tacos nearby. The food was way better than our Slovenian Mexican food! The atmosphere of the restaurant was also very fun. There was a live rock band that was playing songs off a set list that they passed around (this list was laminated and had hundreds of songs- they meant business). You could request a song by writing down the song on a piece of paper. We were some of the only customers at the time they started playing, so we just kept throwing them requests and they delivered! We rocked out for another hour before heading back to our hostel to start packing before we departed for Gili Air in the morning.

Overall, we liked Ubud, but we feel like a few days was enough time for us there. We have heard that parts of northern Bali are beautiful, but we don't have much of a draw to return there after seeing how over developed, crowded, and westernized it has become. But, we probably couldn't have found a better place to relax and pamper ourselves for a few days, so no regrets!

The Ubud Monkey Forest (Renaissance Style)

Mom and her 2 babies

Portrait of a Male long-tailed macaque

The path thru the Monkey Forest

A wild Bird of Paradise plant

Houses in the jungle

Rice Field

Ubud Palace

The Hostel we stayed at

Had to get a juice by the pool

Massages everyday were a must!

Hostel breakfast

Mexican restaurant turned rock concert

Gili Air: We booked a fast ferry in the morning to get from Bali to the Gili Islands. The Gili Islands are three small islands right off the northwest coast of the larger island of Lombok. There are three Gili's, and they all had different reputations- Gili Trawangan (aka Gili T) is the largest, and known for being a "party" spot; Gili Meno is the smallest, least developed, and most tranquil, and is known as the "Honeymoon Island;" Gili Air's vibe lies somewhere between the two and is known for offering a little bit of everything, so we opted to spend time on this one. We had done research and heard from others that the boat ride from Bali to the Gili's could be pretty rough through the Lombok Strait so we wanted to get a larger boat and sail in the morning when the seas are typically calmer. Our driver picked us up from our Hostel in Ubud and then dropped us off at the port where we boarded our boat. The ride took about 1 hour and we boarded a smaller boat in the harbor of Gili Air to get to shore. Thankfully, the boat ride was totally smooth, but we were still glad with our decision to spend a little more and get to the island without worries. From the port, we walked 20 minutes through town to our hostel Tipsy Turtle were we had booked a three bed dorm room for a few nights. Walking through Gili Air was such a drastic change from the chaotic traffic of Bali since there are no vehicles on Gili Air; everyone gets around by foot, bicycle, electric scooter, or by horse-drawn buggies.

That afternoon, Melissa went to the free yoga class offered daily by the hostel on a balcony upstairs. The instructor, Sara, was amazing, and it was one of the best yoga sessions Melissa had ever had, and she made sure to go to yoga everyday while they were there (Carson even joined a couple of times). Our hostel was located just a block off the ocean, and that evening, we walked five minutes up the beach and watched a spectacular sunset. We could see all the way to the island of Bali and watched the sun set over the faraway volcano Mount Agung. That same night, we reunited with Juliette at the hostel and met new friends from Britain, Switzerland, and Germany. We had happy hour drinks and a family dinner before heading to the bars with everyone. One of the bars was located right on the beach, and the floor was just sand. We had a great time dancing and watching a performer dance and throw fire sticks.

The next day we signed up for a snorkeling tour with our friends through the hostel. The tour took us out by boat into a few snorkeling spots in the crystal clear waters around Gili Air and Gili Meno. Carson unfortunately had some issues with his first snorkel and got a minor sting by a jellyfish which was a rough first snorkeling experience for him, but he got a new snorkel and rallied to see two large sea turtles swimming together and lots of beautiful reefs and fish. It made all the issues prior forgettable! We ate lunch on Gili Meno and watched as black storm clouds ominously rolled in toward the islands and started making the water rough. We ended up skipping the last snorkel spot due to the weather and boated back to the hostel through a rain storm. It was wavy, but not too rough, but the worst part was the cold rain and spray that had everyone on the boat drenched and freezing cold. When we arrived back, we all jumped into the hostel pool to warm back up. For dinner, a group of us went to a restaurant called Shendy's Cafe that a local recommend to Juliette. We tried a new dish called Daging Lapis which was slow cooked beef in a coconut sauce with rice. It was Carson's favorite Indonesian dish that we had tried so far on the trip, and it wasn't our last time eating it before we left the island....

The next day, we walked around the island. The island is so small it only takes 20 mins to reach each side of the island and 40 mins to walk around the whole island. We loved the size of it since it made everything so accessible. We also found it to be the perfect size because there were enough restaurants, cafes, and bars to try without getting bored (and the food was really good!), even though much of the island is still undeveloped. We walked to the beaches on the other side of the island and met up with Juliette. We relaxed, read, walked into the water, and looked for sea shells. On the way back to the hostel we stopped at a small shack off a side road and replenished our fluids with some fresh coconuts. For dinner, a group of us went to a really good pizza place that is owned by an Italian. This was a more expensive dinner compared to the Indonesian food we were usually eating, but it was a nice change and tasted as good as the pizza we had in Italy! Sadly we had to say goodbye to Juliette tonight since she was leaving the next morning for the Komodo Tour a few days before we were. We were so glad we had gotten to travel with her for a few weeks and were already planning our future reunion in France!

The next day, we relaxed and worked on plans for the next part of our trip. We had originally only booked five nights at the hostel on Gili Air, and we thought we might head to the island of Lombok next to visit more beaches or climb the Rinjani volcano prior to our Komodo Tour that was starting in a week. The more we thought about it though, the more we realized we weren't ready to leave our little paradise on Gili and opted to extend our stay until we had to leave for Komodo. We had been moving a little more quickly throughout Europe and on Java, so it was nice to have a home base for a while to relax, reset, and start to feel a little more local. That afternoon, we rented snorkels from a nearby shop and swam out to the reefs in front of our hostel. We saw a hawksbill and a green turtle and were able to swim alongside one completely by ourselves. It was one of the most magical experiences we had, and the turtles were just so beautiful! We got dinner that night with our group of friends at a place called Munchies that our friend Eileen had been to earlier. They only had curry at the time, but it was delicious even though it took a long time to get our food (they make it fresh to order and use some fresh ingredients from their garden).

The next day we walked around and found our next lodging on the island. As much as we were loving the hostel and making new friends, we decided to book a private bungalow for the rest of our stay to get out of a dorm and have some more quiet time. We went back to Munchies for lunch since we wanted to try more of the menu. We were were the only customers, and weren't even sure they were open at the time, but we learned later this is just their vibe lol. We ordered pizza, spring rolls, and pineapple juice, and while they took a long time to make again, they were so good we didn't care. We then went back to the hostel to participate in their beach clean up. We were looking forward to this hostel activity to give back to the island we were loving so much. We were surprised that aside from the hostel volunteer, we were the only people that showed up to clean the beach! We picked up trash for little over an hour and had three large trash bags full. It felt great cleaning the beach but it was also disappointing to see how much trash people left in such a beautiful place. We went back to Shendy's that night for dinner. Mel tried a new dish that was also delicious, but Carson stuck with his favorite Daging Lapis.

The next morning, after enjoying the hostel's free waffle breakfast for a final time, we moved to our new lodging and relaxed. Our new place was pretty close to the hostel, but was on a property with a handful of private bungalows. Our bungalow was very nice and had a relaxing hammock outside amid the flowers and plants. It did have A/C, but was a little "rustic" so Carson did have to scare away some geckos and bugs that would sometimes get inside. That night for dinner, we tried a new restaurant called Optimiz Prime that became another one of our favorites!

The next day, we slept in and relaxed, and enjoyed the free breakfast at the bungalow. We grabbed tacos from a restaurant off the beach, and then borrowed snorkeling equipment from the bungalow and hit the beach. Melissa laid out and read while Carson snorkeled and saw another turtle.

The next day, we planned to hang around the bungalow and work on the blog, but the internet there and around most of the island was down. We decided to go to a coffeeshop instead, and fortunately their WiFi was working. We spent most of the afternoon there and loved the vibe (and the coffee and juices!). After a while, we went our separate ways for a while- Carson got a haircut, and Mel went to the north side of the island to talk to some scuba schools about doing a discover dive. Carson's haircut was $3 and during the haircut, the island had lost power so the fans shut off inside the barber shop. It was sweaty for both Carson and the barber but in the end the haircut turned out good! We regrouped later at a beachside bar on the western side of the island where we sat on beanbags by the water and watched the sun go down with some happy hour mojitos. That night, we went to a cooking class where we got to make four Indonesian dishes. The first was a snack/dessert called kelopon which is a sweet rice cake ball filled with palm sugar and coated in grated coconut. It was bright green and had almost a gummy/chewy texture. It was pretty good, but not our favorite dessert. Next, we made fired tempeh with a spicy peanut dipping sauce, which we devoured! Next, we made fried noodles and vegetables, which were also delicious, but by this time we were getting kind of full and wanted to leave room for the star of the show- the yellow chicken curry. This curry was so creamy and the perfect level of spice. It was honestly one of the best curries we'd ever had! The class was so fun, and our fellow chefs and teacher were really amazing.

The next day, we went back to the coffee shop, Gili Coffee Roasters since we were still having WiFi issues at the bungalow. We got to know one of the employees, Lena, who was so friendly, and she even gave us free mangos from the tree in the garden! That afternoon, Carson went to snorkel again and saw yet another turtle, which never got old. Meanwhile, Mel went to her discover scuba diving class where she spent the afternoon going over the basics of scuba theory, practicing the essentials in the pool, and then doing a 45 minute ocean dive down to 12 meters with two instructors and another student. She had never scuba dived before, but growing up in Florida had always been curious about it, so this seemed like a good way to test it out before signing up for the open water certification (Carson was still working on snorkeling, so no scuba for him yet!). She absolutely loved the dive- the technique felt pretty intuitive to her, and the visibility was insanely clear. They saw so many beautiful reefs and fish (clownfish, parrot fish, butterfly fish, scorpion fish, trumpet fish, puffer fish, etc.) as well as both a hawksbill and green turtle. She was hooked, and was only disappointed that she hadn't tried earlier since she didn't have enough time to finish her certification before they had to leave the island. To celebrate the great day, we went back to Optimiz Prime for another amazing meal that night.

On our final day on the island, we revisited some of our favorite places and spent time doing our favorite activities. We went to the coffee shop one last time to chill and chat with Lena, got lunch at Munchies (where they had to literally call the chef to come make the food since we were the only customers), and then snorkeled in the afternoon. We swam alongside a turtle again which was a great send off from the island. We got sunset drinks at the beachside bar, and for dinner, we got our favorite Indonesian food from the island one last time (Daging Lapis at Shendy's). We finally went to pack up for an early wake up to catch the first boat to Lombok and join our Komodo Tour.

We can't say enough about how much we loved our time on Gili Air. It was the perfect place for us to relax, try new activities, eat amazing food, and get to know some amazing people (both locals and fellow travelers). We loved being there long enough to return to places we liked and feeling like we had a bit of a routine again. We were sad to say goodbye, but can definitely see ourselves returning there in the future.