Before I left work, but after I knew I was leaving, I still had a few trips planned as an employed traveler. Once I decided to start a blog, I figured I might as well take the time to understand what I was doing in the meantime with the goal of becoming an expert blogger by March 1st. Please, no judgments if I’m not there in time…

For the past three years, I have been going on an annual summer trip with my friends Nina and Gina. Previous trips have been to Greece and Croatia; this year we went to Bali. We obviously have a theme of choosing places with astounding natural beauty and this trip was no exception. I figured the Bali trip would be a good opportunity to start polishing my blogging skills. 😉 For reference, as of the first day of our trip, I still had 27 weeks of work to go (not that I was counting or anything). However, I was still pretty fully immersed in my job and very excited for a big trip.

Days 1-3: Ubud

We chose to spend our first few days in Ubud. It is inland and further from the airport compared to some of the other tourist destinations in Bali, so we figured it was a good place to start. Nina chose our hotel and I 100% approved of her choice. Bisma Eight was a newer boutique hotel that offered all of the amenities you could want, a breathtaking view of the forest from the infinity pool, and a modern yet authentic aesthetic.

We hired a private driver (Ketut) to show us the sights for three of the days we were in Bali. At ~$60/day, this was a no brainer. The first day, we saw a lot. I’ve learned that the best way to fight jet lag when you first arrive to a distant locale (Bali is 12 hours ahead of Eastern Daylight Time) is to jam-pack your itinerary so you don’t have to think about what to do and can ride off the adrenaline of being a new place as much as possible. On our agenda for day one: Gunung Kawi (temple), Istana Tampak Siring (temple), Seghara Windhu (coffee plantation), a forgettable lunch and the Bali Swing.

Gunung Kawi was the perfect place to start. The temple was built into a mountain and the views were astounding. There were also A LOT of steps. It was nice that it was early and the weather was overcast, but we were still dripping in sweat by the time we got back to the car. However, I had foregone a morning workout since Gina and I didn’t arrive at the hotel until after 1am and did I mention the views? WORTH IT.

Next up was Istana Tampak Siring. The big thing here was the holy water temple. I will admit that I was not very excited about the idea of entering a cold pool full of strangers to dunk my head numerous times under numerous fountains, but when in Bali… Ketut instructed us on the proper way to pray and generally conduct ourselves under the fountains and off we went.

Third stop was coffee. Yassssss. We needed some caffeine. I thought I heard Ketut say something about “poop coffee” but figured it had to be something about his accent or a language barrier. Nope. Upon arrival at the Segara Windhu Coffee Plantations, we learned that the coffee beans used to make luwak coffee were in fact eaten by an animal that the tour guide kept referring to as “the animal” (in fact an Asian palm civet, if you care to know). They were then partially digested and defecated, and eventually turned into a consumable coffee beverage (I imagine I’m skipping a ton of steps in between the defecation and consumption stages).

Final stop of the day with Ketut: the Bali Swing. This place was uber touristy and obviously designed solely for the purpose of Instagram, but I didn’t really care. The photo ops were still unreal and I was going to post them all over the place. Nina wasn’t a big fan of the swing, but she sucked it up and still gave it a try, so I commended her for getting outside of her comfort zone.

We ended the day with two-for-one happy hour drinks at our hotel bar and another forgettable meal for dinner. Strike two. We quickly learned that reservations were a good idea as the winging-it approach wasn’t really working when it came to dining.

Day two started with rooftop yoga at our hotel. I’ve never had great experiences with the complimentary morning yoga classes that hotels offer, but this was probably the best one I’ve attended (still not saying much, but a nice way to start the day, regardless).

Nina was intent on going to the monkey forest, and being the good friends that we are, Gina and I were more than happy to accompany her. The forest itself felt like it was something out of a Tarzan movie and monkeys really were everywhere. We had heard stories about monkeys jumping on people and stealing sunglasses, phones, etc. However, these monkeys were pretty good about leaving the humans alone. On the other hand, they did seem very interested in each other. I’m not sure if it was mating season or what, but some children probably got a good lesson in sex ed that day.

After being traumatized by the monkeys, we were ready for a break. We headed back to the hotel to enjoy the infinity pool. Nina and Gina eventually ventured out to try a healing session and massage, respectively, while I stayed behind to read. Then, time for more two-for-one happy hour cocktails and dinner at Bridges.

Bridges came highly recommended from friends that had visited Bali and it didn’t disappoint. The multi-level, open air restaurant was located overlooking a river and two bridges (surprise, surprise) and was surrounded by lush jungle. It felt a bit like being at Disneyland, but the food was actually great. Finally!

On to day three. I worked out at the tiny hotel gym (at least it existed) and we had another wonderful breakfast at the rooftop restaurant. I forgot to mention earlier that breakfast was included in our room rate and it was a highlight. No buffet at Bisma Eight. We were able to order anything we wanted off the menu and it was all made to order. One starter, one main, two sides. My favorites were the fresh fruit to start, avocado toast with poached eggs, potato rosti and tomato w/ feta. The ambiance on the roof was also so peaceful, natural and relaxing.

The rest of the day was pretty calm. More pool time, reading, massages. The weather had been overcast most of the time we were in Ubud, but we finally got a great sunset on our last night in town. After our final round of two-for-one happy hour drinks, we headed back toward the monkey forest for dinner at Ibu Susu. Another excellent meal! The vegan sweet tempeh and cashew nut stir fry was right up my alley. I could see myself becoming a regular at Ibu Susu in the event that I ever ended up living in Ubud (unlikely, but you never know). Smallish bar with decent cocktails, good music, open air design, people enjoying themselves all around. What’s not to like?