Bali, Indonesia

Bali is a small island located in Indonesia

After a few days of falling in love with Kuala Lumpur, Emiliya and I headed south of the equator to Bali, Indonesia. My major bucket list item for Indonesia was the Gili Islands, which are located east of Bali, so it seemed necessary to at least take a few days to explore the much-loved island of Bali along the way. Bali got it's claim to fame after Elizabeth Gilbert's Eat, Pray, Love hit the shelves in 2006. The book tells the true story of Elizabeth Gilbert as she travels the world in search of herself after recently ending her marriage, along the way she stops in Italy, India and ends her year of travel in Bali, Indonesia. Known for it's "soul-searching" aspect, Bali is home to yoga retreats, medicine men and is rumored to have more temples than homes. Gilbert finds true happiness and love while in Bali, and as a result there has been a huge increase in travel to this part of the world ever since her book hit the New York Time's best seller list. A typical trip to Bali usually includes yoga retreats, temple visits and general detox from the world.

Front entrance to our hostel

I, however, had different plans for my quick visit to Bali. I've never found myself to be much of a spiritual person, and personally I don't feel that I need to do any soul searching. For me, Bali was a nice vacation lounging by the pool and enjoying delicious (and cheap) food. With no real plans it was easy to just relax and talk to the other backpackers and travelers staying at our hostel. Each day we took to the streets, strolling along in search of cute boutiques, souvenirs and gelato. Our hostel itself was an awesome experience to be a part of. It reminded me much more of a resort as opposed to a hostel and the area took up a large portion of land with many different buildings. There were hammocks hung up in the shade, koi ponds filled with fish, bamboo huts for taking naps, bookshelves everywhere, and plenty of rooms for sleeping.

The pool area of our hostel

Talking with some of the other travelers at our hostel, it became evident that a trip to Bali isn't complete without a trek to the top of Mt. Batur for sunrise, so without even questioning it we quickly found ourselves handing over $23 and agreeing to a 2am pickup for the next morning. Mt. Batur is an active volcano located on the island of Bali and it has an amazing overlook to a lake and other mountains. Everyone was right when they said it's a popular thing to do in Bali, from our hostel alone we had 9 people going, and our entire hike up the mountain you could look down in the dark and see a steady stream of hikers lighting their way with flashlights. The day before our hike there were numerous people complaining about their sore muscles and sleeping away their exhaustion, so I built it up in my head as a pretty challenging endeavor. Fortunately my mind played tricks on me and the reality of the hike wasn't nearly as bad as I had feared. The two hour hike was in no way easy, but it helped that it was still the middle of the night when we started the climb, so the chilly mountain air felt refreshing as we hauled ourselves up. While waiting for the sunrise we got a filling breakfast and got time to talk with our fellow hikers and then we all watched together as the sun slowly peeked through the clouds and lit up the lake below us. It was definitely a site worth seeing and I would advise it to anyone who finds themselves in Bali!

Sunrise from the top of Mt. Batu 

On our way back to the hostel we all fell asleep within minutes of leaving the parking lot, only to be woken up 30 minutes later when we arrived at a coffee plantation. We were all exhausted, but the promise of free coffee was enough to get us out of the car. Bali is famous for their coffee plantations, and no one seems to know just how many there are, instead they just know that there are a lot. We got a quick tour of the area and saw how the coffee beans are grown, and then we got to sit down for a sample of five coffees and two teas. I'm proud to say that after 24 years on this earth I have finally found a tea that I like! Lemongrass tea! Lemongrass is an ingredient used all over Asia, especially in Thailand, and it's a scent that I quickly fell in love with, but I never thought to try the tea. I found my way to the tiny shop at the coffee plantation to buy myself some lemongrass tea to take home, and I hope I'll be able to find more once I finish my first batch.

Coffee and tea sampling at the coffee plantation

Cloudy sites as we made our way down the volcano

After our eventful morning of trekking and coffee sampling we made it back to our hostel where I took the deepest nap I've ever experienced. Three hours of sleep followed by way too much physical activity leaves me pretty useless. We spent the rest of our day swimming and eating and then settled in for our last night in Bali. Next up: Gili Islands!

________________________________________________________________________________

Logistical Info

- We stayed at In Da Lodge Hostel for $9/night. It's in a good location in Ubud and is a very popular hostel for the area.

- Ubud is located about an hour from the Bali airport and a taxi ride was around $30 one way.

- Meals and living are very cheap in Indonesia. A meal including appetizers and drinks is usually only around $5.

- Most hostels and hotels are in touch with tour companies for Mt. Batur and they'll include pick-up and drop-off at your accommodations. The tour is $23 and includes transportation, numerous guides on the hike (in case your group gets split up due to speed), breakfast, entrance and sampling at the coffee plantation.
- We booked our transportation to Gili Islands from our hostel. It was $45 for a roundtrip van (to the ferry docks) and ferry ride. The return can be to your previous residence in Bali, or somewhere else on the island.