KV. : Wanderlust adventures: Indonesia Part I

It's hard to resist traveling to Asia more-so than other parts of the world for us Aussies because it's cheap, easy, and not in Australia, lol. Not to mention, Indonesia is our closest Asian neighbour (5 hour direct flight form Melbourne) and Jetstar deals are too good not to take advantage of. Bali has never been on top of my list in terms of travel however the flight deals got the better of me and I booked right away. Like anywhere I travel to, whether it's local, interstate or overseas, I like to keep an open mind and expect nothing. Aussies love Bali and now I know why, the Balinese people are incredibly hospitable, friendly and don't be offended if they ask you personal questions it's just their way of getting to know you. Anyway, here's a quick recap of my trip back in April-May...

Infinity pool #2 at Pertiwi Bisma in Ubud

SEMINYAK

Days/Nights:
- 1N at Harris Hotel - this is the newest hotel of the chain and we only spent the night here as soon as we arrived in Bali.
- 1D and 1N at Villa Bunga Hotel & Spa on our last night in Indonesia, this was more like self contained cottage rather then a hotel room which was great but we didn't take advantage of the kitchen and facilities as much as we liked.

What we did:

- Potato Head Beach Club

- W Hotel

- Massages, spa, massages, spa, etc... (you would too if it was only $6 for a 1 hour full body massage)
- Unfortunately I can't comment on the shopping, I didn't do any during my whole trip. I did hear it's good though and if you're gonna go, Seminyak is where it's at.

UBUD

Days/Nights:
- 4D / 3N at Hotel Pertiwi Bisma I, we got a little confused with this place there's actually two hotels by the same name, turns out the one we stayed at is not the "spa" but the two amazing infinity pools that we did get at ours made up for it.

What we did:

- Monkey Forest
- Local Temples

- Volcano Batur and Sunrise Trek Tour (this tour included guide, breakfast and coffee tasting with snacks)

- A full day trip to Pura Lempuyang Temple Hike (we hired a driver for the whole day and he stopped at various points throughout the scenic drive including Gao Lawah Temple/Bat Cave Temple and Ujung Water Palace)

- More massages and fish spas

- Tegalalang Rice Terrace

- EATTT!

Bali travel tips:

- You'll come across monkeys quiet often, try not to feed them unless it's the designated bananas provided in the monkey forest. If you're hiking to Mt Batur or Pura Lempuyang like we did, the monkeys are much wilder there, try not to wear anything shiny or have food in your hand because it can attract them (they eat anything, I witnessed a baby monkey drink a whole 600ml bottle of Coke in one go and steal a sandwich from my friends hand).

- Be mindful of the Balinese culture, the religion on the Island is predominantly Hindu so ladies may have to wear a sarong and have covered shoulders as a sign of respect when entering temples.

- If you're prone to an upset stomach, I suggest taking tablets before meals and always drink bottled water. Also if you're extra paranoid, don't have ice in your drinks. You don't want Bali belly the first day into the trip.

- Taxi drivers are everywhere (they call themselves Taxi Drivers but they're just drivers), if you find a good deal, you can haggle a price with them to drive you around the whole day at a fixed rate. If they're really good, they'll take you on various stops along the way and even give you a little history on each place.

- I'm not much of a shopper but for people who don't know how to haggle, the best rule is to haggle it down to half of the price they say then work your way up until you come to an agreed price.

- Tipping, even though we don't do it in Australia, I generally tip when I'm overseas and everyone is different but if the service is great and the food is exceptional, I'll leave it up to you!

(Stay tuned for Part II - Lombok Mainland & Gili Islands)