4 Days in Ubud, Bali, Indonesia

$12 for the best massage of my life.

Beautiful, peaceful. Perfect at sunrise

Go with a tour guide...beautiful, but unfortunately extremely CROWDED and a tourist bit. From the top you can see panoramic views of Mount Agung and it truly looks unimaginably picturesque. When you arrive, you can borrow sarongs for free-mandatory for EVERYONE in coherence with the “no bare shoulders or knees” rule. It took TWO hours to get our turn at the heavenly gates which absolutely shocked me. It was so sad how overrun with tourists this once holy place had become. However, I still wouldn’t trade the chance I had to see it. *TIP*: If I could do it again, I would just hire a driver to get here at sunrise. I can only imagine what the temple looks liked bathed in the early morning glow. Its beauty is unparalleled in anything I’ve ever seen before.

I was absolutely floored with its beautiful blend of architecture and art. There were gorgeous tiered fountains and intricate sculptures out of animals carved out of stone. You get the chance to feed beautiful koi fish which are of course massive from overfeeding. Again, a place that I’m sure is incredibly peaceful when not overrun with tourists. I could sit on one of those park benches for hours with a good book just reading and people watching. I kind of wish there was a limit on how many people could enter each day.

Big tourist spot, short but slippery hike down. Wear waterproof shoes

Super beautiful and picturesque place. Touristy, but I really enjoyed it

I’d never seen anything quite like it-so much green, the terraces truly just carved out of the earth. We were able to wander through the terraces for a good half an hour before sundown.

Great healthy and vegetarian options

It was truly quite beautiful and the macaques are free to roam-even in the streets of the city. It was cool to be able to observe them just living their lives even though it’s still nowhere what it’d be in nature

My favourite memory from this trip was our hike up Mt Batur. We slept 4 hours to be ready for a 2am pick up to Mt Batur. We planned to hike up for 2 hours at a near 45 degree angle through the jungle to watch the sunrise from the top. It was incredible. You know that feeling when you’re so out of breath and exhausted and your legs are burning with lactic acid and you know you almost gave up nearly 5x and had to poop in the woods, but you see the sky start to change colours and you are floored. THAT feeling. I realized how much I have been missing the mountains. I hadn’t been on a hiking trip in almost 2 years then! Absolutely much needed. I got a big dose of that high on this hike and watching my friends, from two different stages of my life, laugh with tired but bright eyes backlit with the rising sun induced a type of nostalgia even though I was right there with them. It is absolutely one of my favourite memories of my entire life. I am so humbled and know I have to go back just to do this hike again.