If we are being completely honest, we did not totally know what to expect in Bali, Indonesia. We saw the many Instagramable photos of beaches, rice patties, and jungle temples. Some people we met in Australia said a month was way too long to stay, but we were not exactly sure what they meant by that.
We rented a small house called the Pirates Lookout in the Jimbaran area of Kuta, Bali. The house was a traditional Balinese wooden home. The owners built it out of reclaimed wood from a jetty and from old ships. It was small but beautiful. It was more of a studio apartment with a loft. There was no real living room to speak of and no kitchen. The owners have two other Airbnb listings on the property and we were able to use a shared kitchen across the road.
Our Host Ning, her husband Michael and their staff were all incredibly nice. For example, Mason stepped on Cooper’s glasses and Michael drove them all over town trying to find someone to fix them to no avail. Luckily, we had a second pair.
Unfortunately, on our first night, we left the light on in the bathroom and did not realize the window was just wood slats open to the outside. When we finally looked in the bathroom there must have been thousands of moths in there. They covered every surface. Needless to say, we were a little freaked out. Chelsea messaged the owner who came over with a staff member right away to clean up the bugs. The next day they propped some netting up on the outside of the window and Tom stuffed towels in the wooden slats from the inside. That took care of the window for the most part. It still allowed for our unofficial pet chichak and gecko lizard friends (who eat moths and mosquitoes) to come and go as they pleased. Along with the moths and lizards, there are also a lot of flies, mosquitoes, and other insects.
On top of that, it is hot! Not 100+ degree dry heat like in Australia, but humid, sticky, uncomfortable, sweaty heat. We blasted the small air conditioning unit, but it didn’t do much good since the space between where the walls and ceiling came together was open to the outside allowing for all the air to escape.
The owners also had four street dogs that watched over the property and barked anytime someone approached. They made us feel uneasy especially during dinners outside where they would huddle around our low table/lounge chair bench. One dog even snapped at Mason when he reached out to pet her. These things among others lead us to book a hotel for 5 nights and ultimately leave Bali 11 days earlier than planned.
One of the nice things about our Airbnb was the complimentary breakfast that they served us each morning at an outdoor table right outside our door. Every morning Mini treated us to a delicious fruit bowl with fruits like mango, dragon fruit, and snake fruit. They also gave us noodles or oats each morning along with tea, coffee and chocolate milk for the kids. For only paying $23 a night for the Airbnb it was a great deal.
There are two companies that will deliver food in Bali, Grab and Gojek. We ordered dinner most nights because it was awkward sharing the kitchen attached to the owner’s house and because the food was so cheap. Each time a driver on a motorbike delivered our meal, which is the main form of transportation on the island. We tried lots of traditional Indonesian meals as well as a few American staples like McDonald’s, KFC, and Pizza Hut.
For our first adventure in Bali, we decided to head to Jimbaran Beach to see what all the Bali beach hype was about. It was a rainy and windy day, but most days were so hot and humid so we didn’t mind. We went to the public section of the beach which was not very clean. It was littered with trash in a lot of areas. There were lots of women and young kids trying to pedal trinkets and souvenirs which is reminiscent of other countries we have visited like Jamaica, Mexico or Guatemala. We could see that the beach was a lot cleaner further down in front of some of the resorts.
After letting the kids play in the sand for a while, we got some ice cream for the kids at a pizza place on the beach. We noticed that Mason’s ear was really red and swollen and felt really warm. Some sort of bug had bitten him while playing in the sand. We were pretty worried about him for a while. Once we got home, we realized he had similar bites on his leg and ankle. Between the bites from the beach and the bites from all the bugs both inside and outside of our Airbnb, our kids’ skin was in pretty rough shape.
One day we decided to visit Upsidedown World. Friends and family have undoubtedly seen the photos already on Instagram or Facebook. It was a small shop with several scenes set up in different rooms to make it look like you are upsidedown and balancing on the ceiling. As you walk through the rooms, a guide can help position you and take your photos. The boys were a little unimpressed until we flipped the pictures around to show them what it could look like. We were hoping it would occupy more time but it only took about 15 minutes to get through.
We decided to walk to a place called World of Magic that was about a 10-minute walk down the road. It was quite the harrowing walk without sidewalks in several areas and having to walk next to the incredibly busy road with all of the motorbikes weaving in and out of traffic. When we arrived at the magic place they were just closing up even though Google showed they were supposed to be open for several more hours. The employees were really nice and performed a few magic tricks for us on the street that the kids loved. They even gave them a magic set from the gift shop to take home. That was one of several encounters we had with really awesome people from Bali.
Garuda Wisnu Kencana Cultural Park(GWK) was such a fun day! We got to check out the 400-foot tall GWK statue that is amongst some of the biggest in the world. It is relatively modern but was quite a tourism investment. In fact, it took 25 years to build and is 100 feet taller than the Statue of Liberty. It was pretty incredible! You could see it miles away from the airport! There are many other sculptures around the park including a 75-foot sculpture of the Hindu God Vishnu. After checking out the park, we saw a traditional Balinese dance performance. The kids loved the dancing dragons with two people inside the costume. They also liked how the dance looked like fighting. GWK park is definitely worth a visit.
We took a Grab (like Uber) to the Uluwatu Temple. The Hindus built this temple on top of a cliff that overlooks a beautiful coastline. They give you many warnings to watch out for the monkeys that inhabit the temple and its surrounding area. There weren’t as many monkeys as we thought there would be, but while trying to get a quick photo one did almost swipe Cooper’s glasses right off of his head. Luckily, Chelsea was able to chase it away with her umbrella.
Sometimes it’s nice to take a vacation from our vacation and stay in a hotel for a few nights. Thanks once again to our Marriott Bonvoy card we were able to book five nights at the Element by Westin in Ubud, Bali for free using points. Hats off to Marriott for another great stay! We all loved the large swimming pool with floating mats. There was a children’s center with toys and lots of LEGOs, so everyone was happy. The breakfast buffet was amazing with traditional Indonesian foods, exotic fruits, and juices as well as many other western items that we were familiar with. And even though we only had free breakfast for two with our room, they didn’t charge us for the kids. What a treat!
The city of Ubud is about a 2-hour drive north from where we were staying in Jimbaran. We were able to get a ride from Andy who also picked us up at the airport when we arrived. We were all extremely excited to spend five nights at this beautiful hotel.
Ubud is still a very busy city, but it is a lot cleaner than Jimbaran in Kuta. We really liked the area much better and would recommend a visit. Our first afternoon in town, we walked down the street by our hotel room and checked out some of the local shops. We had a really good and really cheap lunch next door at Kakiang Garden Cafe.
The next morning we got a ride to the main part of town to see the Ubud Palace. The palace was built during the early 1800s to house the royal family of Ubud. It was an incredible building but only took a few minutes to walk through. Across the street from the palace is the Ubud Art Market. We did a little shopping before retiring to Starbucks and then back to the hotel for some swimming.
Our hotel had a free shuttle that went to the Sacred Monkey Forest Sanctuary. The Monkey Forest is home to around 700 monkeys. It was fun to walk around the forest checking out the monkeys. It was also a little nerve-racking. On more than one occasion we watched monkeys jump on peoples back and take stuff from their backpacks. Luckily, we made it our unscathed considering we were carrying a bag full of snacks for Chelsea and Mason’s diabetes. They also had a lot of Koi fish which we learned if you clap your hands they will all swim in the direction of the clapping. That kept the boys busy for quite some time.
Our driver Andy told us we had to try a native Balanisan dish called Babi Gouling or suckling pig. We went to Ibu Oka to try it, Anthony Bourdain ate there and said it was the best pig he had ever eaten. He was right! The meat was so tender and delicious. Unfortunately, they were out of the skin by the time we got there. It was an awesome foodie experience to eat at a place that Anthony Bourdain loved so much!
We decided to try and find a rice field we could see from our hotel. We took a guess and went down an alley we thought was close to it. Turns out that we were one street off. We met a man name Kadak who asked us what we were doing. No doubt perplexed by the American family walking by his home on a dead-end street. We told him what we were doing, and he invited us into his home to take photos from the second level. He was very proud of his home and was in the process of building the second level by himself. After that, he lead us out onto the rice field while holding Cooper’s hand, of course. We got to go see the cows in the field. Kadak taught the boys a few Balanise words like “suksma,” which means thank you.
It turns out Kadak carved beautiful designs in all kinds of animal skulls and invited us to check out his shop which we did the following day. While not our cup of tea, the carvings were incredible. These are the priceless real-world experiences that travel can bring. You never know what you are going to find along the road!
We hired a driver for a few hours to bring us to the Tegallagalang Rice Terraces. Local farmers still work these beautiful rice terraces. It was interesting to watch them work. One of the things we wanted to try in Bali was the Bali swings. They had a few on-site and three of us decided able to try it out. It was a little scary but lots of fun.
On our ride back from Ubud to Jimbaran, we had Andy stop at Kopi Luwak coffee shop/plantation. The worker showed us the cherry plants that contain the coffee bean or seed of the cherry. They had Asian Palm Civet animals in cages around the property which was kind of sad. The Civet eats the cherries and then poops out the coffee bean seeds. Workers crack open the seeds and roast them. The result is Kopi Luwak the most expensive coffee in the world. We bought one cup to share which was only $4 on-site. It tasted like normal coffee to us, but what do we know about coffee? It was a fun experience nonetheless. They also had an assortment of teas to try for free like lemongrass, chocolate, and mangosteen. Pisang Goereng (battered deep-fried bananas) that came with the tasting was perhaps the best part.
On our last full day in Bali, we went to explore an area of South Kuta called Nusa Dua. Our plan was to visit the beach near a few of the resort areas. We spent some time near the Hyatt property, where we snuck in (with permission) to use the play area near the beach. Then we went down to the beach and dipped our feet in the water. It was very hot and sunny, but the water felt refreshing. We headed over to the Marriott Beach Club for a light lunch of fish tacos, chicken nachos, and frozen mint limeade. It was a nice way to spend our last day there.
The next day, we flew to Penang, Malaysia with a short transfer in Singapore.
Bali reminded us of some of the popular vacation destinations like Cancun or Jamaica, which people often visit from the United States. Tourism often shows one side of tropical living. There are some incredibly beautiful places to visit, and it can look like an Instagram paradise. The temples, beaches, and wildlife are spectacular.
However, there is a difference between going for a vacation and feeling what it would be like to live in a place. We feel like, over the past two weeks in Bali, Indonesia, we have been able to see this island from both perspectives. We felt the hot, humid conditions, our kids got bitten up by mosquitos, bugs in the sand and in our wooden home, and we walked through garbage and filth just to go to the store. But we understand that this is how many people live every day. Although it was uncomfortable and we ended up leaving early, we are glad that our family had this experience. Since many liked the quote at the end of our last post, we will leave you with this one.
“Certainly, travel is more than the seeing of sights; it is a change that goes on, deep and permanent, in the ideas of living.” – Mary Ritter Beard