4 weeks into my semester at Sydney Uni I found myself faced with a whole week off of school. 'Mid-Semester Break' is what they refer to it as here. The American 'Spring Break' wouldn't exactly fit seeing as we are now into autumn and we all know the Canadian 'Reading Week' is a bunch of malarkey because no one actually studies on their week off.
Regardless of what it should be called, I had a week of freedom staring me in the face, what to do with this week, I asked myself. Why not take a trip to Bali, Indonesia!?
Now this may seem somewhat random and a little bit like I'm straying off my Down Under travel course, but fear not, I was in fact practicing my new Aussie way of being 'laid back' and 'going with the flow' when I decided to embark on this journey! A friend mentioned it and Jacy and I took the idea and ran with it, budget flights were fairly inexpensive out of Sydney and once we arrived we knew we could find some cheap hotel and deliscious food for the fraction of the price of some other popular destinations and in Australia itself!
Day one involved a 6 and a half hour flight, one that I found rather short and not really a big deal in comparison to my recent double digit hours in the air. The real transportation adventure came when we hit the streets of Bali!
Some notes on driving:
- street lines are more of a guide than something that people actually follow, they are often straddled!
- there are motorbikes and scooters everywhere! With varying number of passengers (1-5) and different degrees of helmet wearing.
- traffic lights, when they exist, are also optional
- your horn is your best friend, now this does not mean the blaring hard press and hold on the horn that we are used to, it is more of a constant flow of quick toots usually to let everyone else know where on the road you are and are going, this is to compensate for the lack of line usage I believe! Also people don't often look before moving, honking also helps with preventing accidents in that sense. Basically, your horn is your signal!
And this is driving outside the city!
We were able to pack in a whole lot over our 8 night stay but would recommend a longer visit as there is so much to do on this little island! I will include mostly pictures with short descriptions of my various adventures, and I'll look forward to talking about my trip more in depth with all of you when I get the chance.
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| There were offerings everywhere, everyday. They line the sidewalks in front of store so watch your step! |
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| DR. FISH! For $3.50 you can spend 15 minutes getting the dead skin eaten off of your feet by these tiny Garra Rufa fish. It is a ticklie/vibrating sensation. I loved it and would invest in a school of these fish for my home! |
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| Off to the city of Ubud with the famous Monkey Forest. Hold on to your sunglasses and zip up your bags because these little guys love to steal from you, especially when they think you have food! Beautiful scenery and a few temples were encapsulated in this $2 attraction. |
night in Ubud.  |
| Off to the Elephant Safari Park in Taro. Meet Fajar (meaning dawn in Indonesian) She was born on March 22nd of this year. She was a healthy mix of awkward and adorable! |
We got to touch, feed, ride and play with some of the 31 Asian elephants located at this sanctuary. Such a great experience! And check out the show they put on for us, such smart animals;
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| The next morning we decided to go on the crazy tour that involved being picked up at 2:30 am so that we could climb the 5,633 ft. active volcano, Mt. Batur and watch the sunrise.This picture says it all, the trek was long and difficult but making it to the summit as the sun peaked out from behind the clouds was more than satisfying! |
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| The view was amazing and we were lucky to have picked a good weather day. Tranquility and Bliss. We arrived at the bottom at 8am, satisfied with the mornings work. |
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| An afternoon at the spa was the only way to recover from the mornings adventure! We went for a Balinese massage (1 Hour $15) at beautiful Botanica Spa in Ubud. All throughout Bali you can get amazing spa treatments from pedicures for $8 to full body scrubs for $12, and we couldn't say no to a flower bath! |
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| A view of one of the many rice paddies that spot the landscape in Bali, gloriously green! |
A trip to the local Ubud market was included in the cooking class that I took at Bumi Bali restaurant with Katut (meaning fourth born). Lots of new sights and sounds and smells!
The menu included a basic spice paste, a vegetable dish, a chicken curry, some pork satay, fried banana and brem (rice wine) punch! All very delicious and I am equipped with a recipe book so that I can recreate!
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| The next stop was the Gili Islands, located about an hours boat ride away from Bali. We saw wild dolphins on our trip to the biggest of the island that make up the 3 Gillies, Trawangan. Beautiful blue skies and blue-green clear water! There are no motorized vehicles on these islands, all transportation comes in the form of bikes, horse carriages or your own two feet! |
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| Coral lined the beaches and when you went into the warm warm water you had to float around as the ground was sharp with it! |
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| We went on a snorkelling trip around the 3 Gilis and got to see some beautiful fish (big and small and in every colour) as well as some other interesting sea creatures. The hilight had to be the two turtle spottings! Unfortunately the reefs in this part of the world are pretty damaged but steps are being taken to SAVE THE CORAL! |
Overall the trip the Bali was an amazing one and I have to say it definitely fed my travel bug! I foresee a backpacking trip around South-East Asia in my future! Thanks for viewing
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