A Bali Jolly Christmas
We just returned from our 10-day trip to Bali and are settling into “winter” in Chiang Mai. It even dropped into the 60s last night. Bali was fun, beautiful, and wild. I’ll keep this short:
- It’s green, tropical, and beautiful. There are rice paddies on the beach, dense jungle, mountains, volcanoes, etc.
- It’s known as the land of a thousand temples and they aren’t kidding.
- The beaches are beautiful, crazy, and dirty. The water is warm, blue, and the waves are great for surfing. We spent many days relaxing at the beach. The two biggest surprises were the amount of trash and how much of the beachfront is completely undeveloped.
- Ubud was our favorite stop. It’s a city in the jungle filled with boutique hotels, great food, and great shopping. Very relaxed with tons of stuff to do. We’d spend more time here next visit.
- We visited the Monkey Forest in Ubud (which I highly recommend) and learned that monkeys are thieves and savages. They are cute, but make sure you have no loose items and your bags are sealed shut. They will unzip your bag looking for food.
- Accommodations are ridiculously nice and cheap. All of our rooms were in great locations with excellent service, restaurants, laundry service, massages, infinity pools, etc. for $35-45/night. Probably the best value for the money of anywhere we’ve ever visited.
- We learned to surf! We’re still sore and sunburned two days later, but it was worth it. Lauren and I successfully caught multiple waves so I’m calling it a victory.
- The roads and traffic are absolutely terrible. A 12.4-mile drive from the airport takes about an hour and fifteen minutes. Taxis and rideshare apps both have their fair share of scammers. I recommend arranging private transportation from the airport to avoid any complications.
Bali was great overall. We stayed in nice hotels and spent lots of time in a pool or at the beach. The transportation was an absolute nightmare and did leave a bad taste in our mouths though. Lesson learned for next visit!
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