I went to Bali for 11 days with 3 of my friends from work and Sarah Yu. It was an amazing trip. Itinrary below:
Dec 28, 2007- Jan 2, 2008
Location: Buitan, Bali (tiny village on the east coast, far away from tourist zones)
Accommodation:a "hostel" that was really a homestay-- we slept in these amazing little treehouse bungalows (there were 4 total that surrounded a house in a tropical forest). We used outdoor bathrooms. We walked out our back gate and stepped onto beach. We fell asleep to the sounds of waves crashing, occasional dogs barking, chickens clucking, and geckos chirping.
Highlights: We spent most of our time in Buitan with locals who worked nearby our hostel and really got to know Balinese culture. We went snorkling, hiked to a waterfall, tasted palm wine, celebrated New Years dancing in the rain, tried a range of foods, rode moterbikes through the nearby villages, got massages, swam in the ocean, danced to live music, and hiked nearby mountains. It was relaxing, spontaneous, remote, and fabulous.
January 2-4
Location: Ubud, Bali (more central city known as the cultural center of Bali)
Accommodation: another "hostel" that was more like a hotel. We slept in normal indoor rooms as opposed to the treehouses we just left.
Highlights: We did a lot of shopping in Ubud (they are known for their wood carvings, sarongs, and stone art). We learned to barter like pros and my bag grew exponentially in weight. The monkey sanctuary at the end of our street provided a lot of entertainment one rainy morning. We took a day trip to numerous temples nearby and ate at the top of the volcano. We visited a place described in the book Eat, Pray, Love and ate the strangest vitamin lunch ever. We also enjoyed great Indonesian food and easier access to things like internet and bugspray.
January 4-8
Location: near Nusa Dua, Bali (on a piece of land that juts out on the south of Bali, a short drive away from all the fancy resorts)
Accommodation: this is where we splurged-- we stayed in a private villa where we had 3 bedrooms, 4 bathrooms (2 of which were outdoors), a private pool, a full kitchen,a beautiful deck, a second seating area by the pool, and 5-- yes 5-- people there to help us at any time: 2 houseboys, a cook, a butler, and a driver)
Highlights: we spent a lot of time just enjoying our amazing villa. We lounged around our pool, sipped drinks on our deck, at specially ordered meals, and read on our patios. We also loved the sandy beach that was just across the beach. We tried to get a bit of color before leaving the sunny island. We saw traditional dances at a nice restraunt. For free with our villa we got massages and a parasailing trip. We also took advantage of our driver and visited another temple and Kuta beach. We broke through the formalities of our villa staff and eventually they loosened up enough to have a big dance party. Overall, the villa was a nice way to finish off our trip. We got a rounded view of tourism in Bali and a nice glimpse into some of the different sides of Balinese life.
January 9-11
Singapore
Accommodation: Cute hostel where we shared a room with 4 strangers and a bathroom with about 20 strangers.
Highlights: Our group shrunk for Singapore (it was just Emily and I). But we had a lot of fun--we spent a lot of time wandering the streets and looking at the incredibly clean city of shopping. It was great to be surrounded by diverse people (we visited both Chinatown and Little India!). We also focused on eating because we actually had access to a range of foods! We also took a boat tour and went tea tasting with some new friends from the Netherlands. And of course, we enjoyed looking in all the western stores.
Want to see more of my adventures?
I will be putting up all my photos onto shutterfly in the next few days. But for the abbreviated tour of my trip, check out my 2 facebook albums:
http://vanderbilt.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2090115&l=e29a4&id=4702163
http://vanderbilt.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2090120&l=b6934&id=4702163
Just a few to lure you in:
Hostel #1
Hiking to a waterfall:
Pretty beach walk
Monkey and I:
Monkey family:
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