Back to Bali & Road Trip #1

After a 2 1/2 year hiatus from traveling internationally we are finally back on the road, and our first stop is Bali, Indonesia. When Laurie and I sat down to decide where we would travel to a few months back, we made a short list of places we love – Indonesia, India, Malaysia, Thailand. We planned to be away for about a month, and our style of traveling did not allow for us to visit all 4 of those places. So this trip is to Bali, Indonesia and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. These are 2 places we both love, not only for the experiences, but for the people we’ve met there, who we now consider friends.

Bali. Yes, it’s a pain to get here. We endured a 12 hour flight to Dubai, followed by a 9 hour flight to Bali. Add in 14 hours in airports for check-in/immigration/security/transfers/visas, and the trip here can be exhausting. We were pleasantly surprised to find ourselves in good spirits and alert when we arrived. We bought seats with extra legroom and were able to stretch and even do some yoga on the plane. We rented a hotel room right inside the Dubai airport (yes it’s a thing – 2 floors above our departure gate) and slept and showered between the 2 flights. When we exited the airport in Bali we were greeted by our host, Wayan, who we stayed with back in January 2020 on our first visit here. We’ve kept in touch over the past few years, and there is nothing like arriving in a foreign land and being greeted by a familiar face. Wayan and his wife Kadek, and their 5 year old son, Aditya, were as excited to see us as we were them.

We’ve rented the family bungalow for 25 days and a Honda PCX scooter for 2 weeks. After we settled in for a good night’s sleep, we were off checking out new places and touching base with other folks we met during our first trip. We were happy to reconnect with Nyamie, a designer who owns her own shop, and has created handbags, bracelets, necklaces, and yoga mat bags for us over the past few years. We’ve kept in contact with her and she even ships them to us in the US now all the way from Indonesia. On a scooter ride up the to endpoint of the Campuan Ridge trail, we stopped by a tiny snack shop we visited a few times on our last trip. The owners design and create jewelry. They remembered us from January 2020 and even remembered where we stayed. We had a great heart-warming visit with both.

The second night we were here there was a festival parade in downtown Ubud. This particular parade only happens every 5 years or so. We attend Yoga classes at Intuitive Flow Yoga, a fantastic studio with great teachers. It’s only a 1 minute walk from our rental.

Last time here we took a few short trips on the scooter to check out the areas around Ubud. When we planned to come back here I started looking at the map of Bali and was fascinated with the rest of the island. I read through the guidebook and dreamed of venturing out more on this trip. First stop – the Northwest coast of Bali.

We packed a tiny backpack, stored some overnight essentials under the scooter seat, and headed out Monday morning for the far end of the island. The morning air was cool as we breezed through the traffic and out into the countryside, passing rice fields and monkeys along the way. About 30 minutes into our trip we pulled over and put on another layer. Remember, it’s usually around 80-85 degrees here all the time, year round. Our route took us higher and higher into the mountains and it was chilly. About 2/3 of the way up we arrived at a somewhat developed tourist area where we spotted a coffee shop. We warmed ourselves with a latte, taking in the views of the surrounding area, and used the restrooms which were across the parking area. I want to comment that the public restrooms were really nice. They had toilet seats, toilet paper, soap and water and paper towels, and they were super clean. For the record this is an anomaly in Asia. We hopped back on the bike and continued to climb higher and we felt even colder. Somewhere near the top I spotted a couple racks of used clothing at a large stall. We pulled over and within minutes purchased 2 second-hand hoodies. We were off and we were warm again.

Over the course of the next hour we descended slowly down a twisting, narrow, winding road. It got warmer and warmer as we approached sea level. We could see the ocean by now. We were excited. We had to pull over and shed the hoodies. A bit later we had to take off another layer. Finally, it was downright hot out. The trip to today’s destination, Pemuteran, took 5+ hours, although we planned on about 3 hours, tops, according to google maps. We found our accommodations pretty easily, and pulled into Pondok Shindu Guesthouse.

We were greeted by Baruk, the owner. It was a lovely place. A small bungalow with private bath and AC and nicely manicured landscaping. The place was super clean and Baruk was really helpful and pleasant. We were about a one -minute walk to the beach. I googled “vegetarian restaurants near me” and a place called “The Sage” popped up. It had a couple dozen 5 star reviews. We were really hungry and decided to walk the 10 minutes and grab lunch. I want to pause here and tell you how fortunate we were to choose our guesthouse and the restaurant. This area is not a fancy developed place. There are tons of weary looking places to eat and even more choices to stay. I felt lucky, really lucky as things were falling into place. The Sage restaurant was awesome. We were one of only 2 parties there for lunch in the open air dining area. For the record almost everything is open air here in Bali. The owner/chef, Katherine, introduced herself and chatted a bit with us. Our meals took a bit to arrive, and when we took the first few bites we were blown away. It was some of the best food I’d ever had, period. I know what you’re thinking. It was a long motorcycle ride. We were cold, then hot. We were tired. We were hungry. But to prove my point we went back for dinner and were just as impressed. The Sage has only been open for a few months. It’s brand new and they are killing it.

We took a swim in the ocean, treated ourselves to a massage, had a great night sleep, and in the morning went down to the beach for sunrise. Amazing. After a light breakfast we packed up the bike and continued to head west toward West Bali National Park.