Friday Jessa and I headed to Betelnut Café recommended by the guys from the camp for its cheesecake. We did some shopping along the way and then checked out Deus before heading home for a swim. We met a guy (Steve) hanging at the pool who was also from Sydney and talked for a while. He told us some good places to go in the area as he had been before but was leaving soon. We went to La Laguna – a really cool gypsy restaurant for dinner. There were Teepees on the beach and gypsy caravans. I ordered a Tamarind ginger ale and Jessa and I shared a chocolate raspberry mousse cake.
We then got a taxi to Old Mans. There was live music and we got some fries to munch on and met two guys from New Zealand who lost the rest of their group and it was the one guy’s birthday. We talked to them for a while and then saw Steve- the guy who had recommended the place to us across the bar. Soon after the rest of the NZ group showed up and we talked to them and Steve and then headed home.
Saturday morning we woke up and had breakfast at The Hungry Bird close to our Air BnB and had pancakes. We then walked to the beach and rented out some beach chairs for 3 hours. We swam, tanned, and headed back. We stopped at a really good ice cream place on the way back and booked our driver to Ubud for the next day. Then we chilled at our Air BnB and had dinner at Zoe’s. From there we walked to Pretty Poison- an old school skater hangout at an empty pool. We got there at 8 so got seats close to the bowl and watched skaters for a couple of hours. I grabbed some more grilled corn for the walk home and we passed out.
Sunday morning we had breakfast at Zoe’s and our driver picked us up to go to Ubud. We went directly to The Friendly House where Matthias and George were staying. It was so good to see them again! A half an hour later Ahmed and Sev pulled up and we all headed to check out a waterfall. Telangana waterfall is pretty much a tourist trap but a quick and easy place to get refreshed when there are no nearby beaches.
We walked down and went for a swim and tried not to lose our swimsuits from the water pressure before heading to Pomegranate Cafe for lunch. We were all on scooters and Ahmed had been before and warned us the road there was very narrow- just a small walkway/alleyway which came out in the rice fields. It was alright until we met people or scooters along the way and had to squeeze past. We arrived at our lunch spot which was gorgeous in the middle of the rice fields. We were all so hungry and I ordered a lime juice and Chicken woodfired pizza- one of our best meals in Bali! We said goodbye to Sev and Ahmed and then went to see the Tegalalang rice fields.
They had just been harvested so were not as beautiful as usual. We didn’t stick around for long but stopped to do a coffee tasting before heading home. We first had a tour of the area right in the jungle and rice terraces and then was shown how the coffee was made. In Bali Luwak coffee is the most famous and expensive. It is named after an animal that eats coffee beans whole and once they show up again the beans are washed and are put through the roasting process to be used for coffee. We tried a tray of different teas and coffees made from herbs grown right in the garden. They were so good-ginger, coconut, lemon, chocolate-so many good flavors all for free. George bought a cup of the Luwak coffee which we tried and was good-but nothing special. We hopped back on the scooters and collected our things from the guy’s hostel to go check in at ours.
It took us a bit to find it but such a cute place! We all went for a swim before going to a spot the guys had went to the day before for dinner- sitting on cushions in little huts. I had Lumpia and Chicken Satay. The guys had arranged their driver from a day before to meet us there and talk about the plans for the next day so we figured that all out. By the time we got back and picked up some snacks for the hike it was 11 and we only had a few hours of sleep before waking up the next morning.
At 1:50 on Monday morning we woke up and had the guys drive us to their place to hop in the car to climb a mountain at sunrise. Around 1:30 it was pouring and they messaged us if we were even going to go because of the rain. I said yes because knowing Bali it wouldn’t be raining where we were going if it was raining where we were at the moment. As soon as they went outside it stopped. All of us thought we would be able to get a nap on the way there but the roads were so bumpy it was impossible. We went to the base of Mt Bantur and started our two hour trek up. It was a good workout and everyone had flashlights so you could see the groups of people climbing. The sky was so clear and we walked through fields of perfectly spaced vegetables before starting the climb. We had a guide who was so nice and helpful who brought us to the top. We took frequent breaks which was fine with me. We had about a 30 min wait before the sun rose and it was pretty chilly so we huddle together and the guys bought some hot tea. I had left my hoodie back at camp so our super nice guide let me use his jacket. The sunrise was soo pretty and it was an awesome experience. We walked along the ridge the other way and it seemed to take forever going down but we made it. George even had saw 3 Norwegians that we had met at the surf camp. We went to the hot springs after which was supposed to be 10000 rupiahs- about a dollar but ended up being 150000 so we skipped it and just had the driver take us home because we were so tired. We all passed out in the car on the way home- only to be woken up once because of potholes. We got back around 1030 and all went for a long nap- waking up at 6 pm. The guys came over and we went to Cintra for burgers. SO good! Then we went to CP Lounge and listened to live music and played pool before heading home – all pretty tired.
Tuesday morning Jessa and I headed over to the boys place for breakfast. Matthias was up and I woke up George- still pretty tired from the night before. Jessa needed to go to a mini mart so she went off in search of one as the boys packed up. 5 minutes later it started to downpour and she came back soaked. Luckily she got a ride on a scooter but still soaked. We went into Ubud for breakfast at a place called Watercress which was so good! I got eggs benny and a mocha followed by another snickers cheesecake. We said a sad goodbye to the boys and headed toward the monkey forrest. We got our touristy pics with the monkeys and then went to bargain at the markets. I picked up a few things for the girls and then we stopped for some gelato that was sub par. We walked a ways to a French bakery called Monsieur Spoon – SOO GOOD -and bought some chocolate croissants and a few things from the grocery store before getting scooter taxis and heading home for a quiet evening.
Wednesday morning we lazed around before packing up. I hitched a ride to pick up some more croissants for brekkie and we got a taxi to drop Jessa off at the airport and me back at camp. It was so good to be back even though the guys were gone still dirt biking. As we were eating dinner they came back and brought the party with them. All the guys had shaved the night before and had moustaches and all super proud. Gustavo and Pablo Escobar were Rene and Sev’s new names. We played some pool and ping pong and caught up before heading to bed. I was in a room above the garage with Patrick, Rene, and Ahmed and it was soo hot. There was one fan and 3 small windows and I only lasted about 30 minutes before heading to the lounge and getting a few hours of sleep.
Thursday morning I woke up at 5:15 for an early morning sesh to Kuta with the 3 bros. We had a good morning session and then had breakfast at The Beach Lounge with the guys and saw Derik. We went out for a second session and half way through Neil –Australian guy – caught a fin to his head and went with Sandy to the hospital. We came out and waited for a while and decided to get lunch since it was taking so long. Just as we were finishing up they made it back and we zombied it back to camp. Ahmed, Rene, Sev, and I cleaned up and headed back to Kuta. We shopped for t-shirts for the local guys at the camp – our 4 main surf guides- Arie, Kadek, Dickie, and Sandy and Chef. We made it back for dinner and then went to Cashew Tree after saying goodbye to Rene. I saw the New Zealand guys I had met at Old Man’s and said hi. We had a good evening minus a run in with a local who had beef with Josh- the guy who runs the surf camp. It was all straightened out in the morning.
Friday morning we headed to Dreamland for my last surf session. There was a photographer there from our camp (Paul) and I was able to buy some pics as I had caught some good waves and it was my last day. We went to Pit Stop for lunch and then went back to camp. I talked to the guys for a while and then scraped the wax off my board and packed up. We had dinner at the camp and played some pool before I headed out at 10:30. I arrived at the airport around 11 and had two hours before my flight left. Unfortunately the airport was packed and I was in the end of the line to check in my board. Then we went through another long line-everyone panicking a bit about the time and made it out on the other side with 18 minutes to spare. I picked up some water, a muffin, and sweets using up almost all of my remaining Bali money. As I got close to the gate I realized they were confiscating waters and food because Air Asia doesn’t allow outside food since they make you buy everything. I shoved my food and water to the bottom of my backpack and went on through. I sat next to a guy who wasn’t feeling good the whole flight and had a loud toddler behind me kicking my seat and who got sick towards the end of the flight-not the best. Thankfully it wasn’t too cold back in Australia but still hard to transition back.
Bali was for sure one of my favorite places ever to visit. The people, culture, climate, surf, and everyone I met made it such an awesome experience! I highly recommend going!
A few Balinese sayings we learned:
Baagoos – good
Sira Suka Kamu- I like you
Nama Kamu-What’s your name
the nomadic nanny 