Bali is a whole mood! I
visited Bali with my husband for our 8th year anniversary and fell
in love immediately. Watch my BALI TRAVEL GUIDE VLOG below and read the rest of this post to get all the details!
We flew from Orlando, Fl on Singapore Airlines, which I recommend.
It is an airline very similar to Emirates airlines. We had three layovers, in
New York, Germany, and Singapore, and was about a 24 flight and took two days
to get there. So, keep that in mind if you plan a trip to Bali, you will lose
two days traveling. Their money, which is called the Indonesian Rupiah conversion rate is about 14,000 ≈
$1.00 US. We exchanged our money in their airport. We landed in the morning and our driver
took us right to our hotel, the Amatara Royal Ganesha, a 5 star hotel in Ubud (About
$50 US a night). We were so extremely jet-lagged we fell asleep all day and all
night LOL!
On DAY 2, our actual anniversary, we woke up bright and
early for my floating breakfast which I reserved with the hotel the day before.
They bring out your breakfast for you in the beautiful infinity pool over
looking the rice paddies and I took pictures galore (My hubby is amazing!) and
afterwards ate breakfast.
Our driver, Gede, who was absolutely the perfect driver and we HIGHLY recommend as well! Before our trip, I reserved him. I gave him my itinerary and he made a few changes to give us the best Bali experience. He takes you anywhere you want to go, all day long for $40 US!! His contact information is below!
After breakfast, Gede took us to our first stop, which
was the Bali Swing. For $35 US per person, you get unlimited swings on any of
their 18 swings and pictures in nests, on rocks, etc.plus, lunch is included.
We stopped at the Tegalalang Rice Terraces where you
can walk around the rice paddies before heading to the Sacred Monkey Sanctuary
Forest. Here you walk through the
sanctuary or natural habitat of Balinese long tailed Monkey. They are
roaming free and you should not touch them or stare them in the eye. They may
see that as a threat. The monkeys seemed very chill to me, however, other tourists
complained that monkeys stole their belongings. So just be safe and smart! 😊
Our last stop was the Tegenungan
Waterfall, one of the most popular waterfalls in Bali. For less than a $1 US,
you can hike the waterfall, swim, and enjoy the scenery. I would definitely bring
water shoes. There is also a swing at the waterfall! One of my favorite parts
of Bali.
We ended the day eating
dinner at a restaurant our driver took us too (Sorry I can’t remember the name)
The chicken satay was delicious and affordable. Our driver warned us about eating
the street food and that it will give us “Bali Belly” aka nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea.
So, I would advise against that! Go the restaurants in the city center of Ubud
that are geared towards tourists. We knocked out that night!
The next day our driver
took us to the Lempuyang temple where you see the “Gates of Heaven” and get the
infamous picture! Definitely get there early, we got there a 9am and waited 1 and
a half hours for the picture, some people we met, waited 3 hours!
Stop two, was to the Tirta Gangga Water Palace where less then a $1 you can walk around the beautiful grounds and feed the koi fish.
Later on the night, we
went to the Udaya Resort and Spa for a couple’s massage and flower bath. I did make
a reservation before I left and put a deposit down. It was such a relaxing experience
and the massage and bath were perfect! The massage was about $75 US and the bath was
about $40 US. Make sure you ask for the “Celebration of Flowers” when booking
and you can choose however you want the flowers to be designed.
The next day we checked
out of our hotel after breakfast and another swim, and our driver took us to
Kuta Bali. Kuta is a touristy beach resort area off the coast of Bali known for
surfing, backpackers, and clubs. Other great beach areas to stay are Seminyak
and Jimbaran, which are more family friendly. We stayed at the Holiday Inn Express Baruna, another 5 star hotel (About $50 US a night) We let our driver
go home and took a Grab (Similar to Uber) to the Beach Walk mall and two other malls
in the area. This area has tons of restaurants, massages and shopping in the
area that are all in walking distances. Beach walk mall had Zara and H&M plus
Top Shop and other great stores if you love shopping like us.
The next day we went to
the Uluwatu Temple, which a is a sea temple with the best views I have ever
seen. There were also monkey roaming around there too, but they were much more
aggressive!
We went to Dream Land
Beach after, which was beautiful and good for surfing, not swimming. The waves were
huge and will knock you right off your feet! We went to our hotel afterwards to
swim in the hotel infinity pool at sunset. Another highlight of the trip.
Gede had added having a
seafood dinner in Jimbaran to the itinerary. This dinner should be added to
everyone’s itinerary. We went to the Ganesha Café, where you first pick your
seafood, whether, fish, shrimp, lobster, crab, etc. and they make it fresh
however you like and bring it to your table on the beach. You get to eat a delicious
and fresh seafood dinner overlooking the waves with live entertainment. Another
highlight of the trip!
On our last day we got massages (About 7$ an hour) at one of our favorite spots in Kuta CARLA SPA and did souvenir shopping. Bali is always a good idea and I am so happy and blessed that we were able to visit. The people are the nicest, most genuine, I’ve met, and the culture is so humble and
Hey Loves! I hope you are all having a great week so far. I have been out here just living my best life...YASS!!!...But found time to upload Part II of my Thailand Vlog. Phuket, Thailand travel vlog is now LIVE on YouTube as well as Part I in Bangkok. I cannot stress enough how much fun my husband and I had on my 30th Birthday/7 year anniversary trip! Thailand should be on everyone's bucket list. Below is the link to my vlog plus vacation pics and tips! Feel free to ask me any questions!
We traveled via Thai Smile, a local airline which I would compare to Southwest, to travel from Bangkok to Phuket. Flight was around an hour and half, not bad at all, and they served you a full meal! We took a GRAB car to our hotel in Kata, Beach. The Novotel Kata Avista Resort and Spa, a 5 star resort in Kata Beach which I would definitely recommend. Phuket is a beach area and very touristy, but beautiful! We landed late, so we ate some dinner at a local restaurant we walked to and turned in for the night. The food is mostly seafood, chicken and rice and delicious. Pictured here is Sweet n Sour prawns!
Day 2 we took a Phi Phi Island tour with "Phuket Sail Tours", which I highly recommend. They pick you up from your hotel and take you on a boat around the islands, with stops at each one, snorkeling, lunch, and beach/relaxation time. Phi Phi Islands are the reason I came and I am telling you, the pictures do not do it justice. You have to go! Bring a lot of sunscreen, mosquito repellent, hats and cover-ups, the sun is beautiful but hot!
Like I mentioned before, this trip was for my 30th birthday! Thank you to our hotel for this delicious cake! Dinner was curry crab and I voted it my favorite dish of the trip!
Curry Crab!
Previous to our trip, I found a photographer in Phuket to take pictures for our 7 year anniversary. We sailed to a secluded beach and the shots were amazing. Here are a few! If you are looking for a photographer in Phuket, contact @IvanChiniLov on Instagram and tell him Rachael and James sent you!
@IvanChiniLove
Another reason I wanted to visit Thailand was of course the elephants! Thailand was on my bucket list for over 3 years and my initial reason to visit was to ride the elephants, however I recently had learned about the mistreatment of elephants in tourism. I encourage you to educate yourself on it as well and do not ride the elephants when you travel. Visit an elephant sanctuary, like the Elephant Jungle Sanctuary- Phuket where they practice ethical tourism. I promise it is so much more fulfilling to feed them, take a mud bath with them and bath them! Plus the tour picks you up from you hotel and they provide a delicious lunch of Pad Thai!
Yes, this trip was amazing! I hope you loved the pics and my travel vlog! Until next time! Comment below what destinations you plan of visiting this summer!
𝘼𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙮𝙚𝙖𝙧 𝙞𝙨 𝙘𝙡𝙤𝙨𝙞𝙣𝙜, 𝙧𝙚𝙢𝙚𝙢𝙗𝙚𝙧 𝙩𝙤 𝙛𝙤𝙘𝙪𝙨 𝙤𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙥𝙤𝙨𝙞𝙩𝙞𝙫𝙚𝙨 𝙖𝙨 𝙬𝙚 𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙞𝙣𝙩𝙤 2021! 𝙏𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙠 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙙𝙞𝙣𝙜! 🤎
