We’re off on our tour tomorrow, so we thought now would be a good time for a new blog post. We’re starting to settle into things now, this first week on our own has made us more confident to do it after the tour.

However, the first night was tough. After the first flight was delayed an hour and a half, there was only half an hour to get across the airport for the connection. Once we’d landed, we were then in the queue for immigration for nearly 2 hours. It gets dark here by 6:30pm and the taxi drive to the hotel was down a lot of dark roads late at night, that felt far too small for a car. By the time we got to the first hotel, we were fairly drained from the whole day.

Of course, things have picked up and we are very excited, however I aways planned to keep this blog honest and to not just show the easy side of things, so we hope you don’t mind us sharing that with you.

If you’re ever planning on paying a visit to Bali, here are things we’ve noticed so far:

📍 Taxi drivers don’t wait for you to flag them down. They’ll just beep their horn at you as they drive past in hope you’ll get in…

📍 Watch out for rogue mopeds. They like to drive along the pavements and won’t move out of your way.

Kuta, Bali

We moved onto Kuta after our first night of arrival, and stayed put for a few nights. Kuta is known for the beach and lively nighttime atmosphere.

We enjoyed exploring the different sides of Kuta, but kept it fairly chill and relaxed, as we know we’ll be constantly busy on the tour.

Seminyak, Bali

Seminyak is not far from Kuta, so we moved locations on the 19th July. We booked into a gorgeous hotel for the night and spent the daytime enjoying their pool and swimming up to the bar.   

It was also here that at sunset, we got engaged. Whilst we would like to keep Luke’s words private between us and our close family, we can assure you it was a really beautiful moment, and we’re over the moon!

Ubud, Bali

On the 21st July, we had a day trip to Ubud with a guide we booked through TripAdvisor. We would have liked to have spent more time in Ubud, however the timings to get to places just didn’t work out.

The guide began by telling us that Bali means “offering” and is one of the reasons why we have been seeing these small parcels left everywhere. They contain a variety of gifts for the various God’s. 90% of the population in Bali are Hindu, and during the day we learnt just how spiritual they are here.

First stop was the Sacred Monkey Forest Sanctuary home to over 700 long-tailed Macaques. There are strict rules to make sure you don’t anger them, and they are completely free to roam around the forest.

Tegalalang Rice Terrace was next. No one lives in the rice fields to make as much space as possible for the plantations. There are three harvests every year, allowing 4 months for each batch.

We then moved onto our spot for lunch which was a three course traditional Indonesian meal. We also got to go on a huge swing over the rice fields – facing forward was good, but backwards not so much…

Our fourth stop was Tirta Empul Temple – a water temple that people bathe in and asked to be healed of things such as disease, or heart break. The water comes straight from the mountain, and the main pool that supplies the fountains is only open for priests to use. Our guide told us that women are not allowed into the temple if they are menstruating, as ‘they are sad’. Only people who are happy can go inside…

The last stop for the day was Tegenungan Waterfall. With 165 steps to get down to see it, it’s a tough hike. Certainly worth it though, and the mist off the Waterfall is a perfect way of cooling down.

Instagram vs Reality

Bali is as beautiful as the pictures you see on Instagram, however there is a side you don’t often seen shared on social media. The Instagram vs Reality posts I often see always interest me, as they show another side to things and are tongue-in-cheek humour. So as a bit of fun, and to keep the blog reflecting our experiences, this is a segment we will try to include in future posts too.

That’s it for now, as we mentioned earlier we’re off to Lombok tomorrow. We’ll send another blog after the tour, but keep checking our Instagram page if you want more frequent updates!

Look after yourselves and lots of love. We’re signing off for the first time as an engaged couple 😉

Caitlin and Luke