Love Tree Travel Blog | Bali, Indonesia

If you haven’t had a chance to visit Bali, Indonesia we highly recommend it. I myself, cannot say enough good things about this trip. I began my journey with a short 5 days of yoga and relaxation in Canggu, before heading to Kintamani for a 10 day Vipassana sit.

Once my 10 day sit was completed I headed to Ubud to drop my stuff off at the house we rented, and then headed to the airport to meet Brad and Tia who flew in to meet me there.

It was so great to travel around the island together. We hired a man named Wayan (who also used the name John) to help us get around the island since we had Tia and so renting mopeds was out. Wayan took us up to get a beautiful view of Mt Agung, before we stopped in at his mother’s house and restaurant for a quick visit and local food. The Balinese are notoriously welcoming and it isn’t uncommon to be invited into a local’s home for food if you get to chatting.

After we left and took a drive through the rice terraces we headed over to the Satria Agrowisata where we learned about how the Balinese traditionally roasted coffee beans and tried an assortment of local coffees. Tia had a tiny sip, but was decidedly not a fan.

The next morning we drove to Sanur for a family beach day and then headed back to our home for dinner before it got too hot in the mid day sun. We’re not the kind of people who lounge around on beaches and drink all day – especially when traveling so far. We love to discover the Earth, and to get to know the people and culture of a place when we travel – so the next morning we woke very early to travel to Sekumpul Village in Singaraja to hike to the sacred Sekumpul waterfall.

It was a long hike, and had we known how steep it was, we might have skipped this because we had to carry Tia most of the way. We also had to wade through about thigh deep river to get to a viewpoint, and the rocks were really slippery – so not a place where kids can safely play. Prepare for everything to get soaked – the spray off the falls is phenomenal and also sort of like standing in torrential rain.

The trek through the rice terraces, mountain homes and eventually in through the jungle to the falls was nothing short of breathtaking, and for a waterfall junkie like myself, well worth the hike. I am really glad we had a paid guide take us there though, because there is no way we would have found our way back out of the jungle.

Since we were at the north end of the island we also went to Pura Segara Ulun Danu Batur – the temple at Lake Batur. It actually isn’t too far from where I did my Vipassana sit. Although it started raining we were content to see it anyways. There was a dramatic lightning storm over dinner but I put my camera away for a bit so I could be present and just enjoy it.

Since we stayed in Penestanan, we walked into Ubud almost every day. We were just a short 30-40 minute walk to the Sacred Monkey Forest Sanctuary and Temple. Tia loved seeing the monkeys, and some of the trails had a very Indiana Jones feel to them with moss covered statues of monkeys and vines hanging from the jungle canopy. After we headed to the Ubud market to shop for fresh fruit and went back to our place at Art Villa to have a quick nap before Wayan took us out to meet some local artists and shop for carvings. I bought a beautiful statues of Ganesh, and it took me forever to find one that had his hand in abhaya mudra, which is the mudra to say “fear not” or to welcome one. The idea was to have him sit at an altar near our doorway, but in the end I just loved it so much I put him in the altar in my bedroom, and we keep a Lakshmi mantra by the door instead.

The next morning we got up bright and early to take Tia to the Bali Safari and Marine Park. Im always hesitant of zoos because of how animals are treated and admittedly I walked away questioning the conditions in which the elephants are kept. Though to be fair I didn’t witness anything violent, but we walked past an elephant enclosure and the elephant stepped over the very short fence and wrapped her trunk around our go pro and a guy yelled from a distance, and then threw some carrots into the enclosure, and the elephant went right back over the fence to go get her carrots. So I don’t know how the elephant was trained to not step over the fence, but I do know she wasn’t chained down, and seemed content to chill in her shady enclosure as long as there was snacks.

What was an unexpected highlight was actually the Agung Show, again it included animals but it was truly a breathtaking spectacle. It was also child friendly and stroller/wheelchair accessible. So a good option because there are not a lot of accessible spaces around Bali. Tia of course loved the massive water park. I think there were also carnival rides but we never made it over there. Honestly the park was enormous and it was a full day sort of thing.

We were pretty tired after but we went to see the Kecak Dance and Trance Dance at Pura Dalem Taman Kaja. We were told there was another show at Uluwatu, but that it was quite touristy. Wayan, was amazing. Not only was he a driver we always felt safe with an taken care of, he was an incredible tour guide too. He knew of the best places to take us for authentic Balinese food and he was friends with locals in many villages who always had great info to share. Tickets to the show were really cheap – about $6-$7 each, and honestly the show was great. It is the retelling of the Ramayana which alongside the Mahābhārata (which I listened to an audiobook of on my flight over) is one of my favourite Indian Epics. It is the story of Sita and Ram. The first time I heard the story I just fell in love with Lord Hanuman. I think of the story often when I am processing through the various intersections of feminism and spirituality, as Sita is a powerful deity and avatar of the Goddess Lakshmi and she represents the power and sacrifice of the divine feminine.

After the Ramayana, we watched an incredible trance dance which shook something deep in my guts. None of it was in English, none of it was translated but it was so visceral, it’s honestly hard to explain how it felt to bear witness. It’s one of those things where the photographs hardly do it justice.

Since we were in Indonesia for a month there is so much more I want to share but I’m going to break it up into a second post, so stay turned for that.