Eventually, we arrived in Ubud under a pouring rain, causing many traffic jams on our way. But as soon as we arrived in our hotel, the clouds went away allowing us to try the pool. And yes it was nice! We would stay 3 nights in this small yet charming hotel ideally located right in the heart of Ubud. Our program there would be simple: some walks in the rice paddies, some good times on various and delicious restaurants, etc. We also attending a Balinese dance show, quite spectacular! And of course, we indulged with amazing massages... Heaven on earth you said? One very nice place to mention was the rice paddies of Tegalalang. They were very impressive, and certainly one of the highlights of our trip in Bali. But again, check the pictures! After a comforting night in a very nice hotel in Munduk, we got an early start to visit one of the most famous temples in Bali: METTRE NOM DU TEMPLE. This temple is built halfway on a lake which makes it quite appealing for photographers. We stayed there for an hour or so, soaking up the deliciously relaxing atmosphere. Then, we were off to one of the most famous places in Bali: the rice paddies at Jatiluwih. The views were amazing and the landscapes, stunning! We had lunch facing a 180 degrees panorama to die for! Unforgettable! In the afternoon, as the weather was threatening us with rain and dark clouds, we quickly visited a remote temples which is certainly very often missed by most tourists. As a consequence, we had the place just for ourselves. Very sweet! On the big day, we went to the airport to welcome A's family! As soon as they cleared the customs, we took 2 cabs to reach our first hotel a short ride away, conveniently located in the upscale resort of Seminyak. We spent some time relaxing, especially for the plane travelers who had such a long plane ride. A couple hours in the pool later, our private car driver was waiting for us. We had decided to start our visits straight-away and our plan was to catch up the sunset from Tanah Lot Temple. It was a good move! Nice sunset, perfect spot for a refreshing beer, the holidays couldn't start any better than that. We topped this very nice moment with a dinner in a local place where we indulged with very tasty garlic prawns... It was perfect! The following day, our driver took us to Munduk with a couple temples to visit on the way. It took us the whole day as we stopped in several places for pictures, including in a coffee plantation to sample the famous Kopi Luwak Coffee. We also had lunch with a stunning panorama from which we could see both the mountain side of the island and the blue sea. It was simply perfect, once again! We also stopped at a very famous waterfall for a few pictures. It was quite impressive to be frank. Upon our arrival in our hotel, we were greeted with delicious welcome drinks (fresh fruit juices). We quickly decided that we were fit enough for a walk through the rice paddies. A short 2 hour walk enabled us to discover remote areas and breathtaking panoramas, especially as the sunset was taking place right before our eyes. The colors in the rice paddies did permit us to take great pictures! Check them out! Before Andrea's family arrival in Denpasar, we had a week to spend in Bali! Life is hard! :) we decided to settle down in Lovina, on the Northern shore of Bali Island. There we found a nice hotel with a pool for some lazy times. But we also took the opportunity to visit the surroundings. To do so, we rented a motorbike and drove in direction of the nearby mountains. We had the chance to discover amazing rice paddies and remote villages. However, we had a small accident with our scooter which made us a bit skeptical as whether we should be using the mean of transport the week after with Andrea's family. Long story short, roads were not in good conditions enough to take such a big risk and jeopardize our journey! During that week, we didn't do much more, just taking our time to reach the south of Bali and its touristic mecca: Kuta. There. We celebrated Andrea's Birthday with a dinner on the beach, directly facing the ocean. It was a very good break overall! The following day, we started a great journey which was supposed to help us reaching Bali. Over three days, we would drive from western to eastern Java! The first day was time spent on the road. Nothing more. We went to bed as soon as we could and the second morning, we were taken to a sunrise viewing point overlooking a volcano, Mount Bromo. Unfortunately, a dense fog wouldn't let us enjoy the panorama... But after driving down a mountain for a few minutes, we finally had the opportunity to discover a legen - wait for it - daryyyyy panorama. We were speechless! We even had the opportunity to climb the volcano to discover its crater. It was amazing, let's be honest! Then, we had to drive for hours to our next hotel... But it was fine, after such a great experience The third morning, we woke up even earlier - 12:30am to be precise. A short car ride and we started a 2 hour hike to reach the summit of another volcano, Kawa Ijen. It was so difficult and so strange to be hiking at such an early time in the morning... But when we got to the edge of the crater, we understood why it was worth it: it gave us the opportunity to walk down into the crater to discover what people call "blue fire". This fire is the consequence of sulphur burning... Yep, it has a blue color and it makes for a perfect 100% natural show. However, it was so cooooold up there, we were almost frozen! But thankfully, the sun rose and the temperature slowly increased. We discovered the panorama a little more after every second, it was another stunning place we will never forget. Going back to the car park was even more challenging as we were tired and also, we now know that going down ain't much easier than climbing up. :-) A few more hours in car and over a boat to cross the sea and we finally made it to Bali! We were exhausted and made it to Lovina as first as possible. Lovina would be our headquarters for the next 3-4 days so we looked for a nice play where we could enjoy some good time. Our journey in Bali could finally start! :-) We flew from Siem Reap to KL and then, from KL to Yogyakarta, one of the biggest cities on Java Island. Yet it is not to be mistaken with the capital city - Jakarta. After a quick taxi ride, we found a cosy room in a centrally located and family-owned home-stay. Sweet! Unfortunately, Andrea wasn't feeling so well so we ended up spending most of the first day resting in the room. On the second day however, we decided it was now time to have a look at the city centre. Not much to see apart from the sultan's residence. Anyway, we took time to write this blog and to plan the very next day. An early wake up, a one hour car ride and we were climbing Borobudur Temple for the sunrise. This Buddhist temple is very impressive and often classified among the top 3 places to visit in Asia (alongside Bagan and Angkor) and deservedly so. We spent a couple hours discovering the different levels of the temple, it was great as the place wasn't packed with tourists yet. Then, we had a small breakfast AND we were ready for a second temple: Prambanan, one of the biggest Hindu temple in the world. The heat was killing us by then, so we had a quick walk in the gardens, and quickly found some shade to rest. We were finally taken back to our hotel for the end of the day. |