Welcome to Our Greatest Adventure...yet.
Check out why Bali is one of the most beautiful counties in the world!
By Jodi Schmidt and Luke Stacey
We often got asked “why Bali?” Or “are you on your honeymoon?” Nope. Definitely not. We went just because. Upon returning from Bali, we were asked by everyone how was it and what was our favorite part? How do we even answer that question when the entire vacation was absolutely amazing and beyond words?!
Beautiful People. Beautiful Country. Hundreds of Temples. Thousands of Smiles.
Honestly, the thought of 23 hours of total flight (after a two and a half hour drive to the airport) with a 1 hour layover in Qatar was terrifying. I made us run through the airport I was so nervous about missing the second leg of the flight, despite workers telling us that it was okay and we could slow down. With me being a foot taller and giving Jodi the heavier backpack, this was a much easier thing for me to do than it was for Jodi to keep up with me. We only had 5 minutes to rest and make calls before getting on the second leg of our flight, but we were focused on tropical paradise and ready to see if Bali was everything we dreamed it was.
Upon FINALLY arriving in Denpasar, Bali, we noticed the runway was wet from a fresh rainfall, the breeze was blowing through the palms and other exotic plants, and there was a salty smell from surrounding seas. We were greeted with a driver holding a sign saying Jodi and Luke, so we hopped in a car with minimal safety features and headed towards our first stop in Seminyak, an upscale region north of the city. On our way we passed dense streets with intense congestion and saw five people on one scooter. I repeat, five people on ONE scooter. Mom sat sideways on the back with baby in hands, dad was driving with his son between legs and another in between the steering arms.
Hotel Vila Lumbung was our napping grounds for the next 8 hours. First impression, our resort looked wonderfully relaxing as we enjoyed our welcome drinks and cold scented towels. We got very ambitious and had dinner reservations and motivation to adventure but with a 13 hour time difference from Madison and 24 hours of travel behind us, our bodies were drained and we passed out at 3:00 pm. We woke the next day to relaxing by the pool enjoying a famous Bintang (Bali’s Beer Brand) and headed to Six Mile Beach. Ever since we started planning for this trip, watching me wipe out on a surfboard was high on the list. Walking the beach for much longer than Jodi would have liked, passing what seemed like hundreds of surf shops, I decided on one that looked good (and offered us free fruit). We surfed, we both stood up on our first attempt, we crushed it. Jodi got board rash (wear shorts or something over your legs, ladies!), but it’s safe to say we got hooked on surfing and the phrase, “67% of the time you will stand up if you raise the shaka hand.”
In Seminyak we were limited on time, so we chose the most popular destination for our night’s sunset views: Tanah Lot. Located here is an ancient Hindu temple on a large cliffside rock that has been shaped over the years by the ocean; the views are spectacular once you get through the hundreds of vendors at the temples entrance. We managed to get some great shots of the temple at it’s finest before being pushed back by the tide. We feel Tanah Lot is a must at sunset when traveling to Bali.
Next up was one of our most anticipated locations: Ubud. Most people know about this stop due to the popularity of the book and movie Eat, Pray, Love. One could describe Ubud as the cultural heart of Bali, surrounded by rice fields and waterfalls. It’s a boho-chic wonderland and at the center of everything, literally in the center of Bali. About an hour and a half drive from Seminyak, we chose to stay at the Sayan Terrace Resort, nestled in the jungle eside the Ayung River. This was by far our favorite stay while in Bali, with a private infinity pool overlooking the jungle, room service, and scooter rentals into town. We soon found our love for the selection of fresh juices (watermelon being our favorite) and coconuts.
When we went to get the keys to a scooter, we were asked if we had any experience driving, we answered nope. She simply told us to be careful and off we went to venture the streets of downtown Ubud. First stop was the market which was huge, offering local fruits and vegetables in the morning then switching over to crafts, art and clothing by the afternoon. Across the street was a Balinese spa (what a surprise, they’re everywhere) that had fish pedicures. So we decided to hold off on that due to Jodi’s ticklish feet…just kidding, we definitely got fish pedi’s. Jodi cried from laughter. Next we ventured to the monkey forest, which was closing soon, but we got a few good interactions and I was almost bitten.
Our 2nd day in Ubud was spent on an excursion to the Mason Elephant Park. We were picked up early, so were the first to arrive and got ample time alone washing the elephants. The Sumatran elephants at the park were rescued and are one of the friendliest but are also on the verge of extinction. After washing, we rode the elephants into the plunge pool and around the surrounding jungle. The pure power and size of these gentle giants is amazing. Our experience ended with interacting and feeding the youngest elephants; Jodi was geeking out, she loves baby elephants and this was a dream come true for her. Also, check out our Bali Sumatran Elephants video, Here. Upon our return back to Ubud, we walked the Campuhan Ridge and entered the Goa Gajah Temple. In order to enter the temple, you must be fully covered or rent or buy a sarong, which is a loose-fitting skirtlike fabric wrapped around your waist and worn in a formal attire among the Hindu temples.
Our last day in Ubud was going to be the busiest we had been since rushing through the airport on our one hour layover, and also the hottest day of our trip. We rented a driver for the full day and ventured into northern Bali, with a list of stops along the route including Tegalalang Rice Terrace, waterfalls, temples, and lakes. First was the famous Tegalalang rice terrace, with its traditional but complex irrigation system. It was absolutely stunning as we walked up and down the landscape snapping once in a lifetime pictures. The next stop was Nung Nung waterfall, with some of the steepest stairs getting down to this majestic sight. The waterfall sits at a height of 900 meters above sea level and pours thousands and thousands of gallons per minute. Next up, the Beratan Temple and Lake, a destination most tourists don’t spend time to get to. This stop is incredibly rich in culture and the scenery is equally as impressive. Just north of Beratan was our final stop at Git Git Waterfalls, which are twin waterfalls. Some say this is a tourist trap, but we loved giving a small donation for a walk out to the two different waterfalls. We arrived later in the day and had the entire place to ourselves, involving a rope swing into one of the waterfalls and excellent pictures cliffside by Git Git. These adventures may have seemed easy but by the end of our day we were 3+ hours away from Ubud and spent the day gone from 6am to 10pm. We don’t regret anything!!
Next day we were up bright and early on our way to finish our scuba certification in Amed, a small fishing village on the far east side of Bali, known for its USS Liberty shipwreck dive. Upon arriving we headed straight to Let’s Dive Tulamben and strapped up with our tanks for our first open water dive; we had already completed our poolside training in Wisconsin and all we had left of our certification to complete was our 4 open-water certification dives. It’s safe to say our man Nyomen taught us some great skills and we passed our PADI certification! The USS Liberty and Amed is very laid back but honestly we only added it to our itinerary for the amazing wreck dive, as almost all of our time in Amed was spent in the water diving and recapping the dives with our dive instructor Nyomen. All of the travelers we met in Amed were there for some form of diving. Definitely a great stop for diving, but other than that, there wasn’t a lot to do in the surrounding town. It was also crazy to think Amed and nearby towns were evacuated months before due to volcano Mount Agung almost erupting.
Next on our trip was Gili Trawangan! (or more commonly referred to as Gili T) which is actually considered Lombok, not Bali, but is a short hour ferry from Amed. The Balinese women stack your luggage on their heads and carry it to the ferry, sometimes two pieces balancing on their heads. Quick side note, we brought a lot of luggage due to me thinking we needed our OWN scuba gear (which we rented from a dive shop in WI). This included two more full size suitcases on top of our own…meaning we had four full size suitcases. Solid Luke. As the lighter packer of the two of us, Jodi absolutely refuses to ever do that again (she also wants noted that she was against this idea from the very beginning, but I insisted. I won that battle, and I regret it and did admit she was right and that our own gear, aside from the mask and fins, was unnecessary). However, at each destination, the people on this wonderful island carry your luggage everywhere so it wasn’t that bad. When we arrived on Gili T, our hotel was just a mile up the road but we hired a horse to get us there, as the islands have no cars or gas transportation. Most people get around by walking, bicycles, horse and buggy, and of course boats from island to island, but with four pieces of luggage walking was not something we wanted to do, so we stacked our luggage and ourselves into the back of a carriage and in a few minutes we arrived at Villa Almarik, our only beachside resort of the trip.
Gili T is all about sea turtles, scuba diving, surfing, sunsets, and sun kissed skin. And GORGEOUS. This place is a dream come true and you will not want to leave…trust us. We headed to the beachside after arriving to soak up some rays and order some woodfire pizza, which was some of my favorite pizza I’ve ever had. Most stay on the east side of the island for the calm waters and many sea turtles, but the west offers stunning sunsets and is the surfing side. After relaxing most of the day and booking some scuba for the following days, we rented a bike (very cheap to do and best way to get around the island by yourself), and headed down to the night market for some extremely cheap fish and meat kabobs. The market contains assortments of seafood and sides to accompany any desire, and is so reasonably priced for so much food!!
Rise and shine, we set out to complete our Deep Water Certification that allows us to dive up to 100 feet/30 meters. We completed this with Blue Marine and Lovisa our instructor picked Shark Point. This drift dive allowed us to get down to that depth while having the opportunity at seeing a shark. Minutes after reaching 28-29 meters, we had a smaller whitetip shark headed straight towards us; he was a bit friendlier than most but eventually veered away. Later that day we planned a fun dive to turtle sanctuary with Harley, during which we saw everything from clownfish to puffers, and of course many close encounters with sea turtles. The visibility is great near the Gili Islands and the water temperature is perfect. In fact, the weather in Bali throughout June and our trip couldn’t have been better, averaging 80 degrees farenheit daily . While in Gili, we saw a rainbow near Lombok indicating rain, but never had an ounce of rain on us the entire trip.
The remaining time on Gili was deciding how we could spend the rest of our lives here…but really it involved: a guided fishing trip, catching sunsets on the west side of the island, indulging in some Balinese food, and searching for turtles off the beach. Oh and some crazy night-time spearfishing! Straight out from the resort you could snorkel and search for turtles and swim with them as long as your heart desires. Finding them is not hard and they will go about their business searching for food within the seaweed beds while you swim and observe them. On our fishing trip I got lucky by catching a barracuda, and we also went spearfishing at night with the guides among the coral. There was so much to do and we loved Gili T so much we debated cancelling our next stop to stay on the island longer, so do not skimp out when planning how many days you spend on the islands.
We decided to continue moving to see what else Bali had to offer, so we took a short ferry back to Amed and our driver picked us up to adventure down the coast towards Sanur. This seems like a good time to mention Putu, a middle man of drivers, who coordinated our rides. Basically, when we needed a ride, we whatsapp Putu and he would set up driver and price. Done. Everybody showed up, was friendly, and the transportation was cheap. Down the southeast coast of Bali were a few stops I didn’t want to miss, including: The Bali Zoo, Salt Farms, and Candidasa Beach. The zoo is incredible for this island and has many active animal interactions as well as a tram tour through the park, almost like you’re on a safari. We saw many salt farms that collect the ocean water for the salt content, and stopped to purchase a jar of salt for a very fair price and have used it frequently in cooking. Candidasa beach and other beaches along the way are great for a few seaside pictures and walking. As an alternative option you can choose to ferry to Sanur from Gili, but the price is comparable to the ferry to Amed and drive to Sanur and I didn’t want to miss out on these few gems along the coastal drive.
At the bottom of Bali was Sanur, our last stop which brought us near the airport. Sanur is a beachtown and medium sized city with a market and array of things to do. We primarily chose to stay here due to its location near one of our last adventures in Bali, Nusa Penida. This island off the coast of Bali is one of three in a cluster, but it is the biggest with the most attractions and some of nature’s most amazing landscapes. The Nusa islands also have some of the best surrounding scuba diving and snorkeling in the world with chances to see the Mola Mola (sunfish) in season. After the 1 ½ hour ferry from Sanur, we started our day trip with a private snorkel trip in search of the largest ray in the world, the manta ray. The coral surrounding Nusa Penida was gorgeous, and in Crystal Bay I swam up to a manta ray that almost ran directly into me. The body movements and size of these animals is stunning. The average size is 15 feet across! After snorkeling all morning, we showered off and began our adventure on land. We had a driver set up to get us to different locations on the island, starting with lunch. Lunch was at the Krusty Krab, a local restaurant that mimics the cartoon and menu items seen on tv. The next 5 hours were spent driving through the roughest undeveloped roads I have ever seen or felt to get to three natural wonders; Angel’s Billabong, Broken Beach, and Kelingking Beach. Angel’s Billabong is a tide pool were the sea crashes into the shore and you can swim in nature’s own infinity pool. Be careful though if you attempt a swim, as the waves could sweep you out in rough conditions. Broken Beach was the next stop, an arched tunnel in the cliffs that looks as if it were carved out. The walk can be lengthy but worth it to see such an astonishing view. Finally, one of the best views in Bali, Kelingking Beach. The cliff and headland structure looks exactly like a T-Rex head! What do you think? Although we didn’t walk down to the secluded beach (40-60 minutes), the view down onto the scenery created some of the best pictures on our trip. However, as a note for the entire island of Bali, do not forget your sunglasses. (Jodi…) Keep hydrated on the island and take opportunities to buy cold water from the locals. The drive is treacherous to get here, the view once in a lifetime.
We returned to Sanur and our private Airbnb with our own pool. We relaxed on our final night before our morning drive, with some side sights, to the airport the next day. If we could have done things different, we would have chosen to stay in Nusa Dua instead of Sanur. Nusa Dua is more upscale and the beach is no comparison in quality. Also the surfing at Nusa Dua is some of the best in Bali. Before our departure, we stopped at some destinations near Uluwatu (such as the water blow) and got a picture with our favorite driver that Putu arranged for us several times. On our return home we had a night layover in Doha, Qatar, where we experienced the warmest wind we have ever felt due to it’s subtropical desert climate. We slept the night, snapped a few pictures, and got ripped off by a cab driver; paid twice in Qatari Rial for our fare…we said whatever and just wanted sleep. We arrived back in Chicago that following day, went to a wedding and passed out later that night due to exhaustion. We’ve been dreaming about going back ever since…
This place is truly the Island of the Gods…
Check out our Trip of A Lifetime video! and Fun Facts on Bali (Here)
