Welcome to Bali

After my short stop in Singapore I went on to Bali. Here I booked a 12-day tour over the island with Intro Travel, which started in Canggu.

In the morning I had to get up at 3 am because my flight to Bali left at 7 am.

After arriving in Bali two hours later, I first had to go through immigration control, which took a while. When I finally had my luggage with me I was picked up at the exit directly by our tour guide. Shortly after me, some other girls arrived, who were on the same plane as me. Together with our tour guide we drove to our hotel in Canggu. The drive there took less than an hour. During this time we already talked a bit and got to know each other better.

When we arrived at the hotel I happened to meet two girls I knew from my Thailand tour.

Unfortunately we were not able to check into the hotel yet. That’s why I started out with the girls who were on the same plane as me to buy us SIM cards. When we came back we were finally able to check in. Each of us had a twin room with a view of the sea and pool from our hotel.

Meeting the Crew

After lunch on the roof terrace of the hotel I spent the afternoon with the group at the pool.

Towards evening we all made our way to our first dinner. This we ate in a restaurant opposite our hotel.

Afterwards, some of us went back to the hotel to sleep, as they had been on a long flight. I’ve been to two beach bars with a few others. Around 11 pm we were all back in the hotel, because we had many activities ahead of us the next day.

Learning about Balis Culture

The next morning we met at 9 am on the terrace of the hotel. There we had breakfast. Afterwards, our tour guide gave a small presentation and informed us about everything that comes to us in the next 12 days.

After the presentation we made our way to the reception, where two minibuses were waiting for us. These have us then brought to a restaurant after a longer drive, due to the traffic that is particularly bad in the south of Bali. There we learned from a local what to do in the bowls with the flowers that are on the street in front of almost every door.

Afterwards we packed the bowls and got clothes that we should wear during the visit of the temples. It was pretty hot that day, so we sweated a lot under the long clothes.

Visiting Balis Tempels

The first temple we visited was very small and in the open sky. After we all have been blessed we made our way to the next temple. This temple was a lot bigger. I personally found it much more interesting and reminded me more of a temple in Bali.

After visiting the temple and getting rid of our thick temple clothes, we went to the beach in Seminyak in the afternoon. This was actually the same beach I was on when I was in Bali with my Au Pair family 2,5 years ago.

There we played volleyball on the beach and sat on seat cushions on the beach. Around 5 pm we had dinner in a restaurant on the beach.

In contrast to my Thailand group, in which everyone got along well with everyone, this time the group splits a little. That’s why we all did something separately in the evening. I went with some girls and our tour leader to a bar not far from our hotel. There we played the evening over beer pong and other drinking games.

Around 11 pm we made our way back to the hotel. Because the next morning we had to get up early again, because we would participate in a surf lesson.

Surfing in Canggu

The next morning we drove by bus up the coast to a surf school. There we took part in a surf lesson.

First we got some important rules explained on the beach. After that we practiced on the beach a few times how to get up on the surfboard. Afterwards we went into the water.

As much as I would love to be able to surf, I think this is still not a sport for me. I have too much respect for the big board and the waves. Even though I had tried it a few times, I did not manage to stand up on the board.

After almost two hours we made our way back to the hotel in Canggu. Since the streets in Canggu are very crowded it took a while to get back to the hotel. There we took a quick shower before we went straight to a cafe to have lunch there. There, of course, we all ordered a Smoothiebowl, as these are very good on Bali. We had the afternoon off so we all used the time to get down a bit.

Sunset at the Beach

Towards evening we all met again in the hotel lobby to go together to the beach. There we watched the sunset with a drink. Since it was cloudy so far, we could not see the sunset as we would have liked.

After the sun had set we went to a restaurant to have dinner there. Some of the group went to a bar after dinner. I went back to the hotel with some other girls. From the long day we were a bit exhausted and the next morning we had to check out early from the hotel to make our way to Lovina.

We then sat on the terrace for a while, looked at the photos that our tour guide took of us the last days and chatted a bit.

The next day we continued our journey to Lovina. If you would like to know what I experienced during my time in Lovina. Please read my next blog post Dolphin spotting in Lovina – Indonesia Travel Diary.