When we fill in our little round-up questionnaire about a country, we are usually far away from it, already experiencing lots of new things at a different destination. Nevertheless, in our minds, we enjoy traveling back to the places we visited and memories we made. All the more, when we find ourselves in a difficult situation: We relived our days in Bali lying in a crappy, gross and greasy camper (more about that nightmare at a later point) in Tasmania’s capital Hobart. Dreaming about our beautiful stay on the Indonesian island helped us get through the night. And the next morning, our situation changed for the better.

 

Highlight

• John (J): All four of us doing yoga together. Special family time.
• Nicole (N): Jatiluwih rice terraces. I was really impressed by the vastness of it. And I just love the look of them.
• Sophie (S): The dolphin tour – because we saw the dolphins close to us.
• Lilly (L): Staying at Sumberkima Hill because of the view and the pool. And Finn’s Beach Club was a highlight because there was loud music and a swimming pool where Sophie and I could dance in the water.

 

Best adventure

• J: The dolphin tour. I loved the way the dolphins appeared from nowhere.
• N: The dolphin tour. That was a real adventure. Everything about it – not just seeing the dolphins.
• S: The Ubud Monkey Forest. It was an adventure because of all the cute babies. And that one monkey who pulled on Lilly’s t-shirt.
• L: The dolphin tour. It felt like we just came out of bed, hopped on the boat and went looking for the dolphins. That was an adventure for me.

Low point

• J: It wasn’t a low point, but the drive out to Perancak. It made me feel like when we arrived at the Tip of Borneo. How wrong I was!
• N: What came closest to a low point for me, was our short visit to the Potato Head Beach Club on our last day. The scene there was so far from how we experienced Bali the weeks before.
• S: The temple in the water (Tanah Lot) because there was not much to see.
• L: For me, there was no low point.

Favourite Place

• J: Ubud. I loved the culture, entertainment and the feel of the place.
• N: That’s really difficult to say. I pretty much liked all the accommodation. If I had to pick one it was Sumberkima Hill.
• S: Our cottage in Gitgit because our bed was like a tree house. And our villa in Canggù because it had bean bags, an outdoor kitchen and living room and a private pool.
  L: My favourite place was Ubud because there were so many arty shops with a lot of nice things in them.

Best meal / food

• J: Pork ribs at Warung Pondok Madu in Ubud. And then anything and everything that Kadek gave us in Perancak (Villa Tunjung Sari).
• N: Kadek’s food at Villa Tunjung Sari was devine and had so much flavour.
• S: The chicken dish the housekeepers of the Gitgit cottage cooked for us.
• L: I liked pretty much everything I had.

Best bed

• J: Met’s place had the comfiest bed I had ever slept in. But at Jani’s Place Cottage it was a combination of comfortable bed and lovely linen.
• N: At Jani’s Place Cottage. For the first time in a while I had some good night sleeps.
• S: At Met’s place. The bed was very cosy!
• L: At Met’s place the bed was lovely and soft. And at Sumberkima Hill the duvet was so soft and cozy.

Favourite animal

• J: I would have to say the monkeys in the monkey forest.
• N: The dolphins.
• S: The dolphins.
• L: The baby monkeys, dolphins and the luwak.

People I will remember

• J: Craig, Kadek and Met.
• N: Craig, Kadek and their kids.
• S: Triplets Zara, Hayley and Jaden and their parents Craig and Kadek.
• L: Craig, Kadek and Met.

What I’ll miss

• J: Kadek’s food.
• N: Three weeks in Australia and I already miss the lovely accommodation.
• S: The rice fields.
• L: The baby monkeys.

What I wont’ miss

• J: Driving in heavy rain at night. And gecko poo everywhere.
• N: Scooters everywhere. And: It’s getting boring but… litter again.
• S: The amount of scooters.
• L: People asking “taski? taksi?”.

I didn’t expect…

• J: … that the rainy season had such an effect on sunset and sunrise.
• N: … the south of Bali being so overdeveloped and to only see one sunset in four weeks.
• S: … so many motorbikes.
• L: … the sea to be so rough.