Back from my long awaited holiday from Bali!
Really like this island where we have thoroughly enjoyed the Balinese friendliness and their excellent services.
I was seriously curious how others always muse about how fun was Bali..
But I understand and you will definitely not regret that you have made the trip there.. =)
Bali Day 1
We travelled in the morning flight via Air Asia. Despite of the bad reviews that I've read about this airline, the entire 2 hr 20min plane ride to Bali was really quite comfortable and ok. Nothing to really complain about. =)
Around noon time upon reaching Bali, the staff from the villa came to fetch us. Unfortunately, the villa van had broke down but the staff smoothly arranged a taxi ride to bring us to the villa.
Our villa was located in Seminyak, it was a rather good location to travel out to places like the nearby Kuta Beach and main shopping areas of Kuta.
The villa we stayed was rather unique..
Double storey with a small kitchen, bathroom and a bedroom upstairs..
It had doors that allows us to jump quickly in the pool.
And of course, the first thing that we did after unpacking was to jump in the pool for a quick swim.
Seminyak villa.
And later, off we went exploring Kuta - a buzzling place for shopping, dining & beach activities like windsurfing.
It's interesting to see lots of tourists chose to rent their own scooters and cars to travel around this dense city. However, I still think it's better to just flag a cab as and when you need than rent a bike where you have to worry about parking.
Sunset at the beach was magnificent where you see streaks of different colours as the sun sets. Lots of pubs line the side of the long beach, it's a great place to chill out and enjoy the sunset.
And of course, being Singaporeans, we love to shop. After dinner, we headed down to Billabong sale in Kuta where Dimple Boy had been eyeing on the flier obtained from the airport. Sales are pretty good and lots of stuffs are discounted by a lot.
Main areas of Kuta and the beach. 
Bali Day 2
One of the wonderful ways to visit Bali is to join the 40km downhill mountain cycling tour where the guides will bring us to cycle through the little villages.
Given the mountainous roads of Bali are really almost always single-laned, with traffic, people, even dogs lying in the middle of the roads, it was really a challenge for me. But no doubt about it, it worth the effort because where else better to catch glimpses of the beautiful terrains and village life.
The cycling company was really good as they had looked after us really well. All cycling essentials were provided - cycling helmets, bikes, mineral water. There was even a van and a truck with spare bikes following after us as we cycled through all the way. The tour ended with a sumptuous Balinese lunch at the restaurant owned by this cycling company. Thumbs up for Bintang Tours!
View from cycling trip.
Bali Day 3
We stayed in the Nandini villa within the mountainous area of Ubud on 3rd day.
This place was rather nice with the resort staffs who are thoughtful and sincere.
Our villa overlooks the jungle with the Agung river at the bottom of the resort.
Ubud Villa.
As the villas were built on the mountain side, we had to take the gondola to travel up and down the resort..
Gondola.
It was interesting that this resort had jacuzzi was actually filled with the spring water from the ground. And at night time underneath the starry skies, we even caught sight of the fireflies within the rice fields of the villages just right in front of the villa reception.
It's really wonderful because you will never see all of these in Singapore.
Exploring the resort.
Bali Day 4
We were up for more adventures - Climbing Mt Batur.
For this trip, we had to set off with the arranged transport at 2.45am. The resort staff were nice enough to pack us 2 big boxes of breakfast, and even offered to toast us the breads in the wee hours of the morning.
We reached the base camp around 4am and had a local trekking guide to bring us up the mountain. Trekking up the rocky paths really in almost in darkness and a torchlight was really essential. Seriously, this trek was rather difficult but luckily I had the trekking guide and the "drinks" boy to help me up all the way. It had never felt so good to reach the top of the mountain.
It was quite cute that there was a simple shack on top of the mountain that sells drinks and food. All trekkers were all huddled up in this tiny shack for warmth as we all waited for the sun to rise.
It was unfortunately that the weather started to drizzle a bit and was cloudy. We only managed to catch a little bit of the sunrise. A check on the temperature also showed that it was 10 degrees up in the mountain. Poor Dimple Boy wore just a simple jacket and bermudas for trekking and he was really freezing all the way at the top. Luckily, I chose to wear a jacket with tights under track pants. At least, I was a little warmer than him. For those interested to climb in future, a woollen cap and gloves are highly recommended to be brought for warmth.
Our trekking guide brought us to a small vent where hot air escapes. The heat was really enough to de-thraw our frozen hands. The power of earth is really amazing.
It was really too bad that the crater was shrouded in clouds due to the bad weather and we were not able to catch sight of the steam that escapes from the crater. Such a pity..
Overall, Mount Batur was still an easy climb compared to the other mountains in Bali and we made it down the mountain before 9am.
Mount Batur.
On top of Mount Batur.
After our trek, we proceeded to Ubud Center to experience the sights and sounds of the local life.
Ubud Center.
Bali Day 5
Back to Singapore!
Overall, this is really a good trip and of course, the most extreme sports holiday I ever had. Really like the mix of adventures and sufficient time for relaxing.
Hope to plan more of such holidays in future! =)
