Bali YOU SHOULD BE HERE®
Bali is a place where you'd come more than once in a lifetime. It's one of those places where you can do a lot of things for all kinds of occasions. Maybe a lot of people think it's only a place to honeymoon, but there are actually more to it. It is very beautiful and there is a neighbourhood of honeymoon resorts, hence people do go there for honeymoons a lot. This was my 2nd vacation in Bali and was there for my 7th DREAMTrips with my buddy Kamil. This was a last minute plan as I did not apply for leave for this trip, yet it was awesome. We've made a new friend there, Kukky, from Thailand. She was there with her mom. Now wouldn't you like to take your mom on an awesome rockstar vacation? Thank you DREAMTrips!
Getting into Bali's Ngurah Rai International Airport
Flying in from Brunei lands you there at almost midnight, which is ridiculous. If you go via KL, you'll land there earliest by 7pm. If you go via Singapore, the earliest you can get there is by 4pm, but you'll have to make a run for it as you only have about an hour to change planes. The most enjoyable way is by transiting via Singapore or KL for a night or more, enjoy the place, then take any desired flights into Bali. Personally, since I've been to KL and Singapore too many times, I'd stay overnight at KLIA2 or any nearby hotels. For this trip, I had to take the direct flight as this was during my off days, not planned leave.
When I reached the airport, I saw someone with our blue banner. I thought that was my pickup but then I didn't ask for one. It turned out that it was a pickup service for another DREAMTrip. Wow, I didn't know our services are happening more than once a week!
The Resort
This place was too awesome for two guys going on a vacation together. Kamil actually bought this trip for him and his two parents. However, his parents couldn't make it due to his mom's work, so I bought the trip off him. Honestly, that resort really was amazing, and would fit perfectly for honeymooners. They also had a wedding chapel, so if anyone plans to get married there, would be an unforgetful experience.
I came in really late and I missed the welcome dinner. Kamil was already there since morning. He took advantage of the airport transfer. When he got to the airport, a guy with the our banner was already there waiting for him. Everything was pretty much taken cared of from that point.
Arriving at the resort, there was a special check-in desk for dreamtrippers (this is what we call ourselves since this trip was a DREAMTrip). Being a Platinum member, our room was ready to be accommodated even before 2pm. Early check-in; perks of being a Platinum.
The room was awesome. The whole place was amazing. The beach was beautiful. Even the wifi was accessible on the beach. You have got to be there.
That evening, they had a welcome dinner party. It was so unfortunate that I missed it. They seemed to have had so much fun.
The Traditional Balinese Life
The first thing we explored the next day was a traditional Balinese house. The locals showed us how they make their offerings and explained abit on their Balinese hindu prayer.
Luwak Coffee
I'm not sure if this Luwak coffee is the best coffee in the world or it's the most expensive in the world or both. In my opinion, it is the most expensive coffee but not the best. I think alot of people confused it being the best only because it is expensive. However, that's just my opinion. In case you don't know, this is how this coffee is produced. A kind of cat called Luwak eats a certain coffee. The coffee beans are swallowed, and digested partially and in such a way that the coffee inside the shell of the beans are still clean enough to consume after the cat excrete them. In laymen's term, the cat eats coffee beans, shits them out and the insides of the beans become coffee. Doesn't that sounds delicious? So we gave it a shot anyway. We were taken to one of the many coffee plantations there. A mug of Luwak coffee costs IDR50,000.
Mount Batur
We had quick stop before lunch to see this active volcano. This volcano is set in a lake in the old caldera. The view was breathtaking. Pictures never do justice for the real experience. You really should be there and see it for yourself. There was, however, a killer to our experience. There were people selling souvenirs aggressively the moment we got there. Hopefully in the future DREAMTrips would get some escorts to control them. I don't mind buying stuff from them, but they were just too pushy. In terms of their pricing, it is cheaper and better to buy souvenirs off their official store which I will share later on.
Beautiful volcano inside a crater
Aggressive salespeople. I don't like selling. Selling isn't my thing. Don't be a pushy salesperson.
Sure, this is a candid shot.
We went to have lunch around here at a restaurant called Kintamani. The view of the volcano was also amazing from there. The food was halal and we didn't have to pay anything extra for it. Kamil and I sat together with Kukky and her mom. Kukky's single, by the way, and she has accomplished the first stage of residual income from our platform. She's going to retire from her job pretty soon! Anyone feeling lucky? Hehe sorry Kukky!
Gunung Kawi Temple
This is one of Bali's best temples. Like most temples, or any religious shrines, you have to wear proper clothings. It was very convenient as they do rent out batik cloth for you to cover yourself. It was abit unfortunate for us as it rained abit when we got there.
Sakala@Mantra
We had a rockin' good time for dinner after a really long ride back from the temple. The traffic jam was horrendous. Our trip back took, roughly, two and a half hours. That was pretty bad, but after our trip, we saw on facebook that the DREAMTrips after us had escorts to go through the traffic jam. Did I say we're only going to get better? Isn't that awesome?! Anyway, we had a wonderful buffet dinner at Sakala, Mantra's hotel restaurant. There was a brilliant fire show, an amazingly talented and hot DJ, and some soothing traditional dance show. Traveling like a RockStar.
Ubud Monkey Forest
This is also known as Ubud's Sacred Monkey Forest Sanctuary. It's a sacred place although you are allowed to only wear shorts to enter. Monkeys are everywhere and partially controlled, so be careful. I have a friend who planned to stay in Bali for a week but ended up staying for a month because he was bitten by a monkey from this sanctuary.
Tanah Lot
Tanah Lot is one of the places where you can't miss when you go to Bali. Of course going there once in a lifetime is good enough for most people, so don't miss it. It is quite far from Nusa Dua. It is on the northwestern part of Bali while Nusa Dua is on the southern part. It's an active sacred Hindu area, so if you're Hindu, you might want to go there multiple times. There is also a market there as well as restaurants with amazing views. Unfortunately for us it was raining when we got there. There is also a cave where you can visit the snakes which,although harmless, protects the temples. At least that's what they say about them.
Bale Udang
In my opinion, this is the most awesome restaurant in Bali. The price is also ridiculously low, yet the food is amazing! There are two of these in Bali, and we were there with our local friend, Sam. The world is an amazing place with people like Sam being around.
Krisna Bali
The only place where you can get all of Bali's souvenirs is from the shop. It's amazing how it is a 24 hour shop. It's the only place where you can the price at it's original and also lowest.
This is as much as I can say for this trip. I will definitely come back to Bali again. However, if you were to stay at the resorts, I strongly suggest you go via our travel club, as they do a brilliant job helping you save money, and experience more fun. I did a bit of calculations and found out that the resort on it's own for 3 nights costs as much our DREAMTrips! So if you were to add all other excursions and meals and the VVIP treatment, would definitely cost you a lot more. Enjoy the rest of the photos.