• Age: 36
• Year: 2025
• Time of year: March
• Length of trip: 6 days
• Travel style: Adventure, beach

The recap:
Rice terraces
Monkey encounters
Beach sunsets

Day 1

Flew from Hanoi, Vietnam to Bali, Indonesia (direct flight once a day with Vietjet). Upon arrival at the airport in Bali, you will be swarmed by taxi drivers trying to get your business – just keep walking left along the outside of the airport until you get to the Grab lounge where you can wait for a Grab car without the hassle.

Checked into the Grand Mercure Seminyak Hotel just in time to run down to the beach for sunset. Lovely hotel just a few minute walk from the beach, much cheaper than the hotels directly on the beach. Enjoyed dinner at the beach bar K Resto with live music (10% discount for Grand Mercure hotel guests). Then went for drinks at the DoubleSix Rooftop.

Day 2

Went for breakfast at Machinery Coffee and explored the shops in the Seminyak area. The humidity got to us after a couple hours, so went back to the hotel for a swim in the pool. Then got dressed to head out to Tanah Lot for sunset (highly recommend for the views). Note: there are multiple temples, though you can’t actually go into the temples themselves except for prayer (and you can only access the main one at low tide). Then made our way to the town of Canguu for dinner at Iwa Restaurant. Followed by drinks at the Lawn Club, and then dancing at Old Man’s – definitely the place to be on a Saturday night.

Day 3

Time for a day trip to Ubud to see the rice terraces and waterfalls. It was about a 2-hour drive from Seminyak to the Ceking (Tegalalang) Rice Terraces. We trekked up to the top of the rice terraces and got stuck in a torrential downpour/ thunderstorm, which made for an unexpected but fun experience.

Then we went for lunch at the Sayan House (highly recommend) with beautiful views of the area. Next stop: Kanto Lampo Waterfall. A beautiful waterfall, but a bit touristy with everyone lined up to take photos standing in the waterfall. Then it was back to Seminyak for a delicious dinner at Zanzibar.

Day 4

Started off the day with yoga by the pool (free at the hotel) followed by an amazing acai bowl at Felicity Espresso. Then it was time for our 2nd day trip down south this time to Uluwatu. We went to the Uluwatu Temple, with beautiful cliff views of the ocean (reminder to cover your shoulders & knees, and they also require you to wear an orange sash that is provided with your entrance ticket). But beware of the monkeys! They are not kind and will steal your sunglasses off your head (we saw this happen to multiple people despite the warnings, and they did not get their sunglasses back).

After getting tired of fending off the monkeys, it was time for a beer at Bench Brewery – great spot & good beer. Then walked down to Padang Padang Beach (also watch out for the monkeys here) and imagined being Julia Roberts from Eat Pray Love. Channeling those Eat Pray Love vibes, we took our first Grab bikes (no helmets, so hold on tight) down the road to Single Fin for dinner and drinks above Uluwatu Beach to watch the sunset and surfers. Ended the night at Vida Loca for drinks and a game of pool.

Day 5

Sadly, the ‘Bali Belly’ got us today (recommend having prescription drugs on hand for this), otherwise our plan was to go surfing. Spent the day chilling by the pool and enjoying a last sunset of the trip on the beach.

Day 6

Breakfast at the Bungalow Kitchen, and one final dip in the pool before our flight back to Vancouver (connected through Hong Kong).

Thank you Bali for a beautiful end to my SE Asia adventure!