Chris and I head back to Montana from our first trip to Cambodia on the 1st of December, a week before my birthday on the 8th. We love Montana, but there’s just something about being stateside in the cold for your birthday, and we’re living in South East Asia now, so why not celebrate early by going to a place that I’ve always wanted to go? Bali, Indonesia! We had a 5 day weekend because of the water festival here in Cambodia in mid November, so we decided to check Google Flights and see where we could find a good deal on tickets for the long weekend. When Bali came up on our search with a good deal from Air Asia, we were thrilled!
Chris and I choose to save our money to invest in experiences rather than things. To create memories rather than buy meaningless stuff. We love to travel together, and find abundant life in meeting people from around the world, experiencing different cultures, and seeing the vast beauty that God created.
Our first stop on our long weekend to Bali was lush, sun-drenched, Ubud which is about an hour north of Denpasar (the largest city on the island). We stayed in a little Airbnb in the center of town with an incredible view of the clay tile roof tops, and green forest landscape that surrounds this hip town. You can find great places to stay in Bali through Airbnb for about $10 – $20 a night! Making a trip there super affordable!
Ubud is teeming with quaint coffee shops, hip restaurants, and trendy clothing boutiques. It also boasts of it’s incredible Traditional Art Market, which that we wandered through for a few hours admiring the unique nicknacks, clothing, and souvenirs they had for sale! Additionally, vegan and health food restaurants are of serious quality in Ubud, so if you’re into this kind of food be sure to eat at one of these tasty places!
This area of the island is also known for its lush green rice fields, you can visit a few of the more famous ones for an hour or two, or go on a tour of the fields by bike, by foot, or just get lost in the beautiful countryside. We were most excited to visit the Tegalalang Rice Terraces while we were there. We wanted some great lighting for photos, so we woke up with the sun, skipped breakfast, and drove our moped straight to the rice terraces.
Our early adventure was totally worth it, as there was no one there, and we basically wandered the paths through the rice terraces by ourselves. The only others we encountered were another couple and a photographer who were also there for an early morning shoot, and a few Balinese workers who live and work in the rice fields.
One of these workers, named Wayan, invited us to come and spend some time with him at his little hut perched on top of a hill in the field. He shared some fresh coconut water with us and showed us around his little property, introducing us to his animals (a chicken, cat, and dog) and sat to explain to us about how they grow and harvest the rice. He played some music for us on his handmade flute, and showed me how to play his bamboo xylophone!
Meeting people like Wayan throughout our travels make these experiences so much richer. Take some time to invest in experiencing a new place and getting to know the people who call it home.
Labels: Bali, Bali Blog, Indonesia, Indonesia Blog, Life Abundant, Life Abundant blog, Tegalalang Rice Terrace Blog, The Road Less Traveled Blog, Travel Blog, Travel Photography, Travel Photography Blog, Ubud, Ubud Blog
