Day 6 -- Bali, Indonesia

 06/14/2023 Wednesday

Itinerary:

• Breakfast at Grand Hyatt Bali Lounge 
• Ubud Palace and Traditional Market
• Tegalalang Rice Fields
• Tanah Lot
• Uluwatu Temple 

This morning, we woke up early as we have a full day private tour that I had booked. The driver was going to pick us up at the lobby at 9am. So, we went to the lounge for breakfast before going to the lobby. The one thing that makes me want to return to the same hotel is the service and Grand Hyatt-Bali has that. The lounge manager always has a dragonfruit cut up for me each morning when I come as he remembers that I love drangonfruit.

Our first destination is Ubud Palace whihc is about 1.5 to 2 hours drive from our hotel depending on the traffic. The traffic this morning was bad.

Finally, arriving at Ubud Palace after 2 hours of driving.

After the palace, we walked across the street to the traditional market for some arts and handmade products.

There was several places offering massage and it was super cheap. However, we only have an hour here as the driver is waiting for us and we have 3 other places to go, so we had to skip the massage.

Next, we went to Tegalalang rice fields which was about 30 minutes or so drive. The driver dropped us off at the parking lot and we had to get a number so that they can call for the driver when we are ready to go. After that, we went to the counter to purchase the tickets to go to the fields and was given wrist bands after we paid. There was also swings which are very high above grounds so that you can have a good view of the surrounding fields and take some nice pictures. But since I was afraid of heights, we didn't purchase the swing tickets.

We walked down to the rice fields and saw a small waterfall there.

After taking some pictures, we went back up to the parking lot and texted our driver to come and pick us up. The next stop is Tanah Lot which was about 1.5 hours drive, so we rested in the car. Once we reached Tanah Lot, our driver told us that we only have an 1 hour here as we need to go to our next stop for the sunset. We got off the car and went to the entrance gate to buy the tickets and it costs IDR60,0000 per person (~$4). After scanning our receipt, we were let in and there was a long line of small stores selling clothes, food, handmade products and restaurants as well. 

We were lucky as it was low tide, so we can walk to the bottom of Tanah Lot Temple. The temple is dedicated to the Balinese sea gods and goddesses. Right under the temple, there was some locals who will spray some holy water and put some marks on your forehead after you pay a fee and then you are allowed to walk up the stairs. However, you can't walk all the way up as foreign toursts are not allowed inside, only Balinese are allowed.

After taking some pictures here, we got a text from our driver asking us to leave as he just checked the traffic to our next stop, Uluwatu Temple and it's very congested. So, we quickly went to the convenience store to buy some drinks as it was hot before meeting our driver at the parking lot. He was very apologetic that he had to rush us but we told him that it's ok. 

After driving for about almost 2 hours, we finally reached the entrance of Uluwatu where we had to pay a small parking fee. Our driver dropped us off the entrance where we bought our tickets (IDR50,000/person). The employees there gave the boys a sarong to cover their bottoms, and the girls a scarf to cover the shoulders and a sash to everyone to tie around the waist since this is a very religious place. Do be careful of the offerings that are left on the ground and do not step on them. We see these offerings everywhere we go in Bali as Balinese are very religious Hindus who pray daily and place these offerings on the floor. The offerings are often palm leaves woven into a small box holding money, food and flower petals.

Once we put on the accessories, we quickly walked inside so that we can catch the last glimpse of the sun as the sun was already setting. It was a very beautiful sunset with a lot of tourists everywhere. We took some pictures and then proceed to walk up to the temple. It was already dark, so we couldn't see much except that there were many monkeys there. The monkeys are not afraid of people, so you have to be careful and make sure to hold on to our phones and other belongings as they are known to snatch them and run away with it. One of the monkeys tried to snatch Mason's drink as he was drinking it, so we had to walk away quickly.

There is also a Kecak fire dance show offered with additional fees but we don't have time, so didn't attend the dance. After visiting the temple, we walked towards the parking lot and texted our driver to pick us up. Soon, we were on our way to our hotel as it was already 7pm. On the way to the hotel, we told the driver to drop us to any good restaurant for some dinner so that we can buy and eat at our hotel as our 12 hours of tour was coming up soon. 

It was a very long 12 hours tour where most of the time was spent driving around Bali. The traffic and roads made it hard to drive fast. So, even though the distance between each destination was not very far but it took a long time. So, we only made it to 4 places today in 12 hours. For anyone that plans to come to Bali, I would suggest that you come for at least 10 days to 2 weeks as you can see, you can only covered limited places each day.