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  • Reagan Dee
  • Reagan Dee

Indonesia

A 29-day adventure by Reagan Read more
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  • Trip start
    June 29, 2022
    Reagan DeeIndonesiaTraveler
    Main pool and restaurantReady for a herbal bath!Our room: RotanFirst night Strawberry Daiquiris

    Day 1: Uluman Eco Resort

    June 29, 2022 in Indonesia ⋅ ⛅ 26 °C

    After one heck of mission to catch our flight from Jakarta to Bali we finally arrived at the Ulaman Eco Resort.

    Back in Jakarta we arrived at terminal 2 to check in for our flight. 30 minutes of walking the length of the airport later we finally figured out which entrance we needed to be at! We passed through security and another 30 minutes later we had reached the front of the check in desk to be told our flight had changed terminals!

    With now only 1 hour before our flight, this meant a mad dash to figure out how the heck we get there! After another 3 lengths of the airport and a few discussions with locals in broken English, we hailed a taxi only to be taken to the police desk. The policeman then informed us that his “friend” was coming for us…sounded a bit dodgy but who were we to argue with 50 minutes to go!

    We eventually made it to terminal 1, chucked our bags and ourselves through security and found the correct desk…our flight had also changed airline at this point too! The final 30 minute dash sent us through ANOTHER security with 1.5l bottles of water which was apparently fine (you are also allowed 1 lighter per person…just no explosives 🤷🏼‍♀️).

    When checking the board it said to go to gate A7 which we did…running. Finally we could relax. After a quick wee we thought we should probably check we were in the right place as boarding was due 10 minutes ago. Good job we did as we were told we should have followed the gate on our boarding pass…A2! Another run to the other side of the airport with 15 minutes before our flight was due to take off had us ready for some peanuts 🥜 to the shop we went!

    After hanging around for 10 minutes and Sam attempting to board and getting rejected 3 times, we were told our gate had moved back to A7!! No running this time as at least we were with the masses!

    We were met at the airport by a driver from the resort who was extremely hospitable and entertained us with local knowledge on our 1.5hr transfer.

    We finally arrived and we’re shown to our amazing room after enjoying the resorts special “green juice” and a wet flannel. For dinner it was Nasi Goreng and Mie Goreng with a strawberry Daiquiri.

    Early sleep for us!    Read more

  • Reagan DeeIndonesiaTraveler

    Day 2: Tanah Lot Temple

    June 30, 2022 in Indonesia ⋅ ⛅ 28 °C

    We started our day with a yoga class at 8am with the instructor, Coin. This was followed by breakfast - smoothie bowl for me and Balinese style English breakfast for Sam!

    After a quick change we headed to the pool for ‘Aqua Stretch’. We had absolutely no idea what we were getting in to but it turned out to be a combination of self and assisted stretches thanks to Coin again! Never been so stretched in my life!

    Now we were able to touch our heads with our feet, we had a quick shower and headed to reception to hire ‘bikes’. Turns out when you say bikes in Bali they automatically think you mean moped! We were wished off with “be safe” “these roads are not like yours” “please be safe” which filled us with confidence…this was clearly needed though as 3 seconds after getting on the bike Sam forgot how to turn and almost drove into the bush!

    We safely made it to Tanah Lot and and spent the next few hours exploring the temple and surrounding shops. Unfortunately we couldn’t walk further into the temple as Sam didn’t want to give a donation to be blessed and so we crossed back over to the beach with half the experience…I’m sure his story differs to this!

    We had lunch looking over the temple and passed a random cafe with roaming Luaks and bats…didn’t try the coffee though! After another hour or so of strolling through the shops/surrounding area we headed back to the resort for a swim and relax by the pool.

    Another amazing dinner of margarita pizza for me (fancier than it sounds) and Balinese soup and lemongrass chicken for Sam (can’t remember their proper names!).

    We finished the day with a movie in bed and a rainstorm to see us to sleep 💤 ⛈    Read more

  • Reagan DeeIndonesiaTraveler
    Lunch at the Lazy Cat Cafe
    Lazy Cat CafeOutside the Palace"Hagglers Way"

    Day 3: Ulaman -> Ubud

    July 1, 2022 in Indonesia ⋅ 🌧 24 °C

    Day 3 started again with morning yoga at 8. We then signed up to the nature workout straight after, not knowing it would actually be a run to the local village and back!! We HATE running. We did however make it round and thankfully in the end it wasn’t that far! Along the way, Coin took us to see the locals wood carving, showed us where the school was and talked to us about the village culture and how every house has its own temple.

    Once we were back he gave us a tour of the extension being built at the resort which is going to be incredible - it comes with its own lake with “romantic boat”, hammocks and an amazing new spa all made with eco materials. Next was breakfast…we had the same as yesterday as it went down so well. Then it was back to the room to pack before having our 45 minute complimentary massage in the “treehouse spa” before check out - annoyingly they got confused and ended up giving us a 1 hour massage and charged us for it! We didn’t like to say anything so just payed up!

    Our taxi to Ubud went smoothly taking around 30 minutes and we checked into our next hotel. Unsurprisingly our £14 a night hotel did not live up to our Ulaman expectations. There was definitely a smell of damp and rubbish had been left in one of the draws…oh and a casual nail clipping to boot. Questioning our life choices we headed straight out for some lunch at the Lazy Cat Cafe. The food here was delicious. It was a vegetarian restaurant and we had battered broccoli with BBQ dip, hummus panini (with many more fillings) and some kind of a rice bowl - way more exciting that I’m making it sound.

    All was good until a sudden “FUCK” arose from Sam…he had left Kim’s GoPro in the back of the taxi! As the resort had booked our transfer we had to get back in contact with them to contact the driver. Thankfully they were very efficient and managed to get it sorted rapidly. However whilst we were off wondering the streets of Ubud without any internet the driver was waiting for us outside our hotel! After 2 hours he eventually gave it to the receptionist. We felt terrible for the rest of the day 😖 - never to be spoken of again!!

    We had a general explore of the main streets and wondered past the palace to the Ubud markets. Unfortunately these turned out to be not quite as expected as they had been demolished! There were however people lining the streets next to the building site which we named “hecklers way”.

    We finished the day with dinner in our local street looking over a field so Sam could listen to the crickets 🦗 - I had a green curry and Sam had chicken, chips and veg (Balinese style). We grabbed some Gelato on our way back and stayed to talk to the owner briefly - turns out she has a bank account in the Isle of Man 😄

    Early night back at our stinking abode, yay.    Read more

  • Reagan DeeIndonesiaTraveler
    Monkey ForestOur Monkey SelfieBefore the monkey attacked him with the branchMilk and MaduThe road outside the PalaceSome random colourful pots we passed on our way to the gymEnjoying a Pina Colada in Taco FiestaSam enjoying the coconut

    Day 4: Ubud

    July 2, 2022 in Indonesia ⋅ ⛅ 26 °C

    We woke around 6am to Sam convinced there was a bird in our room. After about 15 minutes of him looking for it we fell back asleep until 8am. Complimentary breakfast at the hotel was a fried egg on toast for me and scrambled for Sam. It also came with a fruit plate and watermelon juice…not bad!

    Once we had a plan together we headed out for the day. First stop was Senimans Coffee which was amazing. Major caffeine overload after a tasting tray, espresso ice cream and a cold brew! Buzzing we carried on exploring all the little shops along the way as we headed south towards the Monkey Forest. The forest was great and with a little convincing I managed to persuade Sam to pay 50,000rph to get a selfie with the monkey…so worth it. Thank goodness this came before Sam got fended off a swing by one rebel monkey claiming back his territory.

    We were now flagging and of course starving so we headed back towards the main road to grab some lunch. Sadly where we had planned to go had closed down (Watercress), but we came across Milk and Madu which fed us well. Sam had a Poke bowl with teriyaki chicken and I had corn fritters with poached eggs, bacon, avocado and salsa.

    Sticking to the plan we then made the trek out towards the gym!! We both did a leg session and there was ALOT of sweat. On our way back we called into Bali Buda which was a fab little health food/environmentally friendly shop where I grabbed a slice of banana bread for 44p and Sam a brownie for 76p!

    17,000 steps later and after a shower back at the hotel, we headed to our local street again, to a Mexican that we had walked past a few times. The food was great - nachos to start, burger and loaded baked potato for mains…and of course a Pina Colada and White Russian. Sam threw in at the end of our order that we would also have a coconut. This seemed like a great idea until it arrived and we both realised we don’t like coconut water 🥥

    It was back to a different gelato location this evening as we thought we may as well complete 20,000 steps!

    Only 2 more nights in hotel stench! Yippee    Read more

  • Reagan DeeIndonesiaTraveler

    Day 5: North Ubud Tour

    July 3, 2022 in Indonesia ⋅ ☁️ 26 °C

    Today was not a good start for Sam. Our plan to get up and out at 6:30am was interrupted by some unfortunate explosive 💩/sicky tummy. After around 30 minutes on the loo we came to the conclusion that heading to the gym was the answer to solve this one way or the other. I managed to get a full upper body session in and Sam managed 3 exercises with 3x15 minute 💩 intervals and a small nap on the loo.

    We headed back to the hotel for breakfast - 2 sips of coffee for Sam who then retreated for a nap. Around 10am he was alive again and decided we should still head out on our day as planned. We had hired a moped the night before.

    First we headed to the Tegallalang Rice Terrace with a spare loo roll in the bag for emergency road side explosions. These rice fields are beautiful but largely a tourist trap! They are based in a valley which meant lots of steps…AKA Sams worst nightmare! After multiple hunched over stops, we made it back to the top where Sam reluctantly agreed to take a picture of me in the nest and let me take one of him in the boat…don’t be fooled by his smile. After some refreshments in the cafe looking over the terrace, we were into our next stop.

    10 minutes later we arrived at Pura Gunung Kawi Sebatu. This temple was pretty and also a lot quieter than the other main temples. We regret not getting a guide, as after 10 minutes of looking at things and not knowing what was going on, we decided it was best to retreat to the Koi Carpe who were easier to understand. 10,000 rph later and the Carpe were fully fed.

    Next up we headed to Pura Tirta Empul…the water temple. It was extremely busy here as it was a Sunday and also a religious holiday, so many of the local families had arrived to get blessed in the water. We debated waiting in line, but didn’t know how to get a “water dress” which was compulsory, so we abandoned that plan! On our way out, we spotted some funky colored stairs and thought they would make a cool picture. However, in the process of this we were bombarded by around 20 holiday makers from a questionable origin, who all wanted individual selfies with us! Our taste of fame.

    Homeward bound, we stopped by Subak Palagan Rice Terrace to see what a proper Balinese working field was like. This was definitely worth it and a blissful escape from the tourism. After some spring rolls and fresh juice at the cafe opposite we headed back to the hotel for a quick shower and change.

    We decided to head to Folk Pool and Gardens for some dinner and a movie this evening - Enola Holmes was playing. Margarita pizza for Sams stomach (his first food of the day) and 2 for 1 cocktails for myself. A very relaxing night after quite the eventful day!    Read more

  • Reagan DeeIndonesiaTraveler
    1Our pet for 2 days
    Lake TamblinganTwin Lakes viewpoint1Me enjoying the Munduk coffee experience...Arrival of the rain and the ponchos!Banyumala WaterfallBanyumala Waterfall1The Eco Cafe1The Botanist

    Day 7: Coffee and Waterfalls

    July 5, 2022 in Indonesia ⋅ 🌧 19 °C

    After 2 days in a row of early starts we decided to have a relaxing morning. Breakfast was delivered to the balcony - fried egg on toast for me and scrambled again for Sam. We watched the clouds roll in over the hills whilst we had some alone time together, accompanied by a local stray dog who tactically turned up at breakfast and dinner for the rest of our stay…she knew what she was doing!

    Around 11am we kicked ourselves into gear and headed off on the new moped we had hired - we were informed that “it comes with purse”, a random small purse with a broken zip that was rusted so you couldn’t open it 😂 not sure why this was necessary but was a hilarious addition all the same!

    First stop of the day was Lake Tamblingan. After driving down what we were convinced was a footpath, we arrived at a large open grassy area with a lakeside temple. We didn’t have a sarong so couldn’t go in but looking from the steps we can say we ticked that box. We watched a local set off in his boat and directed some Americans to a footpath that we weren’t even sure existed.

    Next up was the twin lakes view point. This looked over Lake Tamblingan and Danau Buyan. We admired the view for a while before heading to Sam’s request of the day, Munduk Coffee. We were directed into the ‘tasting room’ and sat down to choose a drink. Whilst we drank, the staff talked us through the different methods of processing (Natural, Honey and Full washed) as well as the different roasting methods used to achieve the blends. They then went on to produce 2 more tasting shots of blends we were discussing…and 1 shot of Luak! 💩 Can’t say the latter went down too well 😄 As I’m not a coffee drinker at the best of times, I was truly Shakin’ Stevens by this point.

    We eventually made it to Banyumala waterfall after a stop to refuel and to buy a poncho, as at this point the heavens had opened! Sam braved the dip first. By my turn the mist had rolled in which made for an eary setting. We headed back via the Eco cafe to have a very late ‘lunch’, which was a cafe supporting women in the community as well as local produce.

    Back at the villa, we ran the bath which we enjoyed whilst the sun was setting. As it was our final night here we though we would treat ourselves to a restaurant we had found up the road which looked very ‘Bali’. It was certainly a sketchy scoot there with a very dim headlight on twisty mountain roads but luckily it was only 5 minutes away! Dinner was delicious - I had pesto pasta and Sam had lentil Bolognese.

    We made it back in one piece…although we did see one individual who hadn’t been so lucky and had come of their bike which we were ushered on past!    Read more

  • Reagan DeeIndonesiaTraveler
    Red Coral Waterfall
    Red Coral WaterfallOur next stay!The shared garden area and kitchen in the distanceHot springs overlooking Lake BaturWondering around the townThis area eas certainly a lot poorer than where we had been previouslySpider!!! How many can you see?The famous eggs and seasoning

    Day 8: Munduk -> Songan

    July 6, 2022 in Indonesia ⋅ ⛅ 21 °C

    We woke up to another beautiful morning as we headed down to try and see the Red Coral and Labuhan Kebo waterfalls. Despite it being 7am, we were spotted by who we later found out to be the ‘ticket lady’ from her house, who then raced us down to the ticket booth…she knew a short cut! We didn’t realize you had to pay so hadn’t brought any money with us! They charge for everything here 💰

    After attempting to interpret questions about where we are staying/names etc she let us through, but said we must pay the staff at our villa. The Red Coral was worth a visit in the end, but after 3 wrong turns we wended up in Munduk village instead of at the Labuhan Kebo waterfall! We decided to head back and spend an hour relaxing before we had to pack up, but to do that we had to walk past the ticket ladies house! On the approach we kept quiet and tiptoed our way up the stairs trying to keep a low profile, but then BOOM 💥 there she was…waiting. There was lots of uncomfortable eye contact and more questions that we could barely understand. We assured he we would pay the villa staff but she for sure didn’t trust us!

    With the waterfall payed for…or so we think 🤷🏼‍♀️ we met our driver at 11am to take us to Songan. Sadly the nice weather didn’t last as we had a day of rain ahead of us! A good chance to make the most of the ponchos nonetheless. On route we stopped at a restaurant for lunch which turned out to be the most expensive place we had been to! It was an all you can eat buffet made up of 90% meat dishes which wasn’t ideal for us newly found vegetarians after Sams 💩 disaster. I ended up with a plate of fried rice and noodles and decided to try every sauce that was available. This turned out to be a terrible idea as the spice level was through the roof 🔥 I shoveled down the green beans in hope of some relief only to become the new fire breathing dragon on the block covered in sweat 😅 Learning from my mistake Sam decided to go for the meat after saying a short prayer to the poo gods 🙏🏻

    We checked into our next place and it was safe to say it was FREEZING! The temperature here was definitely different to the south of the island. The room however was spotless and the host Edi was amazing. We had a swim in the natural hot spring from the volcano and wondered around the local area to get our bearings. At one point we spotted to most humongous NEST of spiders 🕷 From then on, everywhere we looked there was more! With a bit of research it turns out that this town is known for being infested with these spiders, supposedly harmless 😱

    After recovering from the spider trauma we had a cheap dinner from the supermarket…pots noodles and eggs and seasoning for Sam - sounds strange but is a fairly standard Sam meal. Early night in preparation for our sunrise Mount Batur trek in the morning 🌄    Read more

  • Reagan DeeIndonesiaTraveler
    Half way up
    Breakfast as the sun started to riseSelfie with our guide!At the top!Slippin' and slidin'My amazing hot chocolateThe lava fieldFuture PlaygroundThe car park of our lunch stop

    Day 9: Mount Batur and 😴

    July 7, 2022 in Indonesia ⋅ ⛅ 22 °C

    The 3am start was as bad as it sounds! After a quick bowl of cereal we met our guide at 3:30am and followed him from the hotel to ‘basecamp’. We were greeted with a hot drink (tea and coffee) whilst the guides sorted out the kit…kit being a handheld torch as we were on the cheap trip so weren’t privileged to a bamboo stick! There was already a lot of other groups here and as we began the trek you could see a line of torches making their way up the volcano.

    It quickly became clear that we had in fact hired a mountain goat and not a guide as advertised. We were soon overtaking numerous groups much to the disapproval of my lungs! He did however graciously allow us to stop a few times along the way for a few snaps and to catch our breath. He had said if we were quick we would make it to the top in 1hr 30mins…we made it up in 1hr 13mins! Despite this achievement meaning we got a good seat, part of us wished we had been back with the slow coaches as we now had to wait for a whole hour before sunrise…FREEZING.

    Our cheap tour didn’t include breakfast but our guide kindly got approval from his boss to make us some, winner! Egg sandwich for Sam and banana sandwich for myself, complete with some tangerines, caramel wafers and boiled eggs. The sky was so clear walking up, but in a typical fashion we were completely submerged by the clouds at the top in a howling gale! Sadly that meant we missed some of the beautiful sunrise colors but we were lucky enough for it to clear towards the end and got to see some amazing views.

    What we had not realized in the dark was that we had been walking on sand the whole way up. This meant for a hilarious run/slide on the way down in a grand total of 39 minutes…a new record apparently! Sams face when the guide suggested “Little bit run?” was a picture…his favorite activity 😄.

    The rest of the day was pretty relaxed as we were back at our hotel for 8am and had a good soak in the hot springs. We headed up to a coffee shop overlooking the lava field from the eruption back in 2000, where I had the most amazing hot chocolate 🍫 We then hit the gym (somehow still awake) and stopped for lunch on the way back down by which point we had crashed!

    After a little siesta we had another evening of pot noodles…the last of the holiday I swore!    Read more

  • Reagan DeeIndonesiaTraveler
    Breakfast at Tarabelle
    The 'Lingerie' shop1DriftersDriftersFinally made it to Padang Padang!Sam showing off his new shortsSurfers in the distanceThe 'skank bikini' - its mainly the top half

    Day 11: Uluwatu

    July 9, 2022 in Indonesia ⋅ ⛅ 27 °C

    After dropping of our laundry we headed to Tarabelle - Sam had ‘eggs my way’ and I had a breakfast wrap. As the weather was pretty grey we stuck around and had a doughnut whilst we finished our tea/coffee 🍩 Our main mission today was shopping followed by a beach afternoon, as we were both short on swimwear. Let the nightmare begin…

    The first shop we came to was for girls only…Sam immediately felt awkward as it turned out to be a lingerie shop as well as swimwear, so lurked in the corner trying not to look at anything. I tried on a bikini but it seemed the most coverage they had available was a thong. I will have to wait for my booty to be a bit more tanned before I whip that one out I think.

    The next place we came to was called Drifters - a very cool surf shop with a cafe. After a brief look around we headed across the road to compare what was about. I then made Sam try on 6 pairs of swim shorts - none of which were successful. He did however come away with a pair of flip flops he was in the market for, which were made of recycled tires from Indonesia, so he was sold. Back at Drifters I gathered another 8 pairs of shorts and 2 shirts for him, much to his disapproval! Luckily this time, we finally found the one! He came away with a new vest and pair of swim shorts completing the surfers outfit he aspired to.

    Sadly, I was not as lucky! After a quick coffee and smoothie at the cafe we headed to some more shops down the road. I ended up trying on ‘Large’ bikinis which still resulted in me having 4 bum cheeks they were so tight! Another 3 shops later I was ready to give up however the same can not be said for Sam who had managed to buy himself another shirt along the way! I ended up with what we named the ‘Skank bikini’ as it was truly awful looking but did however fit…which was rare!

    Finally we made it to Padang Padang beach where we managed to catch the last hour of sun and watch the surfers do their thing 🏄🏼‍♀️ On the way back we stopped off at The Cashew Tree for dinner to prepare us for the treacherous journey home in the dark - cars seem to drive in the middle of the road here which isn’t the best when you meet them on windy corners!    Read more

  • Reagan DeeIndonesiaTraveler
    Driving back with the laundry squashed between us
    Our Lunch stop - Suka EspressoThe yoghurt and fruit bowlSam being SamThe perfect toiletThe little warung on the beachThe shipwreck!Sams 'tan' showing up well here 😅Burn baby burn

    Day 12: Sams Birthday Eve

    July 10, 2022 in Indonesia ⋅ ⛅ 27 °C

    This morning we set out to do what we were supposed to do yesterday…a beach day! But first, breakfast 🍳 We headed to Bulls Coffee where I had a pain au chocolate and Sam had a breakfast bagel. After a quick detour to pickup and drop off our laundry we decided we were suitably ready for another coffee (for Sam) and more food (for Reagan). We stopped off at Suka Espresso for a yoghurt and fruit bowl and some eggs (classic).

    We eventually made it to Nunggalan Beach after another trek down hundreds of stairs…I’m not sure why we always pick places that are located down so many stairs! We spent the afternoon reading/snoozing/paddling. After a few hours we were suitably restless and found a shipwreck to play on and a ‘warung’ for a bag of crisps and a drink. We then called it a day and ventured off on our trek back up the cliff! Very sweaty work.

    Now dripping in sweat, what better timing to head to the nice beach club we had planned on watching the sunset at 🥵 Annoyingly, as it was a Sunday we could not book a table and the place was already packed! We eventually found a seat after giving people evils for 30 minutes in the hope that they would leave - this did not work. It was clear however why no one was sat at this table as it STUNK of toilet. We sat for 10 minutes and couldn’t get served so decided it was all a sign and abandoned ship!

    A quick google search showed another club around the corner, so there we headed! Luckily we managed to get a table here and they even served Sams favorite…pizza! A rather stressful evening in that end, much different than the relaxing sunset scene we had imagined. As we felt our skin tightening on the way home, it soon became clear that you don’t put suncream on when wet…I somehow managed to escape the worst of it!    Read more

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