South East Asia 🌏

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Traveler South East Asia 🌏
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- Nov 18, 2023
- ⛅ 31 °C
- Altitude: 10 m
- Indonesia Bali Pengembungan Tukad Miyah -8.649872, 115.1308538°38’60” S 115°7’51” E
Day 13–16
Changgu, a Surfer's Haven
November 18, 2023 in Indonesia ⋅ ⛅ 31 °C
It was an early rise in Malang to get a train to Surabaya and then my flight to Denpasar, Bali. Once I arrived in Bali I quickly realised public transport is practically non-existent so I looked to book a taxi to my hostel. While I usually stick to using the apps, I knew what the price should be so when the first hawker stopped me and I haggled him down to the price I knew was right, I got in. His name was Putu and he ended up being my driver across the whole island for the rest of the trip.

Changgu is a trendy tourist spot that is popular with surfers and has been commercially developed and heavily influenced by Western society to attract the Aussies. I didn't do much bar explore some of the coffee shops and lounge at the beach and hostel pool, recuperating from my packed days in Java.

I couldn't pass up the opportunity to have a surf lesson here and the hostel helped me organise a one to one lesson. I wasn't expecting much and was surprised that I managed to stay upright on a couple of waves, albeit they were baby beginner ones. I was blowing after about an hour and a half as the paddling back out to catch a wave after you surf in had me wrecked.

The hostel had a family dinner night on the second night to get to know people and then also had a night out the following night as Changgu is one of the livelier spots on the island. I didn't go too wild and was in bed by 1.30am as I was up at nine the next day for my day tour around Ubud.Read more
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Traveler South East Asia 🌏
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- Nov 21, 2023, 5:49pm
- ⛅ 25 °C
- Altitude: 1,085 m
- Indonesia Bali Banjar Dalem Munduk Nandang -8.246367, 115.3964928°14’47” S 115°23’47” E
Day 16
Hidden in the Clouds
November 21, 2023 in Indonesia ⋅ ⛅ 25 °C
After getting a quick nap in I threw on my hiking gear and waited in the hostel for my guide to arrive. We were given some jam pastries and water to get our energy levels up as well as head lamps for the trek.

We started off around 3.30am and luckily the hostel was already a bit up from the base of the mountain but it was still nearly a two hour hike in the dark to get to the peak for the sunrise viewing point. My guide was really friendly and pointed out some wildlife on the trek like shed snakeskin and spiders which was cool. The hike was quite steep and it was a good workout for my calves and quads! Unfortunately the top was streaked in on and off clouds so while it wasn't as crisp a morning as the Mount Bromo sunrise, it was still amazing to watch the hazy sunrise with clouds pouring out of the crater behind us, rolling down the mountain.

Given it was cloudy my guide brought me around the rim of the whole crater to where monkeys gather at the end. On the way we stopped at steam jets for a photoshoot. When a raw flame is exposed and blown towards the escaping gasses, extra steam bursts up from the small crevices and you are shrouded in your own miniature cloud.

It remained cloudy at the top and eventually cleared up to bright sunshine once we got a bit further down the mountain. We jogged back down some of the steeper parts thanks to the adrenaline from the sunrise. I crashed for a bit back at the hostel before checking out and heading to Toya Devaysa for the day to soak up the last of the natural hot spring pools.

Then I text Putu again to organise my two hour ride to Uluwatu for the last leg of the Bali trip.Read more
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Traveler South East Asia 🌏
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- Nov 21, 2023
- ☁️ 28 °C
- Altitude: 562 m
- Indonesia Bali Banjar Kerobokan Tukad Cepung -8.36545, 115.1998978°21’56” S 115°11’60” E
Day 16
Uncovering Ubud
November 21, 2023 in Indonesia ⋅ ☁️ 28 °C
After getting back in touch with Putu, I agreed a price to charter a ride for a private trip around central Bali. I didn't want to get sucked into too many of the tourist traps that Bali can offer like the sacred Monkey Forest so I opted to do a waterfall trek, a visit to a Hindu temple on a lakeshore, and then Tagalang, one of the popular rice fields.

All the attractions were fascinating in their own ways but it really was a whistle stop tour as I wanted to make it to my hostel in Kintamani at the base of Mount Batur for sunset. I stumbled across the hostel the night before and it had two hot spring infinity pools with a stunning view out over the mountain ridge and lake below. The view really did not disappoint! I stayed in the pools staring up at the star studded sky and reading until around 10.30pm when I decided it was probably best to try get some shut eye before my 3.00am start for another sunrise tour.Read more
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- Nov 23, 2023
- ☁️ 31 °C
- Altitude: 149 m
- Indonesia Bali Umpeng Tukad Uwi -8.822247, 115.1199118°49’20” S 115°7’12” E
Day 18–20
Uluwatu Sunsets
November 23, 2023 in Indonesia ⋅ ☁️ 31 °C
Uluwatu is known for some of the best sandy beach spots in Bali so I decided to end my trip here as it's also a bit closer to the airport.

I found a lovely hostel/hotel set on a hill top with an infinity pool offering a prime spot for sunset watching. I just about caught the molten like sky as I was checking in that evening.

The next day I planned some of the Vietnam trip and chilled on the beach for my last Bali sunset. It was a cool one as the sun was refracting in a large cloud out at sea where intermittent lightning was also lighting up the cloud.Read more
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Changgu, a Surfer's Haven

Hidden in the Clouds

Uncovering Ubud

Uluwatu Sunsets