Indonesia

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Trip start
March 8, 2018
Indonesia Traveler
Kuta
March 11, 2018 in Indonesia ⋅ ⛅ 28 °C
We spent two days in Kuta staying at the Flora Kuta hotel. On the first day we walked down to the beach which was ten minutes away. The sand contained loads of shells and was more of a grey colour instead of white so we weren't really impressed by the beach as we had already seen some prettier beaches in Koh Rong and Koh Samui, we've been spoilt by the beaches we visited on this trip.

The second day we wanted to stay around to be able to watch the Irish Scotland Six Nations rugby match at a sports bar that evening. We decided to get our first massage of the trip. The hotel organised for three masseuses to come to our room and they gave great back massages, it was a lovely way to relax for the afternoon. That evening we went to the bar to watch Ireland beat Scotland in the rugby, we were the only Irish there but we made enough noise to make it seem as though there was a big group of us.Read more
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Indonesia Traveler
Ubud
March 14, 2018 in Indonesia
We got an Uber taxi from Kuta to Ubud which only took an hour. After a walk around the town we decided to go to the Monkey Forest which was located at the edge of the town. It was quite a peaceful area containing loads of trees and a stream that runs through the forest area, sometimes it was hard to imagine that the town was so close by as you couldn't hear a thing in the forest. There were about 700 monkeys living in the forest of all different ages. Some of them were quite cute and then others were naughty. Una had her water bottle with her and the monkeys kept jumping up onto her, trying to steal the bottle from her. I didn't really like that it scared me a little bit but Eadaoin and Una loved it.

The following morning we got picked up from our hotel at 2am and brought to the base of Mount Batur. It was a volcanic mountain that people climb in the dark with headlights and then arrive at the top just in time to watch the sunrise. The hike was difficult at times and we climbed to 1717m but it was cool to see a stream of people's headlights all climbing up the mountain. The sunrise was very pretty and we felt such an achievement for making it to the top on time too. We ate breakfast on top of the mountain and then saw monkeys steal the leftovers. The descent was difficult as there was a lot of unsteady lava rocks that we had to walk over but as it was brighter we were able to see the unsteady rocks compared to when we ascended. I really enjoyed this hike, it wasn't too hot or too hard and then you were rewarded by watching the beautiful sunrise too. That evening we treated ourselves to a delicious dinner at the Begek Bengil Dirty Duck restaurant which had a lovely view over the paddy fields.Read more
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Indonesia Traveler
Gili Trawangan
March 19, 2018 in Indonesia ⋅ 🌙 28 °C
We had heard a lot about Gili Trawangan before arriving to Indonesia. People whom we met while traveling told us that it was nicer than Bali and that the diving was perfect. It certainly didn't disappoint. We stayed in a bungalow hut in Deep House bungalows just off the beach, it was a nice chilled accommodation perfect for us to relax at. There was no cars or motorbikes on the island so the only modes of transport are either by bike or by horse and cart. The weather was slightly mixed while we were there, some days there were showers and other days it was beautiful and sunny. This sort if suited us though because we had no major plans so when it rained we were able to relax and when it was sunny we went cycling.

Una and I decided to finish our advanced PADI scuba diving course so that we can dive in a wider number of dive sites as we continued to travel. We had to do three more dives to gain our certification. The first one we did was a night dive where we used a hand torch to search for fish. There was different fish out at night compared to during the day. We saw lots of crab, lobster and also got to see a little red starfish which was pretty. The second dive was to ensure we understood navigation and how to use a compass. We had to guide our way in different directions following our compass. This dive though was the best dive we did because the visibility was really good. We were able to see loads of different fish and coral very clearly. We saw four turtles hiding under rocks and a baby white-tipped shark. It was very cool. The third dive was a drift dive which is where you let the current bring you along so you don't actually have to swim. It was nice being able to glide through the water with no effort. We got to see more turtles again which I was very excited about.

Apart from doing some scuba diving, Gili Trawangan was a nice place for us to relax for a week and not have to plan where to go the following day. There was some delicious places to eat and plenty of bars with good atmosphere. We watched some pretty sunsets and relaxed by the beach. I am very glad that we heard about Gili Trawangan, it was the perfect island to have a break and I was very happy to have seen turtles while diving.Read more
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Trip end
March 19, 2018

Kuta

Ubud

Gili Trawangan