To celebrate Khmai New Years and my week off work, I went to Bali with three co-workers.
We stayed at a hotel that looked like it was right out of tomb raider.
The beaches were beautiful and the waves were perfect for a surf lesson!
However, we did not lay around the beach all day by any means--our days were filled with activities from white water rafting to hiking to snorkeling to petting turtles at a local turtle farm.
Rafting was easily my favorite day of the trip. After a 2 minute tutorial of what to do if you fall out (go down river), they sent us into the boats and on our way. It was rafting for beginners (or lazy people) despite being advertised as having 3 and 4 rated rapids, because realistically we barely had to paddle and could often stop to look at the scenery as we went through the jungle at points and by rice paddies at other points. The scenery even included a few naked locals bathing, making it a little awkward. Incredible photos will be added once I get them from Alexia.
For my second favorite adventure of the trip, we trekked up a volcano to see sunrise. We got up at 1230AM for a 1AM hotel pick up to drive two hours to the base where we then got out and hiked about two hours up to the top to watch sunrise.
Our guide also had the bright idea to feed some wild monkeys we found...
We finished by hiking along the ridge to look out over the mountains--the island is so small you could see both coasts from the top.
Easily one of the more beautiful things I have seen, and I think that the early wake up was definitely worth it.
The day finished by going down to the lake to bathe in some hot springs, but by that point after no sleep and over 5 hours of hiking, we were a little tired.
All in all, Bali is as spectacular as they say. Despite being very active and busy, relaxing definitely took precedent and I returned very well rested and ready for work tomorrow!
