Bali

Om suastiastu loves!

Today is my last day in Bali and I plan on lounging around the villa, maybe do a little bit of shopping, and surf. With the extra time I have today I wanted to sit down and write about our trip. This will be long so be prepared. It is more for my memory than anything else. I am also aware that it is around midnight in the US right now and I am 12 hours ahead so you all will be reading this while I am asleep later tonight. Lets begin!

When we got to Bali on first day there were definitely a few hiccups. Research I did before we arrived said that it was not uncommon to have bait and switches occur when it comes to Airbnbs or any kind of home renting. This means that what is in the pictures is probably not what you will be getting. Unfortunately this happened to us. However, we were lucky that the place they moved us to ended up being very nice as well (but not as nice as the original place.) I can't say all is forgiven though because I hate being lied to and the whole thing was a scam. They didn't even give us a discount and told us we had to find a another place within the next few hours otherwise they would take the money we had already paid and make us stay. Long story short we ended up staying but we didn't let it put a damper on the trip. We are in Bali so how bad could anything be? We have actually enjoyed staying in our villa more than we thought we would. We have a one person staff that takes care of us. Her name is Ida. We have joked about inviting her to come back to the states with us. Although I don't know if anyone was actually joking... She is absolutely incredible and we all love her.

Bali, overall, is a beautiful island and we have loved it. BUT it is not what any of us expected and we all agree that it is not as great as everyone makes it out to be. It is a 3rd would country so it is to be expected that public areas are not very clean. The best way for me to break it down is my top five favorite and least favorite things. Favorites: tourist attractions, shopping, temples, monkeys, and Ida. Least favorites: garbage everywhere, hundreds of stray dogs, scary bugs, scam artists, and the smell. To be honest, my favorite place we went wasn't even on the island of Bali. It was on a Island off the coast of Bali called Nusa Penida. It was called the Paluang Cliffs. The cliffs look over the Indian ocean and if you dare to get close enough, you can see manta rays swimming right off the coast. There are no safety guards or anything out there so you have to be super careful. Maddy and I almost gave my parents a heart attack because of how close we got! It was well worth it though. The view was stunning. My other favorite place we went was on Nusa Penida as well. It was called Angels Billabong. Angels Billabong is a natural salt water pool to the right of the Paluang cliffs. It sits right on the ocean and acts like an infinite pool. However, you have to make sure to go at low tied otherwise the waves will crash over the pool and when they recede back into the ocean....they will take you with them. The locals told us that its not uncommon for people to go in at high tied and never been seen again.

We did a lot more activities than just that but those were just a few of my favorites. I also did not get the chance to vlog while I have been here so don't be looking forward to any of those. I wanted to enjoy my time here and not worry about editing 100 videos when I get back to LA but I did take a ton of pictures that are attached. Under each picture it will say the name of where ever it was taken so that if you decide to take a vacation in Bali you will know where to go! Again this does not include everywhere we went but it is a start.I loved Bali and I would love to come again and explore the surrounding Islands. It is an incredible place. I will have other blogs about Bali and the places we have been but for now this is a general overview of the paradise.

Thanks you for reading and keep an eye out for more to come!