Singapore/Bali #2

It’s about a 2 hour drive from Ubud to Munduk. We hired a driver to bring us up north but of course, had to make a few stops along the way. This waterfall is easy to access. Takes about 15 minutes to get there (mostly downhill) and ALOT of uphill to get back. Recommend getting there early to avoid crowds and the heat.

Our hotel in Munduk. The pool had this really large, unnecessary Hindu deity in it but other than that, the resort is beautiful and the service/staff here is EXCELLENT. We stayed in Room #32, which actually had 3 beds in it and an upstairs. The pool looked out on the mountains.

Instead of going to the last waterfall (melanting waterfall), we decided to take the shortcut back and stop at this precious rest place called R&R. Shockingly, there are a ton of different warungs/places to stop along this whole entire waterfall trek. We got coffee and a beer, along with lots of pets from a baby puppy!

The sunsets are unreal, since we are essentially above the clouds. We made it to dinner at the hotel restaurant where they had live music (with a great playlist and lots of singing along). There was an American couple there that we were listening into their conversation and it was apparent they just got married and WERE NOT happy😬

This was the first waterfall we visited. Everything I read on the travel blogs was that this is the most beautiful waterfall in all of Bali but I have to disagree. Although this was stunning, the other waterfall, Fiji was much more impressive. I recommend getting to these waterfalls as early as possible to avoid crowds. We were one of the first people to this waterfall, which made for taking pictures a lot easier.

At the end of our track, we stopped at the warung along the rice terraces and had some coconut water. We found these rice terraces almost more beautiful than the other ones, probably secondary to the backdrop of the beautiful mountains surrounding them.

This is the take off point to get to nusa penida. They have about 5-6 different boats to get to the island. We took Axe Stone at 11am. The boat itself is packed with people and HOT AS FUCK. Recommend sitting close to where you get into the boat, just so you can get off the boat as quick as possible and sitting next to a window, to get some air.

When we arrived to nusa penida, there was a 25,000 price pp visa. We had someone from our hotel come and pick us up. The parking lot to get out of the harbor is a fucking shitshow and the roads in nusa penida need a lot of work

Rented motorbike to get to crystal bay, which was close to our villas. Honestly, unless you are comfortable driving a motorbike—this was kind of scary especially since the roads are so small and there’s a mix of vans, cars and other motorbikes. We did see some tourist in accidents but since it was real actively close to our hotel, we risked it!

Grabbed a bite to eat on crystal bay. There are a ton of different warungs to stop at but we settled on warung crystalova, based on some reviews but they essentially have the same menus and a big focus on grilled corn for some reason. We of course found more cute dogs!

Wow—this place is just magical. So stunning from every angle. We made our guide take us here first, early in the morning, because I heard the lines can get really bad. We arrived at around 8am and there were already people there, lining up to take pictures. Our guide was impressive with the skills to had to take pictures. You can walk down to the beach but this takes about an hour and it pretty rough, based on everything I read and some videos I watched. So, we skipped this but I think if we would have had more time on the island, I might have done this. If your strapped for time though, skip walking all the way down.

Because we wanted to get to the east coast before the lines to other sights got too long, we skipped broken beach and billabong which were also two other sights in the west coast to see.

Got away from the ridiculousness and mayhem of diamond beach and got to relax on this beach right next store. This beach was beautiful but the current was pretty strong and the drop off from the sand was still pretty shallow but just a ton of large rocks that was difficult to walk on. I literally had to get helped out of the water by a nice girl walking by because I kept slipping and the current kept pulling me back! To get to this beach, you have to hike down (and of course back up) some pretty steep steps but I would say, this was definitely a nice change in pace from all of the craziness and picture taking of the morning. There was a ton of warungs on the beach with food and beer!

We stopped at this place for a late lunch after a long day. We picked this one over another beach club called The Chill, mostly because the food looked more up our alley but I think either one would have been good options. We ordered a bunch of food, spent some time in the pool and chilled out before the long ride home. While driving back from this place, all along the north of the island there were GREAT looking little beach clubs that I wish we would have know about. Apparently, a popular one is called penida colada

Room 112. This place is great—the service, the grounds. Our room is in its own little complex with 5 other rooms. We have our own butler, shared pool/kitchen/dining/hang out area, in addition to our own private pool. The hotel also has tennis court and small putting green.

Sundays is a beach club that is right below the hotel and you get priority access if you are staying at the hotel.

You can’t actually go in this temple but can walk around the grounds. It’s worth a stop but you don’t have to spend a ton of time here. The monkeys here are ruthless, stealing stuff left and right from people!

This place is a must! The beach, between huge rock formations, is only accessible at low tide so make sure you check the tide tables. The water is shallow since the beach is protected by all of the reefs. There are ton of surfers out of here. The whole beach and area is very low key and laid back.

Had a morning exploring the grounds and getting a work out it. They have a small putting green, tennis and a great gym!

We did some exploring down to beach, past the cliffs, during low tide. The rocks were covered in seaweed. It was really beautiful