Real talk: I had originally chosen Bali as a place for relaxation with some sight seeing built in. I had seen some of my friends and people I follow on Instagram visit the island and it looked beautiful. There is no doubt this place is beautiful but the terrible traffic and having the big things I wanted being so spread out made it harder to truly enjoy. Don’t get me wrong, we enjoyed our time here in Bali and were glad Isiah and Ellen could come but it just wasn’t what we initially thought the week would be.

After our slight delay in Singapore, we finally arrived in Bali. Grant had read that Americans didn’t need to buy a tourist visa but when we got there they had a huge list of countries requiring a visa so headed in line to purchase ours. They had a QR code declaration form that we filled out prior to boarding which allowed us to get through customs quickly while others had to go back to nearby stands to fill them out.

With bags in hand, we headed to meet our driver, Galih. The drive from Denpasar to Ubud that night was about 1 hour so we enjoyed viewing the sights along the way and talking to Galih. Once he knew we were from LA, the majority of the conversation turned to questions about marijuana – funny how even halfway around the world he’s aware that it’s legal there. He really wants to try it but says it is way too expensive in Bali (and still illegal there).

Once at the Airbnb, we met our host Dewa who we think maybe was our driver’s uncle. Grant’s friend isiah and his fiancé joined us this leg of the trip and their driver, Agus, was also part of the family. He toured us around the place and asked if we knew our plans for the next day. We told him we would meet with our friends and try to plan out our week (which turned into more of a day by day planning).

The next morning we woke up to a view of the rice paddy field behind our place and workers already starting their day. We met up with Isiah and Ellen who were staying just across the road (very convenient!). Walking down the street, we stopped into one of the first breakfast places we saw that looked appealing. We tried some Balinese coffee which was actually really good. I don’t usually drink black coffee but this one didn’t need any sugar or cream added to it. The food was also delicious and seemed very fresh. I honestly don’t think we’ve been too disappointed with food on this trip besides Grant’s steak fiascos.

After breakfast, we headed to our first stop of the trip: Sacred Monkey Forest Sanctuary. This houses hundreds of Balinese long-tailed macaques. My friend, Kelsey, had just visited Bali the previous week and said the monkeys were mean and kind of terrifying. Even hearing that I wasn’t exactly sure what to expect. It felt like Jurassic Park meets Planet of the Apes. I was on alert the entire time as monkeys literally surrounded you from the ground nearby to up in the tree tops.

We of course did the obligatory monkey selfie. Don’t worry, the monkey isn’t actually holding your phone. The trainer takes the pics and hands the monkey pieces of corn to make it look like he’s taking it. We did get a little suspicious of doing it as the lady before us got bit by the monkey. We think it was because she was wearing shiny sunglasses and he got scared of his reflection. Thankfully nothing happened to us! Well while we were sitting there. I grabbed our water bottle to take a drink and had a monkey run up to my legs. I may have let out a scream and tried to walk away fast so thankfully no scratches or bites there.

As we continued through the forest, we saw a monkey jump on a guy to get his souvenir that was in a plastic bag. They have signs all around saying to hide any plastic you have because the monkey will try to steal. We also witnessed a monkey charge a kid and the boy’s mom tried to scare it off by getting in between and yelling at it (which they say not to do). Definitely some heart pumping action there (a little too much for my liking!).

On our way out of the forest, we got our first major rain since Victoria Falls which felt refreshing after all the heat we’ve been in. Hopping into a restaurant to get dry, we grabbed a light lunch and some drinks before heading off to explore some more. We walked through a street market and ended up taking a long detour through some rice paddy fields to head to the Campuhan Ridge walk. The views along the ridge were stunning and headed into a little village of shops and restaurants. We stopped by one of them to grab some fresh juice and smoothies. The table we sat at was under a gazebo out in a pond-like area. We would find this was a common set up at some restaurants in Ubud.

We made the trek back down to our Airbnb, which was about a 5km walk turning our relaxing day into 11miles of exploring. As no one was in the mood to go back out in the rain for a restaurant, we tried our hand at the food ordering app in Bali, called Grab. Our Villa didn’t have a name nor an actual address so Grant and Isiah had a fun time trying to meet up with the driver who was delivering our pizza. They ended up having to hop on a phone call to try to figure out where the other person was, however the driver spoke almost no English and Grant spoke no Balinese. Grant ended up taking a picture of the sign he was standing near and the guy just happened to know where that was! He had been just around the corner it turned out. Grant tried to tip the guy especially since he was delivering our food in the rain, but he adamantly refused any amount of extra money. Seems like we’re one of the few countries that expects tips, especially higher than 10%.

Even with their struggles of meeting the driver, the food turned out great! We finished our pizza and planned out the next day of activities.