Have you ever biked through the lush rice fields of Ubud? Or snorkeled and saw lots of one foot long millimeter wide eels peeking up from the ocean sand? I was treasured with these experiences, on my interesting trip in Bali. Bali is an enchanting place to go any day with the culture, heritage, religion, people, art, and, most important of all, food!
First, let me tell you about an amazing biking journey my family took through beautiful rice fields. At the beginning, we were picked up from our hotel and rode in a taxi to a delicious breakfast buffet overlooking a volcano.
Breakfast overlooking the volcano.
My mom drinking kopi luwak
Then we started of on the beginning of the downhill ride. We coasted down to a traditional Balinese home. Our guide taught us how they live. After that, we rode down the hill some more and then we stopped again. This time, we took a walk through the rice fields and saw how the water system for all the rice plants works. After that we marveled at an ancient tree, hundreds of years old. Everyone else but me, my dad, and another lady was lazy and did not do the following 8 kilometer uphill part. It was hot, lots of uphill, really steep, and just crazy tiring. When I was done, I was exhausted, sweaty, and sore.
Also on our trip to Bali, we went rafting on a river with class 1, 2, and 3 rapids. The water volume was high, and it rushed around big rocks and poured over drop offs that were more than a meter high. At the beginning we were picked up from our hotel and dropped off at the beginning where we met some friends there from Australia. We chatted with our friends, and they gave us advice on other places we should see when we travel in Australia. We were then off on the river. As we bumped along, me and my mom were thrown out of the boat. I was squashed against a rock and then the boat pushed me onto the rock even more. I was flattened but gradually, in what felt like forever, but was actually a couple seconds, I got unstuck. Soon I was floating down the river and it wasn’t long after that when I was on the raft. I grabbed for the floatation strap for my camera. My camera is waterproof so to keep you from losing it after being flipped out of the raft in a murky river, the floatation strap prevented it from disappearing to the bottom. I grabbed the floatation strap and pulled. Imagine the horror of no camera connected to it. Luckily, before realization really hit me, my mom said she had my camera. Phew! I thought. The rest of the ride was not so eventful. Soon the main exciting part was over and done. The rest of the ride included tiny rapids, though I was still a little scared after being flipped out. I know that I loved the experience, but I will never do it again if I can help it.
We went snorkeling in northern Bali. We stayed at a city that was popular for its wonderful snorkeling and our hotel had snorkeling trips available. We thought the trips sounded exciting so we ventured out on the boat. We dove in and the first thing was saw were these tall, skinny eels. They bury half their body in the sand with their heads poking out. If they got scared they could just pull the front half of their body into the sand. After that we saw more fascinating fish and a school or two of tiny fish. It was so picturesque! Then we climbed back up into the boat and ate a delicious lunch of rice, fish, and veggies. We boated along to another spot and snorkeled there. If possible, it was even more beautiful than the other one. There was a lot of green and blue and the occasional purple. I took hundreds of pictures!
Can you see the skinny worm/eels that poke up from the sand?
On Your Mark, Get Set…
In Kuta, a beachy city in southern Bali, we went to an awesome water park. The park was called Waterbom. On the first ride, we laid down on a mat as we slid down. The next one was a slide with a 70 degree angle down. Then we zipped down a smaller one. Then we tried out a pair of smaller slides that were right next to one another, so you could race a friend. You went right next to each other and then you could race. Because of that, it was called Race Track.
Go!
Waterbom Water Park
After that, we did one that was a toilet bowl. Then we tried one where we got in a tube, went down a straight slide, then went up the other side and came back down to the pool at the bottom. It was called The Boomerang. We then floated along in the lazy river and climbed around the volleyball net in a pool, by the swim-up bar. Then we did a long tube slide that was completely clear, and went back to the toilet bowl, the boomerang slide, and the 70 degree down slide again. We finished that wonderful experience with another float in the lazy river.
Floating down Waterbom’s Lazy River
Another fun adventure in Kuta was surfing. My dad had signed up and as we watched him, a guy came up and offered us an hour of private lessons. At first I wasn’t sure I want to but as I watched my dad, I realized that I did in fact want to try. I did and it was a fabulous adventure. I was surprised to find that for me, it wasn’t too hard. My mom said that since I am a kid I have a lower center of balance than adults. I thought it was really fun, but by the end, I was tired. Maybe sometime I’ll rent a surfboard and try it on my own.
My adventure in Bali was amazing and I would do it again in a heartbeat. I hope that you will all take my advice and come on a cool trip to Bali.