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Travel

A Week in Bali

Last week, I gave the dish on my favorite vegan cafes and restaurants in Bali that served everything from smoothie bowls to vegan pizza to sushi. Since I’m not quite over how absolutely magical Bali was, I thought I’d share some of the more personal parts of my trip. The whole island was beautiful, colorful, and full of life! Bali radiated such positive energy, which left me feeling overwhelmingly happy and never wanting to leave. I share everything we did, ate, and saw during the week we were there.

monkey forest, bali
monkey forest, bali

A highlight of our trip was visiting the monkey forest in Ubud.

A village in the northern uplands of Bali, Ubud is known for its stunning rainforest and rice paddies. The famous monkey forest in Ubud is one of the coolest places I’ve ever been. It’s both a nature preserve and monkey sanctuary, with hundreds of monkeys running wild and free.

monkey forest, bali
monkey forest, bali
bali sunset

If you’re thinking it’s like a zoo at all, you’re wrong. The monkeys here are completely free to roam around and go where they please. The main reason the monkeys stick around is because there’s vendors selling bundles of bananas that you can buy to feed them. What monkey wouldn’t want to hang around for free bananas? It’s an endless supply of food for them. 

You’d be surprised by how excited and aggressive the monkeys get when they see the bananas!

My boyfriend was shocked at how they swarmed around anyone and everyone who had some, climbing and jumping on people whenever they please. They may be small in size, but the monkeys are very agile and do what they want. If you have food to give them, they’ll just climb up your body and grab it right out of your hand. We even saw one bite a woman’s head!

bali
bali
bali

After watching how the monkeys overwhelmed anyone with bananas, my boyfriend didn’t want to try feeding them. But I most definitely wasn’t leaving without giving it a try! I had one of the workers help me and she got just one monkey to climb up on me while I was holding a banana. I held the banana out and the monkey just snatched it right out of my hand. Then, it continued to sit on my shoulder while eating it! I thought it was hilarious- my boyfriend, not so much.

After the monkey forest, we went out to lunch and then got ready for our private cycling tour of the rice paddies. I’m not a big cycler, but our hotel suggest it and I thought it would be fun to get some exercise and see the rice paddies during sunset. It ended up being more of an off-roading journey than expected and quite bumpy of a ride, but was totally worth it. The ride paddies were just breathtaking, an endless sea of green and turquoise, and we even got to see the farmers at work. I’d do it again in a heartbeat. After a jam-packed, long day in Ubud, we headed back to the hotel right after sunset.

We spent a good deal of our time at our hotel, the Banyan Tree in Ungasan.

Our private villa was by far the nicest room I’d ever stayed in, with it’s own private infinity pool overlooking the ocean, a private hot tub, outdoor lounge, huge living room with a mini kitchen, and two bathrooms. Our bedroom even opened up right onto our infinity pool, so when you woke up you could literally swim right in.  

I can’t get over how beautiful Bali was.

Before our trip, I’d researched it online but it didn’t even compare to the natural beauty in person. It was so vibrant, warm, and tropical, like it’d been painted by all of the colors of the rainbow. It truly was a piece of paradise on earth.

During our week long stay, we spent most of the time relaxing at the hotel, swimming in our pool, going to the spa, eating a lot, reading, tanning, and just talking. We tried our best to disconnect from social media and the internet, a much needed digital detox in my opinion. It’s crazy how much of a difference taking this little break from the online world made. 

bali
bali
#raw #vegan pumpkin seed bread with vegan cream cheese & orange juice

I felt like it gave my boyfriend and I true alone time, apart from all of the online buzz and noise. I realized I am usually so attached to my phone, checking it constantly that it often prevents me from being present in the real world. For once, I felt like it was just us and we were able to totally be in tune with one another independent from any external pressures or worries.

Especially since I just moved back to Hong Kong, it was nice to go to Bali just the two of us.

After doing long distance for a year, there’s so much we had to catch up on. I’ve been completely vegan for about a year and a half. This was a major lifestyle change that I went through when we were apart and couldn’t wait to share with him. In Bali, I had the time to really explain what being vegan means to me and why it’s become such a passion in my life and a big part of who I am.

fruit
bali

My boyfriend completely supports me and embraced this part of me with open arms, making me feel so whole. He even said he’d try to eat more plant-based, vegan meals with me and he was excited to try my vegan cooking at home. Having his support really means the world to me and, even though he’s not vegan, the fact that he wants to try is a huge step.

My favorite place to eat was the raw vegan cafe Alchemy Bali.

I’d always get lunch or dinner to-go to take back to the hotel. The best thing I had was this raw vegan pumpkin seed bread with a cashew-based vegan cream cheese to have for breakfast. I also got a trio of raw chocolates, a big buddha bowl, and salad which I ended up eating the following day.

If you’re like me, then you struggle at hotels because there’s usually not many vegan options. But not in Bali. Luckily, the hotel had a juice bar where they made freshly squeezed juice every morning. My favorites were the orange juice and honeydew juice. There was also a huge selection of fresh fruit, like passion fruit, watermelon, lychee, dragon fruit, cantaloupe, and honeydew. This ended up making for a pretty awesome hotel breakfast!

street corn
bali
bali

On our last full day, we decided to go back into the main town of Seminyak.

It’s a really fun place to go for lunch, to do some light shopping, and to watch the golden sun set over the Indian Ocean. There’s a bunch of cafes, bars, and a couple of clubs, so it gets pretty rowdy at night. I mainly wanted to go back so I could get a smoothie bowl and enjoy a romantic view of the sunset. 

In case your wondering, I’m not a big partier or drinker at all.

I used to be in college, but these days I can have one glass of wine or one cocktail and I’m good to go for the night. I’m such a major homebody, sometimes I joke that I’m an old soul. It’s not that I don’t like to go out and have fun, trust me I do. I just don’t need alcohol to have fun and most days I prefer not to drink. The hangover just isn’t worth it to me.

But every now and then, I’ll treat myself for a special occasion or on vacation if I feel like it.

To celebrate my 22nd birthday, which is why we took this trip in the first place, I got this “la finca hermosa” cocktail which was muddled pineapple, strawberries, apple, and mint with a squeeze of lime and vodka. It was all organic, made fresh right in front of me, and by far the best cocktail I’d had in a while.

We spent our last night watching the sunset at popular hotspot Potato Head Beach Club

To be honest, we weren’t sure if we’d like it because we’re not big on crowded clubs. Mr. Potato Head has the reputation of being one of the most popular hotspots, but also the most beautiful for watching the sunset.

Luckily, we got there early enough to get our own little private cabana right on the beach away from all the noise. I have to say, it was such a life-changing sunset that made me really appreciate everything about mother nature. It ended up being a romantic and wonderful end to our dreamy time in Bali. I’d go back tomorrow if I could!

photos from // the sunday chapter / camille styles / running with tweezers / pinterest

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