Island life- Lembongan

We made our way to Sanur port to catch a boat to Lembongan which only took half an hour but was pretty bumpy over the waves. Whilst on the boat it started to rain and hadn't stopped when we reached the island. We luckily got a taxi to our hostel for free and was able to settle in. We were staying in a homestay which was really lovely but we had to get two rooms as one room could only hold max 2 people but luckily they were next door to one another. At about 6pm it still hadn't stopped raining so we decided to embrace the rain and find somewhere to eat. The restaurant we found was called lemon grass and the food was delicious and they also had a live band playing from 7pm which gave it a really good atmosphere. Next day and sun was trying to come out so we got up earlier than we have been and headed down to the beach which was a minutes walk away from where we were staying. At about half 10 we decided to head back to our homestay for some breakfast and then got a taxi to take us to Devils Tear and dream beach. We then headed back to beach in the afternoon before grabbing some food later on. On our last night we went to a restaurant called Blue Corner that served Mexican on the beach and we watched the sunset. Perfect way to end our stay on Lembongan. 

 

 

 

 

 

Uluwatu- surf central

We then made our way down to Uluwatu for a few nights to make sure we didn't miss Single Fins on a Sunday which was highly recommended to us by a few people as the beach club party in Bali. So on our first day we explored around where we were staying and walked to the beach however the tide was in so there wasn't any beach by this point. Instead we sat and had some late lunch overlooking the sea which was lovely. You could watch all the surfers as this is the place they come to surf on Bali. The next day we decided instead of walking down to the beach again we would sit by the pool at a local resort near to where we were staying. It was pretty cloudy and we sat out for a good couple of hours before making our way back to chill and then get ready to go Single Fins. We all managed to catch the sun during the day which was stupid of us. So all ready to go we made our way to the beach party just before 6pm to watch the sunset. It was so much fun! We ended up bumping into this couple we met in our hostel in Seminyak and spent the night with them. They were from Canada and were travelling too. We eventually made our way home and straight to bed as we were making our way to Lembongan the next day (one of the Islands) 

 

 

 

 

 

Bali bound- Next stop Seminyak

So after 5 nights in Ubud it was time to make our way down to Seminyak for a few days. We arrived at our hostel called M Boutique Hostel and it was really cool. We were in a dorm room of about 36 people but we didn't have bunk beds instead you had your own little section- hard to explain so here's a picture

 

 

The weather wasn't great for us though pretty cloudy and rainy for the few days we were their for so we chilled and went out one night to a bar called LaFavela which was really fun. 

 

 

 

Sunrise Mount Batur trek

Before we came travelling we read about this trek up a mountain near Ubud and it was something we all agreed we would love to do together. I was a bit nervous in the morning about how my foot would hold up but I took some pain killers and tried to forget about it. We were picked up at 2am in the morning and in our group of 14 we headed to a cafe for a quick coffee stop before we made our way to the mountain start point. By the time we were ready to start the trek it was about 4am. We were greeted my 3 local boys who were our guides for the morning and we all headed out into the darkness. The climb took us about 2 hours in total with quite a few stops on the way up (as we were in a large group and they wanted us to stay together). It was an amazing feeling once we reached the top and overlooked Bali with some amazing views. We were served some breakfast and then started to make our way back down at around 7:30am. I found getting down a lot harder than climbing up as it was pretty slippy underfoot and unstable at times but we all managed to climb down with no injuries and thank god I coped fine with my foot (and it wasn't inflamed when we got home either!)

Once the team were all down we made our way back to Ubud but before we had a final stop at another coffee shop on the way home where we could taste test a variety of different local coffees called Kopi Luwak which includes part digested coffee cherries eaten and defecated by the Asian palm Civet. By this point we were all so tired that all we wanted to do was go to bed but we had agreed to have a traditional Balinese dish cooked for us for lunch from our host. So we stayed up and tried to eat as much of it as we could but it was very spicy and none of us deal very well with spice. The dish itself was suckling pig, fried pork fritters, spicy Balinese salsa (which we didn't know about), crispy golden pork skin, urap and rice traditionally called Babi Guling. We then eventually napped for a while before having a stroll down the Main Street and grabbing some food before heading back to bed. Overall it was great day and I'm so proud we made it and I experienced this moment with my two best friends. 

  

 

 

 

 

 

Bali Bound

Bali bound and first stop Ubud. Our flight from Singapore was moved to a later time which meant we didn't land till after midnight in Ubud. We had arranged for our homestay to pick us up however after waiting for over an hour we decided to get a taxi and not wait any longer. By the time we got to our homestay it was half 3am and we were all knackered, however no one was around to check us in and it soon became a nightmare of a night where we camped outside on a dirty old mattress until someone was awake at 6am. There had been confusion with the hosts but luckily it was all sorted and resolved in the end. 

Within this time I had managed to pick up an infection from a cut on my foot so first day I had stop off at a doctors and get it checked out. We then headed to Monkey Forest just down the road from where we were staying. I thought I would be fine with the monkeys but one jumped on me out of the blue which put me on edge the rest of the way round and another came after my water bottle. Luckily they stayed clear of my foot! The next day my foot was pretty swollen so I decided to stay in in the morning as we had booked Mount Batur trek the next day which I didn't want to miss out on. 

 

 

 

 

 

Singapore Sling time

I loved Kuala Lumpur but after a short stay it was time to head to Singapore for another pit stop. We only had a couple of nights booked here so when we landed we checked into our hostel and headed into the main city for a Singapore Sling at the Raffles hotel which is where the drink was invented back in 1915 for women to socialise. After this we walked to the Garden by the Bay which was beautiful and headed up the skyline to watch sunset over the city buildings. We grabbed dinner at a shopping complex before making our way home. Day 2 we got up and headed to the VivoCity mall to have a look around the shops as it was Black Friday. Fortunately most prices were still quite expensive so we just window shopped and then found this lovely salad bar for lunch. We headed back to our hostel and chilled before making our way slightly out of the city to the night safari at Singapore zoo. This was really fun and we were like 3 big kids again. We watched a animal show, explored the pathways through the zoo and also went on a tour ride! Great night. Day 3 was airport day. Our flight was at 9:20pm but we researched and found out we could check in 6 hours before. Singapore was voted the best airport in the world so we all wanted to see what the fuss was about. So after wasting some time nearby our hostel we made our way to the airport. Inside there is plenty to do. Lots of amazing shops, a cinema, a rooftop pool, restaurants, butterfly gardens and more! So we explored what we could and the airport didn't disappoint. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Quick stop in Kuala Lumpur

After nearly 2 weeks on the Thai Islands it was time to leave and head to city life for a couple of days. We got a boat from Phi Phi to Phuket and flew out of Phuket to Kuala Lumpur. We arrived at our hostel at 2am so slept in all morning and then headed out to do some exploring. We visited central market which was just round the corner from our hostel and then got a train into the city centre where the Petronas Twin Towers are. After looking round the shops and stopping at Nando's for a cheeky dinner (only cost £4 for a whole meal!!) we went to see the towers at night and watch the fountain display just outside. We got the train back and headed into central market again to get henna from a lovely lady in the market. Day 2 we decided to go to the botanical gardens which is one of the top attractions in Kuala Lumpur according to trip advisor. Unfortunately we were rather disappointed and didn't stay very long before heading back into the city. Instead we decided to go to the cinema (which was freezing!!) before heading back to the hostel again. Kuala Lumpur is a lovely city with very friendly people! To get around we used Uber which was cheaper than taxis and other transport links. Would definitely go back.

 

 

 

 

Thai Islands- Koh Phi Phi 🌴

So we had to get up at 6am to get a boat to Surat Thani, then get a bus ride over to the west coast to then get another boat to Koh Phi Phi. We eventually arrived at 3:30pm feeling rather hungover and sorry for ourselves. We booked 4 nights here. Our hostel was right on the beach but was a party destination and they played blaring music until 2am every night. First night here we went to get some dinner and then headed back to our room, watched some tv we could stream and then tried to get to sleep (and failed) before 2am. We spent the rest of the time mostly chilling at the beach and being lazy because we could. We did however book a half day boat trip which included Maya Bay where the film the beach was filmed, monkey island, snorkelling in a lagoon and plankton at nighttime. That was a good trip and I snorkelled for the first time which I was really excited about! On our last day we decided to hike up to the view point to watch sunset and see the views of the two bays. 

 

 

 

 

 

Thai Islands- Koh Phangan 🌴

Now it was time to leave the more peaceful and shall we say upmarket island for Koh Phangan where the full moon party is held every month. We didn't know until we arrived at our hostel that our room would be next door to a boxing arena which happened to have organised a flight night on our 2nd night here. However we didn't let that ruin our time and we had a blast at the full moon party. We were fairly sensible and decided to not go out the other nights and save ourselves for our last night which was the full moon party. However we made the mistake in booking our boat at 7am to start our journey to Koh Phi Phi.