Our itinerary for the upcoming Bali 2018 trip is going to be pretty different from our trip 10 years ago. Specifically, much less sight-seeing and more adventure-type activities that hopefully will interest our two kids. We had our Bali-based local driver bring us around for four of the six days in Sep 2008, and the itinerary was jam-packed with temples and natural sights the length and (most of the ) breadth of Bali – excepting the western side of the island, on account that it would have taken just too much time to get to the interesting places there. For the June 2018 trip, for the moment, we’re just retaining the Ubud Monkey Sanctuary and Ulun Danu Beratan from the 2008 itinerary and filling up the rest of the 9 days with other things.
I was thrilled that our driver from 10 years ago is still working, and continues to own his own company, and we’re working out our itinerary to suit his availability. As he tells it though, times are harder now because of increased competition. Interestingly, while his daily rates today are higher: it was 450K Indonesian Rupiah in 2008 versus 550K IDR today, the exchange rate is more favorable to the SGD – which balances the higher rates nicely out.
And here’s what the current draft looks like – it’s clickable for the larger version:
There’s still a bit more space left to fill, though we also certainly want to spend some time just enjoying the villa for certain and explore by foot the rice padi fields that the villa is surrounded by. The villa we’ll be staying at isn’t in easy walking distance from Ubud town itself, so we’ll need to be driven in and out to get anywhere too.
That aside, the current highlights are:
Bali Quad Discovery Tour: odd road adventuring on quad bikes. Hope the kids – and adults – survive.
Bali Treetop Adventure Park: I’m the only one at home with a terrible fear of heights, but our two kids and Ling have no such limitations. But I’ll be able to take pictures of the three!
Waterbom Bali: don’t think the trip here will be very different from Phuket’s Splash Water Jungle Park or Wild Wild West @ Downtown East. So, we might swap this out for something else later.
Taman Nusa Cultural Park: a cultural conservation showcasing the island’s very rich traditions.
Kemenuh Butterfly Park: from all accounts, a very well done-up park for these beautiful insects.
Amed Beach/ Lipah Beach: we didn’t visit this point during the 2008 trip, so just might this time round – even though it’s quite a distance away from where we’ll be.
Pirate Bay Bali: not just restaurants, but a Pirates of the Carribean-inspired mini theme park.
Bounce Bali: trampoline park to burn kids energy!
Bali Strawberry Farm: for the kids and Ling.
Jenggala Keramik Bali: get kids to paint their own ceramic cups.
Ubud Monkey Sanctuary: lots of monkeys in a very dense area. This spot was in our 2008 itinerary and I was pretty neutral about the place. But I reckon Peter is gonna go nuts in here and feel right at home!
We also included the Bali Safari Marine Park in the early versions of the itinerary, and even whether we should spend a few days in the resort itself. But that got dropped on account of the very mixed reviews of the experience. Peter is also too young for water rafting, and we were also dropping trickeye, 3D and upside museums this trip too in a case of been-there-done-that. And finally, there’s no shortage of amazing eating places on the island, so the restaurants we’re going to check-out is going to likely change. Even even if not, more updates to come on our trip preparation soon!
Recent comments