I am by no means a travel blogger, but I do blog, and I also travel, so here we go! On our most recent adventure, my family and I spent an amazing two weeks bouncing around Indonesia. See more footage in this post! Here was our rough itinerary:
Day 1: Stay at Mulia
Arrived early afternoon
Enjoyed complimentary high tea in the atrium
Unpacked, walked the beach, and threw the kids in the pool for a bit
Dinner at The Cafe in the hotel (nice buffet)
Day 2: Stay at Mulia
Continental breakfast
Kids go to Kids Club while we walk the promenade to the Water Blow
Dinner at Izakaya by OKU (they have Grab, their version of Uber)
Day 3: Stay at Mulia
Tour Uluwatu Temple & sunset Fire Kechak Show (be mindful of mean monkeys)
Dinner at M. Mason
Day 4: Stay at Mulia
Day trip tour to Nusa Penida island (see notes)
Dinner at The Cafe in the hotel
Day 5: Stay at Maya Ubud
Unpack, explore the grounds, enjoy the private pool
Dinner at Donna in town
Day 6: Stay at Maya Ubud
Sacred Monkey forest tour (these monkeys were much more polite!)
Rice patty tour and swings
Waterfall hike
Tirta Empul water temple tour/ritual
Coffee Plantation (try Luwok coffee!)
Dinner at Room4Dessert or Copper Kitchen
Day 7: Stay at Maya Ubud
Cooking class at Paon Bali
Batik dyeing workshop at Mulia (arrange with reception)
Walk around town and visit the palace
Dinner at the hotel (we were pooped), or Cascades
Day 8: Stay at Anvaya Beach Resort in Kuta (see notes)
Surf lessons on Kuta Beach
Dinner at Merah Putin (we ate at the hotel and turned in early)
Day 9: Stay on Wunderpus Liveaboard
Fly to Labuan Bajo via Air Asia
Snorkeling (three daily trips out)
Sail and acclimate to boat life
Flying foxes - see a large flock of fruit bats leave mangroves at sunset
Day 10: Stay on Wunderpus Liveaboard
Early morning tour of Komodo Island
Snorkeling
Sunset hike
Day 11: Stay on Wunderpus Liveaboard
Snorkeling
Visit pink sand beach
Flight back to Kuta via Air Asia
Eat dinner at the hotel
Day 12: Stay at Padma in Legian
Walk the beach and enjoy pools
Pack and prepare for the trek home
Day 13: Stay at Cosmos Ximending
Fly to Taipei for 22 hour connection
Enjoy street food breakfast and walk around
5 hour private driving tour - Taipei 101, Chang Kai-shek memorial, oolong tea tasting, shopping, famous dumplings at Din Tai Fung
Direct flights are not available through Chicago, so we connected through Tapiei and seized the opportunity for a 22 hour layover! The airline kept our big bags, so we were free to spend the night at Cosmos in the Ximending neighborhood and explored the city. We found that hiring a driver to take us sightseeing proved to be a great way to experience dining and historical sites while connecting with the history and culture. We loved Taipei 101, James was a delight and talked our ears off!
Before you go:
The toilets outside of the hotels can often be very primitive due to lack of advanced plumbing. Read more on that here.
The drinking water in this developing country can contain harmful parasites like giardia e-coli, salmonella, and cholera. Take caution when eating fresh produce and consider avoiding ice, drinking and using bottled water for tooth brushing.
In some areas, like the islands covered by Wunderpus, prophylactic malaria medication might be prudent! We also packed Immodium, Dramamine, and DEET wipes to deter motion sickness on the boat or any unfortunate cooties. Before traveling, consult your doctor.
In hindsight:
We left Nusa Dua and Ubud feeling a little claustrophobic. The narrow roads, lack of sidewalks, and unreal traffic made it difficult to get anywhere and enjoy the cities. They're in talks of widening roads to accommodate their population boom and tourism, but I might suggest doing one or the other and lean toward finding more quaint towns to stay in.
As spectacular as the views are on Nusa Penida, getting around was a challenge. The road conditions are perhaps the worst I've encountered with massive potholes and washout areas, with roads too narrow for two cars in many places. Our driver was very sweet, but each stop was about an hour apart, which meant for a lot of time getting tossed around in the car. I would consider looking into visiting it by boat to save yourself the motion sickness.
Wunderpus recommends flying in to Labuan Bajo the night before so that you're ready to leave first thing in the morning. This provides for a smoother ride on the way to your first destinations and easier snorkeling plans based on currents. We'd opted to spend the night in Kuta and enjoy the surfing because it doesn't like there's much going on in LB, but it's actually a really pretty, less touristy little town! We wished we would've had more time to spend around that area.
A little about our family:
Read my tips and tricks for traveling with littles here! Our twins are ten and enjoy trying new foods and activities, but don't love lengthy or strenuous walks. We did manage to squeeze in a few treks and they *mostly* rose to the occasion. We tend to be more active travelers and prefer to fulfill the bucket lists over relaxing. Our nonnegotiables are blackout curtains and included breakfasts. This was the perfect amount of excitement for us, but we came home TIRED.
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