We began the weekend in Ubud. If I had to describe Ubud in one word, I would choose enchanted. The houses and shops that line the narrow, hilly roads look more like ancient ruins. At night, local artisan shops close their doors as cozy, bohemian restaurants turn on their tree-lanterns, welcoming the night crowd. Despite Ubud being a popular tourist destination, Balinese traditions and customs are very much alive.

Nicole, Dalyan, and I stayed at Puri Saraswati Bungalows, which were connected to Ubud Palace.

Even though we were in the heart of Ubud, the bungalows provided a peaceful and unique ambience.

In the afternoon, we made our way to Monkey Forest. These little guys were quite entertaining, and everyone seemed to be giggling at their antics.

No monkeys jumped on us, but we did witness one man get bit by a mother monkey due to the fact that he was holding her baby.

Friday, we made our way to Telaga Waja River for some white water rafting. The pre-rafting safety talk was almost comical; the only words I managed to gather from our guide’s speech was “boom boom”. With a mutual understanding that we had no idea what was said, we all hopped into the raft and made our way down the river. Turns out that “boom boom” means we’re about to collide into a rock/boulder. There were many, many boom booms.

The rafting experience had beautiful views of the lush, green forests and rice paddies, and we even got to hang out in a waterfall for a bit.

Saturday morning we made our way to Mayong Village, a hilltop town located about two hours north of Ubud.

There, we did the Mayong Village Track, led by a man named Artana and his wife, Ria.

During the track, we stopped at a local farmer’s home for some fresh coconut and fried bananas.

Sunday was spent in Seminyak, a popular beach town in southern Bali. We spend all day on the beach, soaking up the sun and attempting to learn how to surf. Dalyon got the hang of it, while my surfing career was only 1.5 minutes long.

The day was wrapped up in shades of orange, purple, and blue as we watched the sun set on the beach.

Our final hours in Bali were spent watching the sun set at the renowned Tanah Lot Temple.