A fun weekend trip to Bali

Ana and Simon had already traveled the region quite a bit, be it with friends from Europe (read “Beautiful Thailand”) or INSEAD students (read “Asia for Advanced Travelers”). As a birthday celebration present to themselves, they decided to join some INSEAD students that had become good friends for a weekend in Bali in early April. This trip was different to the extent that they would travel as a group of 9 while the trip to Vietnam was somewhat opportunistic with a large group that would change often and Thailand was a “two couple trip”. This time Ana, Simon and 7 others would get a Villa in Bali to spend the weekend together. The overall group consisted of three Canadians, two Brazilians, two Germans, one Argentinean and one Spaniard – a good mix of backgrounds as well as some couples and some singles. They were also joined by a Dutch couple that would stay somewhere else. The day they left was Simon’s birthday and Ana had offered to prepare delicious paella for Simon and the crowd. Since the Villa where they stayed had a well-equipped kitchen, it just needed some fresh ingredients and some improvisation and Friday night was ready to kick-off. After some type of magic in the kitchen, the international group was amazed by Ana’s cooking skills and they enjoyed a Paella “Indonesian style” in an amazing house in Bali. Simon even got a birthday cake. So thoughtful!

The living area of the Villa with the kitchen in the background

Small but relaxing pool

Three pans / woks of Paella lined up

The girls are singing for Simon

Since the Paella went along with a few glasses of wine, the night was short as Saturday saw the group to “rise and shine” at 7AM. They had booked a bike tour around the hills of Bali and despite the fact that they were all tired; an amazing day lay ahead off them.

Bali is a primarily Hindu island in the archipelago of Indonesia – the largest muslim country by population in the world. Thus, it has distinctive characteristics that can only be found there – three Hindu temples in every little town, roadside decorations on every light pole, little donations in form of fruits in front of most houses. Also, Bali is an island with two different faces – one place is rather touristy, comparable to Cancun or Palma de Mallorca whereas the hinterland of the island gives a feeling of being almost untouched, like the Mayan towns in Yucatan or some distant bays in Mallorca.

The travel group was picked up with a minibus and they turned north direction to the center of the island. Bali is of volcanic origin and they would mostly go uphill. First stop on their way was a coffee plantation where they tried a number of different coffees, each of them pretty delicious and tasty. Afterwards, the group had breakfast at a restaurant overviewing a lake that was created after the eruption of a nearby volcano in the 1960s.

Bali Coffee Tasting

The travel group and a volcano

Strengthened, they would be brought to the assembly point for their bike journey. With modern mountain bikes, a larger group of about 25 people explored a 12 km track of the island – passing towns that rarely see tourists with children giving high-fives to the bikers and always saying “hello, hello” to the group. The colors of the rice fields, the sky and the backdrop of the villages were amazing. The tour went largely downhill so it was more rolling than biking but in case anyone is ever interested in going to Bali, Ana and Simon would definitely recommend doing such a tour. The end point of the tour was an excellent lunch menu at the house of one of the tour guides. Yummy Indonesian food.

The "INSEAD Bike Group"

Spectacular colors

Hindu temples

Indonesian lunch buffet

In the afternoon, they relaxed a little bit and went to enjoy the sunset at a beachclub – basically a bar / restaurant with a country club style directly at the waterfront. Ana and Simon also hit the powerful Bali waves and understand why it is also a good tourist destination for surfers. After a very delicious dinner, they had a few drinks at the Villa before deciding to go out to a club. Since Bali is relatively close to Australia and famous for surfing, the majority of the partygoers were 20 something Australian surfers. It was amazing to see that not being in their early 20s actually made them old at this venue!

After the excitement of the bike trip on Saturday, Sunday was mainly a relaxed day at another beach club, including some drinks at the pool bar, delicious burgers and an incredible atmosphere – despite the fact that it was only a weekend getaway trip, it really felt like a well-deserved break from work and studying. They ended their Bali weekend adventure with a seafood dinner on the beach before heading back to the airport.

Tough life at one of Bali's beach clubs :-)

Ana and Simon really enjoyed Bali and will make sure to go back.