Traveling Bali: Jimbaran + Uluwatu

August 11, 2017

A few months ago, Alex and I went to Bali for the first time. It was time for a dreamy (international) trip. We spent the following months thinking through how could best spend our days on the island and decided to break it down into three legs: coast, jungle, coast. We stayed in Jimbaran and Uluwatu the first several days, then we went deep into the rainforest for the middle portion of the trip, and ended up back in Nusa Dua with day trips out to Canggu and Seminyak for the final leg. Today, I’m going to cover our first coastal adventures!

We chose to take it easy during first leg of our trip, in and around Jimbaran. The villa we stayed in (Temple Hill Villas) was one of the most incredible spots I’d ever seen. It was huge and beautiful, with lush outdoor spaces and our own private pool. It also happened to be the most affordable place we stayed, believe it or not.

Because this was the first part of our trip, our jet lag was rough. There was a 12 hour time difference, guys. The good news: we made the most of it and watched the sunrise every morning, drinking tea and listening to all the wildlife wake up around us.

We felt incredibly spoiled, having this pool to ourselves. I noticed most of the pools in Bali were tiled, which had a lovely luminescent effect day and night. Guess I’ll file that away in case I can ever afford to build my own pool…

We made sure to see some of the beautiful coastal spots while in the southern part of the island. We hiked all around Uluwatu, seeking out Suluban beach (above) and its caves (below). The steep and rickety streets around the area were really fun, and unlike anything I’d ever seen. This was definitely the key surfer spot!

This was the view from Uluwatu temple. The ocean had never felt more vast to me. It was pretty amazing to think about sacred spots like this one existing in such lush (and precarious) places. And in case you haven’t been, all visitors wore sarongs as a sign of respect.