6 Days 4 Nights Dreamy Bali Trip

On April 29, 2018, my first time abroad, I decided to head to the Southern Hemisphere—to visit Bali at 8° South latitude!

Travel is a form of leisure and consumption, something planned, where you spend money to enjoy the scenery, culture, cuisine, and services of a different place. It's generally divided into group tours and independent travel, but there can always be issues like flight delays, dirty hotels, getting lost on the road, difficulty communicating abroad, bad weather, etc. When encountered, people get angry and complain, feeling very disappointed and unlucky.

Traveling, on the other hand, is a process of experience and reflection. Experiencing nature, contemplating life, not fearing rain, snow, wind, or hardships, treating everything as a life experience, and adapting to circumstances.

I originally wanted to take a 'vacation' route, but for this travelogue, I want to talk about 'group tour'. Participants: me, Yang Yang (hereafter referred to as Sister Yang), and 15 other members in total.

Day 1: 4/29 Nanjing → Hong Kong → Bali

Flight: Nanjing-Hong Kong HX217 (1435/1710) with meals and drinks

Flight: Hong Kong-Bali HX709 (1920/00051) with meals and drinks

Includes 7kg carry-on, HX includes 20kg checked baggage.

To hotel: Wyndham Tamansari Jivva Resort Bali

Day 2: 4/30 Bali

Elephant Cave - Holy Water Temple - Tegallalang Rice Terrace Afternoon Tea - Ubud Dirty Duck Dinner

Day 3: 5/1 Bali

[Lembongan Island & Penida Island] Full-day出海 - Indonesian buffet lunch - 180° sea view afternoon tea - Jimbaran Bay Seafood BBQ by Candlelight / Paragliding

Check in at Bali Patre Villas Resort

Day 4: 5/2 Bali

Free day in Bali

Reference: Bali private beach, infinity pool, essential oil SPA

Day 5: 5/3 Bali

Uluwatu Lover's Cliff - Free tasting of a cup of unique Balinese iced coffee - Bali Collection shopping center

Day 6: 5/4 Bali → Hong Kong → Nanjing

Flight: Bali-Hong Kong HX708 (0150/0605) with meals and drinks

Flight: Hong Kong-Nanjing HX216 (1110/1335) with meals and drinks

[Pre-departure Preparation]

Preparation: Passport, cards (activate international roaming), visa (visa-free), power adapter, shopping items, sunscreen, beach dress, sunglasses, hat, swimsuit, lipstick, US dollars, Indonesian rupiah, slippers, instant noodles, snacks.

Since the departure airport was in Nanjing, and fearing traffic jams during the May Day holiday, we decided to arrive near Nanjing airport a day earlier, i.e., May 28, arriving in Nanjing.

Day 1 Departure

Since the flight was in the afternoon, we could sleep in. We set off at 10am to the airport, arrived at Nanjing airport at 10:10am, and had a brunch at the airport – a bowl of delicious wonton soup, a bowl of pumpkin porridge, and a crispy pancake.

At 11:00, we met our tour leader Miss Tang. After all 15 members arrived, she gave instructions on precautions, and we queued for boarding. Worth mentioning: the tour leader told us that our luggage might not arrive at Hong Kong airport on time, so we should photograph our luggage and bring some change of clothes in our carry-on. Fortunately, my suitcase was small, so Sister Yang rummaged through her luggage and hesitated for a long time before deciding to bring a set of clothes she liked and stuffed them into my small suitcase. When checking in, we were told our luggage exceeded 7kg and must be checked, so our plan failed. Reluctant to remove the clothes, we decided to leave it to fate. Upon arrival, of course, all worries were unnecessary; we got our luggage smoothly. (Plans can't keep up with changes)

14:35, the plane departed on time and arrived at Hong Kong International Airport at 17:10. At the transit terminal, Sister Yang started looking for watches (Tissot/Longines). After roughly deciding on targets and prices, we calmly ordered a pizza and macaroni, costing 138 yuan. (A bit expensive, but the taste was okay). Note: the counter accepts RMB (bills over 50).

19:00, after enjoying the meal, we rested a bit and then boarded the plane. Soon after takeoff, meal service began: soft tofu, small bread, chicken noodles or fish rice. This worried Sister Yang – she regretted eating the pizza, as she wasn't hungry at all and couldn't eat the plane food. Indeed, that was the case, but when I was about to waste it, Sister Yang finished it all. I was amazed and surprised. On long-haul flights, earphones are provided; you can watch movies, TV, or listen to music.

Day 2 Arrival in Bali

00:15, we arrived at Ngurah Rai Airport. To get small denomination rupiah, we decided to buy a drink, 35,000 rupiah, about 17.5 yuan. Very expensive.

After the tour leader found the local guide, we were given frangipani flower garlands – a pleasant welcome surprise. The local guide, surnamed Jiang, given name Feng'an, ancestral home: Guangdong, overseas Chinese. He could speak Chinese but not write it, medium build, chubby, a bit dark but not as dark as locals, and seemed friendly. After picking us up, we met the driver and assistant who accompanied us throughout the trip. They had dark skin, smiled a lot, and were good guys (tips, of course, expected).

Guide Jiang talked about history all the way, making the over one-hour drive pass quickly. We arrived at the hotel, which was international five-star standard, with a nice environment. Sister Yang's hair tends to get oily, so she washed it immediately upon arrival, only to find no hairdryer. She had to wait for her hair to dry a bit before sleeping. I admired her. I was too tired and just slept, thinking there really was no hairdryer. The next day I found one.

Day 3 Full Schedule

Visited Bali's 'third-rate' attractions (Holy Water Temple, Tegallalang Rice Terrace, tasting iced coffee, Ayung River rafting, Elephant Cave, special dinner – Dirty Duck Dinner). In the evening, shopping at the supermarket.

Holy Water Temple: A local Balinese temple where you need to wear a sarong. The highlight is that the holy water can wash away impurities, so many locals and tourists step into the water to bathe. The place is small but quite crowded; the spring water is very clear.

Tegallalang Rice Terrace: A small patch, far inferior to the rice terraces in Lishui, Zhejiang. The iced coffee was average, and the snacks were tasty.

Ayung River rafting: We did the beginner level, with relatively gentle currents. Compared to rafting in Zhejiang, the water here was murkier, but the scenery was nice; we even saw a lizard. We had great fun with water fights, shouting, yelling, singing. But the enthusiasm of other teammates on other boats seemed hard to ignite, so our boat was the most active but the worst at fighting, always being splashed. Fortunately, our instructor was very energetic and created a lot of atmosphere.

Elephant Cave: A temple-like place that also requires wearing a sarong. We went in for a look and came out.

Dirty Duck Dinner: We had high expectations. It was like fried duck, but it had a peculiar smell. The rice and soup didn't suit our tastes either. Overall, this meal was a failure. The main dish of the Dirty Duck Dinner was half a roasted duck with water spinach, shrimp crackers, and white rice. The ducks here are small, about 4-5 months old.

After the meal, Guide Jiang took us to a relatively upscale supermarket. It seemed there were no local Indonesians, only foreigners and Chinese, probably geared to rip us off, as prices were high.

But we were like wild horses let loose, galloping through this small supermarket, thinking everything was good. Shampoo, sunscreen, chips, drinks, water, instant noodles, candy, etc. Finally spent 485,000 rupiah, about 242 yuan.

Back at the hotel, we took photos on the balcony. When I accidentally slid open the balcony door, it turned out there was a surprise: the room opened onto a pool. Sister Yang immediately ran back to the room, changed clothes, and started taking photos, excitedly...

Day 4 Lembongan Island

This day's itinerary was the most anticipated: Lembongan Island. Early in the morning, we headed to the dock, took a 40-minute boat ride to reach the legendary Lembongan Island. We transferred from a large boat to a small one, then went ashore. Then we took an open-air bumper car ride, enjoying beautiful sea views all the way. We arrived at Dream Beach, given only 5 minutes to take photos and enjoy the scenery, then headed to Devil's Tears. The scenery was indeed beautiful, but the waves were also strong, making us afraid to get too close.

Soon we left this long-awaited island and set off for Penida Island. Upon arrival, we had lunch – noodles were barely edible, some vegetables; the meat didn't suit our taste. After eating, we changed into swimsuits and went snorkeling and paragliding. Snorkeling was a bit... speechless. It was my first time paragliding, and it was great. I also met a beautiful girl from Shanghai.

Day 5 Free Day

This day's itinerary was exorbitant at 1,200 yuan, but worth recommending: additional attractions included private beach, pork ribs rice, infinity pool, essential oil SPA, seafood meal.

Private beach: Although private, there weren't many people, but it wasn't as nice or private as I imagined. But if you don't expect too much, it's satisfying. Taking photos, drinking coconut water, handling some work – half a day passed. At noon, we had roasted pork ribs, which tasted good. In the afternoon, we went to the infinity pool, which was crowded. Changed into swimsuits and took photos.

Afternoon tea time: cake, drinks.

Essential oil SPA: Lasted 2 hours. First a shower, then a kneeling foot wash, followed by a full body massage – truly relaxing.

Seafood hotpot dinner: Hotpot isn't my favorite, so I just ate some shrimp and crab. Fortunately, Sister Yang made a nice dipping sauce for me that was very appetizing.

A full day came to an end. Although the schedule was packed, I was very satisfied.

Day 6 Cliff / Kuta Street

Left at 9:30, went to Uluwatu Cliff. The cliff scenery was great, but unfortunately there were aggressive monkeys that would grab glasses and phones. So we took a quick look and left. Then we went to a latex factory, and finally to Kuta Street for shopping. Spent 700,000 rupiah on shopping. We missed the sunset view at Kuta Beach. After shopping, we carried our heavy luggage and flew home.

1. Overall schedule was tight but reasonable. Generally woke up at 7:00-7:30.

2. Group tour saved me trouble as I'm indecisive.

3. Bali has beautiful scenery, suitable for travel.

4. My relationship with Sister Yang went through ups and downs during this trip.

5. Looking forward to an independent trip for comparison.

6. Will definitely not buy glass or ceramic souvenirs on return.

7. Try to keep personal items as light as possible.

8. On long flights, bring an eye mask and neck pillow.

9. When traveling abroad, buy a larger suitcase.

10. Duty-free items must be picked up at the airport (under 5,000 yuan).

11. Group tours usually include visits to shopping outlets; if joining a group tour, consider a shopping-oriented package (as long as purchases are not mandatory).

12. Total cost: 4,700 yuan tour fee + 1,200 yuan optional + 300 yuan paragliding + 100 yuan tips + 300 yuan round-trip airport transportation and meals = 6,600 yuan if no shopping.