Another packed day… after finally starting to overcome jet lag and ready for a good night sleep, I had to be up at 5:30am to be picked up at 6:30am!! What’s that all about????

Today included again all sorts of amazing places across Bali. I headed out with a local named Gene, and the first thing he said to me was “hello, are you ready to get all of your pictures for Instagram?”
That’s when I knew that I was going to see some spectacular places today.

Stop one was Lempuyang Temple, it is also known as the Gateway to Heaven and oh wow, it earned its name. When I first saw it I was in awe… when there is clouds, you feel genuinely on top of the world and that you are at the edge of the skyline. For a lot of the temples that I visited, you had to wear a sarong as part of ensuring you were dressed appropriately for the Gods. You also then were splashed with holy water upon entrance. It was great to see some of the local culture and beliefs.

After visiting the temple, Tirta Gangga was next. This is known as the magical water palace, again, it was incredible. You got given fish food upon entrance to feed to the Koi, and when you stand on the stepping stones in the water and sprinkle the food around you, the Koi come right up to your feet and follow you as you continue on the stepping stones. It was super fun and interesting and a truly spectacular place, everything was neat and tidy and ‘in place’, with bright colours surrounding and beauty in every corner.

Tukad Cepung Waterwall was another visit that mesmerised me. I nearly didn’t make it here but I am so glad that I did as the waterfall was picturesque and I have never seen anything like it before. There is around 100 stairs down to get to the waterfall, and I am terrified of walking down stairs, especially steep stairs… maybe it is the fear of falling or slipping or something like that but the biggest challenge for me was to make it down the stairs. The local I was with today was amazing, he was so supportive of making sure that I could get to the waterfall and when it was time to go back up, I was fuelled with adrenaline and challenged him to a race to the top, it felt so nice to be back on firm ground.

Also, little do people know that almost seconds after this photo was taken, I slipped and completely fell back under the waterfall covering myself head to toe in water.

Final stop was Kopi Lowak, this is a coffee plantation out in the jungles of Ubud. We stopped here as we had planned to go to Tegalalang rice terraces and to the Bali Swing, but it finally decided that as part of rainy season, it was going to rain…

It was amazing here though, I got to see from start to finish how the coffee is made, from being grown on the trees to cleaned, roasted and ground to make the different types. Finished off with a tasting board of loads of different types and flavours of coffee which was wicked. There was a vanilla coffee bean which made the most incredible flavoured coffee I think I have EVER had. All with this splendid view of the jungle right in front of you. How can I complain??!