The trip began with a delayed flight. When a 2am flight gets delayed to 4am, it pretty much means a whole sleepless night. We had some fun in the lounge, and being in a group means you still have company to share the boredom. We landed at almost 3pm, so the day was destined to be a washout. To top it off, immigration took over an hour since Indian passports are not electronic (yet), and while they have almost 40 e-passport gates, there were only 2 manual counters. We were all hungry as we walked out of the airport, and Ubud is nearly a 90-minute cab ride, so a snack at the airport was on the cards. I spotted a Jonny Rockets and the snack quickly upgraded into a full burger & beer meal.

The cab ride to Ubud was eventless, and we reached our hotel by 7:30pm, not really hungry but eager to explore the very attractive market and restaurant areas we had passed just before turning for the hotel. Check-in was smooth, and the rooms were nice and spacious. The lack of a bathroom door was the only standout problem, which we learnt to live with – yay to bathroom singing. The welcome drink was a concoction of lemongrass, ginger, and sugar – two flavors I hate and one that I have been trying to avoid. I loved the drink – amazing! We changed and got ready for a walk to the market.

The hotel offered a drop-off service to the market center. Our hotel was closer to a corner. This was a good idea: get dropped off in the central area and walk back to the hotel. We explored some shops, bought some chocolates, and had a fabulous Mexican dinner with some local dishes thrown in. The walk back was fabulous, even though some of the shops had started to shut and we weren’t really up for more drinking. The action on the trip would start the following morning; we had a 9am pickup for the “waterfalls and more” tour.

Morning started early for me, but I stayed in and enjoyed a cup of self-brewed Balinese coffee on the balcony. The hotel did not have a breakfast buffet, but you could order from a set of prix fixe options the night before, and they would serve it in the room or in the garden. I had some fabulous Nasi Goreng, fruits, cake, and more Balinese coffee before the tour pickup arrived, sharp at 9. Since we were 12, it had become a private tour for us. A small bus was to take us to two waterfalls, a temple, one swing, and finally some paddy fields. There would be lunch somewhere in the middle.

We started with Kanto Lampo Waterfall, a waterfall designed for Instagram. It is actually a stunningly beautiful natural fall that is about a 15-minute walk down from the parking lot. What makes it unique is how they have created a photo platform for someone to be able to click near-perfect waterfall shots. You stand in a line, give your phone, and they will click it for you. On the side, there is a small area where you can get someone in your group to click it for you. Pretty cool, and you get drenched in the process, so best to get there in your bathing suits.

The second in line was the Tibumana Waterfall, a longer walk and a beautiful fall, more suitable for swimming in its pool. It was great fun and totally worth the slightly steep climb back up. At a roadside store on the way back, we found corn on the cob and some mangosteen. The third stop was the Gunung Kawi Sebatu Temple, a beautiful temple set in a lush green backdrop with a clear pond and Koi fish. This was a quick stop for some photography as we were not really keen on the purification ceremony that involved getting into one of the ponds.

The next stop was one of the jungle swings (d’Alas swing) that have become such a rage in Bali. The swings over the jungle and paddy fields make for such good photo moments. The women are given a long flowing dress to wear that makes the photos even more majestic. Photos and reels aside, the swing was actually quite a good experience. There is a harness that allows them to raise you further using a pulley and then launch you into a deep swing. It’s a little scary but quite an adventure. Lunch was served at a restaurant next to the swing. There were a few options to choose from, and the duck was fabulous. We ordered beer on the side, and it paired wonderfully. All of this was made more fun by the waitress insisting on calling everyone “honey”. The last stop was the paddy fields, where you could walk around, zip line across, cycle on a rope across the valley, or just chill and click pics.

After this wonderful tour, we got back to the hotel to chill a bit. Everyone was eager to go to the market or go get a massage. The tour had lasted a bit longer than we expected, and this was our one free evening to go experience the market. We started with a massage, followed it with dinner at a lovely Indonesian/ western food joint with live music. After this, as the kids headed back to the hotel, some of us spent a while at a karaoke place with some wild vibes. We sang some Bollywood songs and danced to some Latin and American numbers that the others sang. Very spontaneous, but a fabulous evening.

The final day was booked to start with an ATV tour. The options were a 2:30am hike to the volcano or the 9 am tour, and everyone voted for the ATV. We expected this to be an easy drive – I had taken several ATV tours in the past. This was nothing like any of them. The course was extremely hard and swampy. It took every bit of my strength to even steer these ATVs across the rocky, steep, and wet course. The organisers helped, and we bumped, nearly toppled, and prodded along. In the end, it was super fun. During the ride, though, we were a little worried.

At the end of the tour, we skipped the free lunch and headed to the hotel to get a few shopping hours before the highly anticipated beach club evening. We were expecting the adults to skip lunch, but we did eat a bit, shop a bit, and then got ready in swimwear for a long drive to Potatohead Beach Club, over an hour and a half from our hotel. Many prior travelers had spoken about the beach clubs; a few were still open to kids, and we chose the most famous of them all.

We booked a reserved seating area, which came with some free booze and food. The place looked pretty exquisite, and it was just a great experience to spend the whole evening chilling with some really nice cocktails, wine, and food, and then be able to jump into the pool or walk onto the beach whenever you wanted. The sunset on the beach was incredible. We hung around till 10ish before heading back to Ubud to pack and be ready for our ferry to Gili in the morning.

Overall, Ubud was fantastic! There isn’t as much description of the market here, but we did shop a lot in whatever time we found between the adventures. I expected a lot of these activities to be fun, but they were definitely better than I expected. To top it off, it didn’t feel too touristy. We were now going to skip the real touristy bits of Bali and head elsewhere.