We rented a scooter for the day which has now become our favourite way to explore! I much prefer to have the freedom to go off the beaten track 🏍. It was my second attempt at driving which ended after 30 seconds of anxiety and swerving down the road. After this short ordeal WanderMan drove us to Tegallalang rice terrace, a Holy waterfall and around the villages. We loved tooting and saying hello to the locals 👋. We drove past many rice fields, local temples and shops selling carved furniture and idols. We also came across chickens, roosters and dogs in the middle of the road 🐓🐕. They obviously haven’t heard of a crossing as we had to toot them out of the way.

Today we were picked up at 2.30am to go on a sunrise trek. There was no light pollution so it was perfect to gaze at the stars on the way up. I have never watched the sunrise before so it made it even more special to be at the top of Mount Batur, an active volcano in Bali. The bright, orange sun against the backdrop of mountains was well worth the early morning! I was told this climb was easy but these people I now realise were lying. It was the most difficult of treks we have done but that is probably because we hadn’t slept properly, it was in the dark and very steep.

At the top it is very cold and you can hear the wind whistling loudly! There were lots of clouds so we had to (im)patiently wait for them to pass to catch glimpses of the sunrise. What an amazing, unforgettable experience! 🌄 We stopped to view the crater and were surrounded by monkeys (again)! The way down was even more treacherous. I opted for a shuffle/bounce down whereas WM went for an unflattering wide leg squatted walk. Either way we both kept stumbling and nearly falling over. I recovered by floating around in the pool and watching the clouds pass by.

We are staying another night before heading to Canggu tomorrow. I had been looking forward to Ubud for a long time but prefer Tabanan as it more authentic and less touristy. We were spoilt with staying next to a rice terrace so coming here after isn’t as exciting. The streets are also very busy here much like in Seminyak. Although, I love the many vegetarian and vegan restaurants here!

Lots of love,

Wander Woman 👣 🌍