Mexico (Cabo - A weekend Getaway)

Spoiled in San Lucas: Our Seamless Family Weekend at Hilton Los Cabos

We wanted a quick family getaway for a long weekend with pleasant weather. Mexico was the obvious choice. After debating between Puerto Vallarta and Cabo, we picked Cabo for this time of year.
View - My Instagram Cabo Recap

The Seamless Booking Process

View from our balcony

Booking is incredibly easy for this type of trip. We booked our flights, hotel, and airport transfers all through Costco. The logistics were entirely handled for us. It was on us to choose the resort, and we picked the Hilton Los Cabos because it offers rare, direct access to a swimmable beach.

Paradise Resort Grounds

We spent most of our vacation right on the property. The resort is massive. We had fun navigating it, though we did almost get lost once.

• The Breakfast Spread: The morning buffet was huge. Even over four days, we did not have enough time to try everything.
• Dining Options: The resort features enough on-site restaurants that we ate lunch and dinner there without ever getting bored.
• Pool Paradise: We split our days between the active kids' play pool and the relaxing adult pool.
• The Luxury Treatment: The staff is incredibly nice and courteous. They seamlessly set up pool lounge chairs and take your orders right from the water. I was completely spoiled by the end of the trip.
• Kids Club: The property features a fully staffed kids club with activities planned every hour. You can safely drop the kids off to enjoy some kid-free time at the adult-only pool. 
  

Making friends in San Jose del Cabo

Exploring the Towns: North vs. South

We ventured off the property twice to experience the local culture, exploring two completely different vibes.

San José del Cabo (Heading North)

One evening we headed north to the quieter town center. It has a beautiful old-town charm and is not very touristy. We explored a central plaza, local arts and crafts vendors, and an old cathedral. The area is filled with cozy cafeterias. We even found an excellent Indian restaurant called Namaste India- SJC by Raj, which served incredibly good, authentic food.

Mandatory Arch photos

Cabo San Lucas (Heading South)

The next evening we headed south to Cabo San Lucas. This area is very lively and highly touristy. We booked a tour to see the famous Arch, which was absolutely worth the effort. The guides were excellent and helped us pose for pictures. We opted for a glass-bottom boat so Piku could watch the fish swim right beneath our feet. We spent the rest of the night walking around the bustling neighborhood before catching an Uber back.

It was the perfect mix of resort relaxation and local exploration. Costco travel made it effortless, and the Hilton team made it unforgettable. 

More Fun Things to Do in Los Cabos

If you have a few extra days or want to swap out an evening activity, here are some other highly recommended experiences for families and couples alike:

• Thursday Night Art Walk: If you visit San José del Cabo between November and June, do not miss this vibrant weekly street festival filled with local artists, live music, and wine tastings.
• Whale Watching Cruise: Visiting between December and April gives you a front-row seat to migrating humpback whales right in the bay.
• Chileno Bay Snorkeling: This is another fantastic swimmable beach nearby with incredibly clear waters and coral reefs teeming with colorful marine life.
• Desert Camel Ride: For a unique adventure, you can ride camels along the Pacific ocean beach cliffs and explore the local desert trails.
• Sunset Sailing: Book a luxury catamaran cruise at dusk to watch the sun dip below the horizon right next to Land's End.
  

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*Generated using AI from detailed trip notes. Thank you, AI!

Monaco (A day trip)

Monaco gets its special page because it is an independent country and I do not want to put it under the South France page! More about the South France itinerary is on its dedicated page. This page is about our day in Monaco.

Getting In:

Biking from Nice to Monaco

Conveniently connected by trains from nearby cities. It was a twenty minute ride from the Nice train station. Train tickets may not be available or the trains cancelled, so check early on the day off or the day before and get tickets.
While I took the train, Sumit was biking from Nice to Monaco. On his way, he stopped by a cute town Eze, a popular stop over for a hopping southern coast tour.
We both reached around the same time, but rendezvous was a nightmare. Here is what happened. Since Monaco is a different country, our phones that were working fine in France, didn't immediately start working in Monaco. I had a bad connection and no wi-fi at the train station, so I couldn't connect with him. We had initially planned to meet at the Oceanography museum, but I couldn't get a taxi. During the intermittent signal calls I got, we decided to meet at the famous pool located in middle of the city by the docks.

Getting to Nice

However, I had come up to the second floor exit of the station and figuring out how to get there was a nightmare. It was right in front of me, I could seeit , but when I stepped out, I couldn't find a road leading up to it. Thankfully I went back into the station and found a help desk. So, this city is vertical and horizontal! I was at the wrong floor. I had to exit on a different floor and just take the stairs all the way down and walk straight for 10 minutes to get to the pool, or the La Condamine area. but I spent an hour figuring this out and with no connectivity I was almost prompted to head back to Nice.
So when you get here, take a deep breath, ask someone and find the right exit and navigate correctly and not just rely on the google map as it doesn't have capability to navigate vertically!
Also, while you are the the tourist information office or the help desk, make sure to get a tourist map to help you navigate.

What to do:

The iconic pool - Next time, taking a dip!

Initially, I had planned on following this walking map I had created. After our fiasco, we met at the pool. First, we grabbed lunch at on of the many restaurants around the area. Sumit left his bike securely fastened to a lamp pole near the restaurant. Food was good.

Next up, we decided to follow our tourist map and go to the Prince's palace, many steps later we were outside the palace and got really good views of this tiny little city-country. Some souvenir shops are close by. There is also an oceanography museum and a view point located close by, but we ditched that and decided to head out straight to the Casino, Monte Carlo.

F1 tracks in the city!

We walked to the Casino Monte Carlo and what a sight! Luxury cars lined outside. I think there was an entry fees, but I don't remember now. the interiors are so royal and opulent, it was much more royal than I had expected. Of course you aren't allowed to go inside to all the game rooms as I guess they are reserved for some "A-list" people.

Casino Monte Carlo

We then walked back to the La Condamine area and settled in a restaurant to watch the France vs Belgium semi final at a restaurant. The atmosphere was electric and there were of course French supporters everywhere.

La Condamine area

After the match, we headed back to Nice via train. This time we had no issues going to the station and yes, we took the stairs and the elevators. Pretty convenient if you do that and follow the tourist information map. The city oozes luxury and clearly you see it would be the richest per capita country in the worls.

South France (Nice, Antibes, Cannes, Lyon, Grenoble)

For our Euro summer trip, there was one city I definitely wanted to visit and that was Grenoble, because of all the endless tales I had heard from Sumit about his internship. So, why not visit South France along with this city. We were going to be in Switzerland after our Germany roadtrip. So this was the plan for the last leg of our trip through South France. Its is a comparatively shorter trip, but you could spend more days in each of these beach towns.
Day 1: Arrive in Nice
Day 2: Bike to Monaco and spend the day in Monaco
Day 3: Train to Cannes ->Antibes -> Lyon
Day 4: Day in Lyon -> Drive to Grenoble
Day 5: Bike day in St. Michelle -> Drive to Lyon ->Train to Paris
Day 6: Fly out of Paris

When to go:

Crepes + Coffee = France

South France was hot when we visited. We were there end of June and it was scorching sun all through our trip. If you love that, this is the places for you, but carry buckets of sunscreen!  Else, you may want to give the shoulder season a try. Perhaps, May or September.

Where all to go:

Southern coast of France is popular for its beaches and the coastal drive. We didn't drive along the coast  but that is always an option. Here is a route that I had picked along the coast.
Nice, Monaco, Cannes are most popular, but there are smaller beach towns which also make for a good relaxed vacation, eg: Antibes, Saint Tropez.
Marseilles is a big city in the south with popular connections to take trains from or fly in to.

Getting around:

Europe is of course well connected with public transport, so you don't need any car unless you want to drive around. Our trip was a mix and match of both. Between cities which were more than 2-3 hours away, we preferred public transport, or else we rented a car.

Getting to Nice:

Nice beach

This was an adventurous day. We had our flights reserved from Geneva to Nice at about 6 pm. Around 3 pm we get a message from our airlines that our flight has been cancelled, and they won't reschedule us, but simply refund the money. We were both in Lausanne that time driving from Zurich to Geneva. We had no idea what to do now. There were no flights, or trains available for the next two days. Everything was completely booked as it was a weekend. One option was to skip the south France trip and just take the train to Grenoble after 3 days, which was the only available option. Or, option number two, which was to extend our car rental and drive to Nice. It was 6-7 hours drive, but we would be in Nice the same day we had planned and we wouldn't need to alter any other reservations.
So, of course, we picked option two. We had to pay a couple of hundred euros extra for returning the car in another country, but it would save us more in reservations and re bookings.
We drove through southern Switzerland, near Mont Blanc, and norther Italy, close to Turin. The drive and the tunnels are a beauty. Its amazing how the bridges have been built connecting mountains and tunnels have been built cutting right through these giant mountains. It was an adventure as it was unplanned, but good thing was, we made it. We were in Nice at midnight and driving through narrow streets and one-way alleys of Nice was a challenge we hadn't signed up for. Luckily we found street parking as we had to return the car the next day, we didn't have a hotel with car parking.
Haash! A long day, but we reached Nice!

Monaco

Plan was to bike to Monaco. Sumit had found a bike rental shop in Nice and he left early, around 8 or 9 am to return the car and rent a bike as soon as he could in the morning. He was planning to bike to Moncao and I had plans to meet him there and spend the day with him in Monaco.
More details about biking to Monaco and the city are here on the Monaco blog page.

Nice

Lamborghini by the dinner table

We returned in the evening and spent time in Nice. We were staying at de la Fontaine. Tiny rooms, but thats what we could manage with such late reservations. Location was good with respect to the train station, Gare du Nice Ville was only 15 minutes walk.
Walking along the beach in the cool evening breeze is definitely a memorable experience. Lot of food carts, caricature artists, crepieres along the beach. The city side of the street, Promenade du la Anglais has a lot of hotels and casinos and plenty of restaurants to pick from. You can spend a few days here easily, without getting bored. Its a crowded city, so don't rent a car and prefer Uber or walking around. We had dinner at a really good Lebanese restaurant, Ya Habibi.
True to its reputation of opulence, there was a Lamborghini parked right outside our restaurant and it was a picture-worthy moment to have dinner with a luxury car casually parked right behind you on the street.

Cannes

Plan for the day was to visit Cannes, spend some time in a beach town, and we chose Antibes and then head out to Lyon from Cannes in the evening.

Outside the red carpet

It is a 30 minute train ride from Nice. Given the town is popular due to Cannes Film Festival, it is crowded with tourists. We left our luggage at the luggage storage right outside the train station (very convenient!). Now we had our days packs and were ready for the day. This town has quite a few private beaches and also public beaches. We chose to first walk straight to the theatre with the red carpet to take our pictures there. The theatre is actually a convention centre, Palais des Festivals et des Congrès. The town is small and walkable. There is also a gallery next to it which has displays of movie stars who are regular a the film festival. After posing for pictures and feeling content, we headed to the beach right next to it. It was still quite sunny, so we thought of going to Rue D'Antibes for some shopping instead.
Pretty little walkable town with small cathedral somewhere in the middle. The shopping was fun and I went crazy at Mango store as we don't have many of those in US and they had an awesome 70% discount going on! Yayy! Grabbed a bite sometime in between all of this.

Antibes

Next up was Anitbes. It is 15 minutes ride from Cannes. A cute little beach town. But, while on our way to train station, we realized that Sumit had forgotten his biking jersey in the hotel room as it was drying in the bathroom! It was his IronMan Canada jersey, so we couldn't leave it behind. Hence, we went all the way back to Nice, got the jersey and came back to Cannes and then headed out to Antibes.
I always have stories from our trip, don't I?
Anyhow once we reached Antibes, we picked a beach to go to from many beaches listed online. We went to Plage LaGrauppe. We took an Uber from the station to get to the beach. Loads of activities at the beach and an Italian restaurant with private showers to offer. Its a lovely coastline here. I would advise you carry or rent an umbrella here as it gets super duper hot. There is a Picasso gallery here which we didn't have time to visit, but it did sound interesting.
A few hours and we were off to Cannes to get on our train to Lyon now. Train was super comfortable and so glad we chose to ride the train instead of driving. Fours hours just flew by. We reached Lyon and we staying at Ibis hotel close to the train station. Tiny rooms, but comfortable. Luckily we reached just in time to watch the FIFA semi final of Croatia vs Russia extended thirty minutes and the penalty shootout.

Lyon

Vieux Lyon

We had a full day in Lyon and I was ready to explore. First we got our rental car and drove to the old town area. We first headed out to Bellacur. After parking our cars, we just used Google maps to explore the city. We first took the funicular up to the church Fourviere. Beautiful church and it offered lovely views of the city from the hilltop. Must do. The ride, the church, the views, a perfect thing to do in Lyon. Next, we were roaming around Vieux Lyon (old town). Visit the Church Saint-Jean-Baptiste. Just roaming the streets was a lot of fun and we decided to stop by one of the shops to get some Onginon pies. It was pretty good. I had been quite skeptical about french cooking, but this was good. Next, I just had to try some crepes and coffee. I mean, I was in France after all!
Here is a link to the walking map that will help.

Church Fourviere

Our hotel in Grenoble

Grenoble

In the evening, we headed out to Grenoble. First up, we went to Inria. It was about time I got to see this place. What beautiful location. Surrounded by tall mountains. Being a weekend, we couldn't get in. But was totally worth the visit. We drove around the city first and then headed out to Fort Bastille, but the roads were so narrow that we ditched it. If you intend to go, must take the funicular/gondola. The town is super cute and a great place to spend a few laid back days. We ate at a really good Indian restaurant, Bombay. Then we drove around the old residence and then to the old town. We were staying at beautiful hotel, in the lovely old town area. Since we had to park, we had to drive around a few loops to find an overnight parking spot. The old town area had some good restaurants and a lively ambience.

Biking around Saint Michelle

Early morning we left for Sanit Michelle and headed straight to the bike rental shop, Velo rental. This is a village at the foothil of Alps and a good starting point for very interesting bike routes. Some of the bike routes around are also a part of Tour de France routes. At 9 am, we were at the shop and Sumit got his bike and was ready to head out.

6 hours to spare

Now who finished his ride!

I had to kill 6 hours ahead of me. I spent that time arguing with a waitress who wouldn't understand English or sign language, offering Swiss Francs to pay for food, and completely forgot I needed Euros in France, and also struggling with a public toilet that self cleaned every few minutes and if you were inside, it meant, you would get drenched, and yes I did. I kept myself fully entertained for those six hours while Sumit was burning calories and riding up Col du Galibier.

Col du Galibier

Back to Paris:

Around 4 pm we headed back to Lyon for our train to Paris at night. We were stuck in traffic first and then, had a tough time refueling our car beacuse it was a diesel and the nozzle type wasn't available at all gas stations. Luckily we made it in time at the station with full TEN minutes to spare before the train! Whew! it was an adventurous day for sure. But we got on our train back to Paris and on our flight back home.

Pointers:

• Make reservations early to get good hotels in Nice.
• Always prefer a train ride over flying. More reliable and super comfortable.
• Indian vegetarian food may be tricky to find, but not hard.

Germany (Trier, Heidelberg, Romantic Road)

Germany was always on our destination list. As a tourist, one can divide Germany into two parts, historic Berlin and other big cities. And the second part, smaller quaint towns with castles. Germany has two tourist routes, Romantic Strasse (with all the quaint towns) and Castle Strasse (with all the castles) with a decent enough overlap between the Romantic Road and the Castle Road. We chose Romantic Strasse for our road trip, which runs from Wurzburg to Fussen and we stopped by a couple of other towns on our way from Luxembourg.

Here is our itinerary:

Day 1: Trier -> Mainz -> Heidelberg
Day 2: Heidelberg -> Wurzburg -> Rotheburg ob der Tauber
Day 3: Rothernberg ob der Tauber -> Dinkelsbuhl ->Nordlingen
Day 4: Nordlingen -> Augusburg  -> Fussen/Schwangau
Day 5: Fussen -> Konstanz -> Zurich

Our road trip route

Getting Around

We rented a car in Trier and returned it in Konstanz, our last destination in Germany. Driving around was pretty simple and roads were not crowded. There are some online sites to help you get acquainted with the road signs. Also, our favorite store was ALDI to buy water, snacks or anything else we needed. Getting vegetarian food isn't difficult in Germany and most of the restaurants do offer a vegetarian variant of most of their dishes.

Day 1: Trier -> Mainz -> Heidelberg

Karl Marx's birthplace

We reached Trier from Luxembourg via train. We took the local bus to the Hertz rental where we rented a car and drove to the old town. We spent some time wandering about in the old town (Altstadt) area. All the major attractions are in this area. We grabbed some lunch here. Saw the old cathedral, Point Nigra and Karl Marx house. From here we drove to Mainz.  Mainz was a comparatively bigger city and all we did there was to have a burger at Hans im Gluck. Burgers were really good and so was their lemonade. I highly recommend them. I guess they are a chain so you can find another restaurant in some other city.

Trier

Heidelberg Citadel

Up next, we were headed to Heidelberg. The drive was through vast rolling hill pastures. We reached Heidelberg in the evening. Parking on street is hard to find, but there are enough parking garages in the city. Also, try making a reservation for your stay where parking is included. Once we found parking and checked in to our hotel, we decided to head out to Old town for getting some dinner. We walked along the Haupstrasse. Its a lovely pedestrian area with many local shops all around. We walked all the way up to the old bridge. Crossed the bridge and took picture. The views of the hilltop citadel are also great from here. There are many dining options in the old town area, and we decided to get some Thai food. Now was the time to head back to out hotel.

Day 2: Heidelberg -> Wurzburg -> Rotheburg ob der Tauber

Wurzburg Marketplatz

We had initially wanted to go to the citadel in the morning, but decided against it. You see, there are so many citadels in Germany, that they get repetitive after a while, so we decided to skip this one. Instead, we spent our morning going to a swimming pool (Thermalbad). Finding parking was not easy in the morning as there were no parking structures closeby and the directions for one way streets can get confusing. But after some struggle, we did manage to find a parking spot with an hour validity or something. After our swim session, we head a sumptuous brunch at Mindel Cafe. Another cafe I can recommend. Now we were off to Wurzburg.

We drove straight to the top of the Wurzburg fortress which overlooks the city. It was too hot and we were just looking for some shade. We walked around the fortress to get some views of the city. I remember there was a tiny little shop in the corner which had ice creams! Yay! Then we drove to the Old town area. There was a pretty old church as usual and lots of shops all around. We found parking in one of the garages and then just walked around the Marketplatz before settling in at a Bierhaus for the football match. It was a party!

Night Watchman Tour

Rothenberg ob der Tauber

After the match we drove to our next destination, Rothenberg ob der Tauber. Such a cute little town on a hilltop and my favorite town in the country. You can only enter from one side and it was hard to find where to drive in from. But once we figured, we were good. It felt as if we were transported in to a fairytale village. We were here in time for the popular "Night Watchman Tour". It was so much fun walking around this tiny little town and hearing the stories of this watchman in his costume. This is the best way to go around this town. It takes only about an hour or so. Later, walking around cobbled streets we got dinner at a local restaurant. Surprisingly enough, finding vegetarian food in Germany hasn't been tough at all. There are quite a few boutique hotels in this town and we stayed at Golden Rose. And do not forget to take the famous picture at the most photographed spot in the city.

Day 3: Rothernberg ob der Tauber -> Dinkelsbuhl ->Nordlingen

Romantic Road

We had initially thought of renting bicycles and biking around the town, but the bike shops were closed on Sundays, so we decided to go for a run instead. I think the whole loop around the city was less than 5 km! But what fun running around this city. This city has a lot of souvenir shops. We wanted to get a cuckoo clock and we found the one we liked and shipped it directly to our home in US. There are a lot of price ranges and options if you want to get one. We got ours safe and sound in the next few weeks and it works just fine. 

After brunch, we headed to another small town of Dinkelsbuhl which was like a miniature replica of Rothenberg ob der Tauber. We found parking right outside and went for a walk in the city. Got coffee at a local gelato and coffee shop. Wandered around aimlessly, perfect vacation!

From here, we drove to Nordlingen. After checking in to our hotel, we went to the cathedral. Here you can go up the tower for a minimal fees and get some views of this tiny little town. These towns are so small that you can walk around the entire town in a few hours and be familiar with the entire layout of the town. We rented bikes at the JUFA hotel for 24 hours. Plan as to go biking the following morning. We had dinner at a Mexican restaurant, Pablo Cantina. Again, the food was awesome. Then we got back to our hotel to watch Croatia vs. Denmark. 

Day 4: Nordlingen -> Augusburg -> Fussen/Schwangau

Biking countryside

We were up early, Bright eyed and bushy tailed! Ready to for a short 15-mile ride around the German countryside. We had to get back in time for the checkout. Sumit had already chalked out a route the night before, so we knew where to go. We had our water bottles and energy bars ready in Sumit's backpack. Be wary of the drivers around as these are not popular bike routes so it can get scary and risky when you cross roads. I am so glad we biked around, it was a very different way to experience the countryside. Totally loved  passing through fields with cottages, small towns and coffee shops.

Once we got back to our hotel, something interesting was waiting for us. A parking ticket! We had unknowingly parked overnight in a parking spot without displaying an appropriate parking sign. So now we started looking for the municipal office to pay our fine. After some sign language and broken English, we figured where the office was, of course everything is close by, the towns are so small! We went to the office and paid our fine.

Experiencing the German countryside

Augusburg

After getting some bad Italian food for lunch, we headed out to Augusburg. We drove past Donauworth as we didn't have much time on our hands. Augusburg was a big city. We parked in a garage. Walked around the old town (Altstadt), saw the fountain and the old church. The golden hall had closed by the time we reached. We spent some time walking around the marketplace and shopping. There was an Indian restaurant in the vicinity, Sangam, so we decided to get dinner here. We got some food to-go and headed out to Fussen, where we were staying overnight.

Drive to Fussen got prettier as you got closer to the Swiss border. As you get closer to the Swiss Alps, the scenery just keeps getting better. We reached a pretty little cottage in the Schwangau area and were all set to go see the Sleeping Beauty castle the next day.

Day 5: Fussen -> Konstanz -> Zurich

Carriage ride up to the Castle

So glad that we had made the reservations earlier for the Neuschwanstein castle. This place gets super crowded. We drove up to the visitor area and parked. Walked upto the ticket window to collect our physical tickets, but it was a long wait. Then to get on the horse carriage was another long queue and wait. Glad that we started the day early. Once at the castle, you are called in groups and have to stick to your group tour. From inside this is like any other castle. Lavish and bautiful. The real beauty of the castle is its location I believe. There is a short hike to the bride close to the castle where you get beautiful panoramic views of the castle. That is a MUST DO. This is where we got all our great pictures and lovely views. We spent good enough time around this area and then hiked all the way downhill to the visitor entrance.

View from the bridge

Next up was the drive to Konstanz where we had to return our car and take the train to Zurich. The views just kept getting prettier as we drove.After we returned our car in Konstanz, getting to the train station was a but of a struggle. Public transport wasn't as frequent and we had to walk quite a bit to get to a bus stop. Nevertheless we made it and reached Zurich pretty late in the night.Voila! That was a lovely German road trip.

Pointers:

• Payments are accepted mostly in cash. Very few restaurants and shops accept credit cards
• There are very pretty boutique hotels that you might want to stay at instead of hotels. So prefer AirBnBs.
• German countryside, atleast the area we were in aren't as scenic. But as you get closer to the Swiss Alps, the scenery keeps getting better.
• The towns are quite but very similar. Pick the towns you want to spend your time at. Pick a few citadels, castles you want to go see. 

Indonesia (Bali, Yogyakarta, Gili Air)

While picking countries for our trip this time, weather was the deciding factor. It looked like Indonesia was one of the few countries that doesn't have much rains during this time(August) of the year. So, Bali it was. Here is our itinerary for Bali. 

Day 0: Fly in

Day 1: Pool dive in Seminyak -> Sunset at Tanah Lot

Day 2: Day trip to Yogyakarta

Day 3: USS Liberty shipwreck dive in Tulamben

Day 4: Ferry to Gili Air

Day 5: Free/dive day in Gili air 

Day 6: Ferry back to Bali -> Temple visits -> Ubud

Day 7: Sightseeing in Ubud

Day 8: Sightseeing in Ubud

Day 9: Fly out

Where to fly

We were flying in from China and most of the connections were via Kuala Lumpur. The Denpasar(DPS) airport in Bali is located south of the island. That's the only international airport catering to many international flight. Since the visa was on arrival, we hadn't applied for anything earlier. We had to stand in the queues, but they were very fast moving. It didn't take us long to clear immigration.

When to go

Our travel dates were fixed, so we searched for non-rainy places in August in south east Asia and it turned out that Bali has good weather conditions in August. But definitely check for weather conditions before you plan. If it rains, it will not be fun.

Where to stay in Bali

This was a big question. You got to choose from plenty of options like Seminyak (an upscale town with lots of traffic), Kuta (more posh than Seminyak), Ubud (a very touristy part of the island, with crazy traffic) and Nusa Dua (private beach resorts in south of the island). We decided to stay in Seminyak for a few days and then Ubud. We were also heading out to Yogyakarta and Gili islands in between. 

Day 0

Our incoming flight from Kuala Lumpur was delayed by 4 hours. So we reached around midnight. Luckily, the hotel we were staying at provided airport pickup, so it worked out pretty well. Else, we figured that the taxis from airport don't charge you a fair amount. They charge exorbitantly over the metered price and there is no other mode of transportation into the city. Once we reached our hotel (Ossotel Legian Bali), I was so happy to find out they had 24 hour room service and I ordered a bowl of soup as I was super hungry. The weather was just perfect and the rooms in the hotel were nice. There was door on the backside to lead you to the beach. But this day was over and we had something exciting to do the next day.

Day 1

We had to head out to the Scuba Diving office for a pool dive before our scuba dive session. Luckily breakfast was included and the hotel had a pretty decent restaurant where we had breakfast and then headed out to the office of Adventure Scuba Diving which wasn't very far away. The office and the pool are located in a very well built house/office building. Our instructor was very nice and very calm. He gave us all the instructions and we were ready for Scuba diving in the pool. Since the instructor was holding my hand all through the dives to the pool bottom, I felt very comfortable and felt that I will be ready for the real dive day after. Once we were done with the pool dives, Sumit and I started walking back to our hotel as there were no cabs nearby. Plus, walking was faster as the cabs were all stuck in a traffic jam. 

Butterfly tattoo

While walking back to the hotel, we stopped for lunch at a restaurant, Kopi-O. All through the island, cold coffee was just awesome. We also ordered some fried rice and some chips. Everything was good. Then we walked back to our hotel through the streets lined with shops  and did some shopping too. Bargain hard. Don't be shy to quote as low at 20-30% of the asking price. On our walk back, we realized that for our evening trip to Tanah Lot, cab will be a bad idea, we should just rent a scooter. Luckily we had a scooter rental right across our hotel, but it was  2 day rental, we somehow convinced him for 2 days and got the deal. Also, the laundry service was right across the hotel and they charged per kg. Very cheap to get laundry done in Bali.  

We snaked through the heavy traffic on our way to Tanah Lot. Directions on Google maps are very accurate. We made it just before sunset. But by the time we reached from the parking lot to the temple, we couldn't go in, as they close the entryway sharp at 5 or 6 pm I believe. So check before you go. But we got some beautiful shots. The weather was just too good. While walking back to our scooter, I decided to get a henna tattoo from one of the shops and then we headed straight to Seminyak Square.  

Plenty of options here to drink, dine and party. We ate vegetarian burger at Nirvana restaurant -burger bar. Then we headed to Gelato shack for some awesome gelato. One of the best gelatos I have had. After this we were headed to the scooter rental and our hotel as we had an early morning the next day.

Day 2

Borobudur

Parambanan

We had booked a 10 am flight to Yogyakarta. There is one hour time difference and its an hour long flight. So we reached around the same time. We had already booked a driver for our tour. We had booked him after looking at a lot of tripadvisor reviews. Here is the link to our Yogyakarta driver. We drove straight to Borobudur, where we got a guide with the ticket purchase. It lived up to its expectations. Then we headed straight to Parambanan. Here we didn't hire any guide, just the tickets. Spent an hour here and also took some clicks during sunset. I was thoroughly impressed by the scale of these temples. I have never been to Hindu temples outside India, so I found this quite fascinating. Both Borobudur and Parambanan are worth a visit I'd say. We grabbed our lunch and dinner at an Indian restaurant close to the airport, Taj Indian Kitchen. Traffic here wasn't as bad as Bali. Also, while driving and from the top level of Borobudur, you can see some of the active volcanoes. And of course, our return flight at 9 pm was delayed by an hour or so. So we reached around midnight again. This time since our hotel wasn't picking us up, we had to pay that extra surcharge to the taxi drivers.

Day 3

Today was our big scuba diving day. We were picked up bright and early in a mini van from our hotel and we were headed to the north of the island, for Tulamben shipwreck dive. Our hotel gave us packed breakfast since we were leaving before the regular breakfast time. It took us about 3 hours to reach there. 

Once we reached, our instructor gave us some more instructions and got our gear ready. We had 2 dives to go to. We  were located at a restaurant by the beach. While our instructor got our gear ready, we changed into our swim wear and diving suits. And headed out to the beach. Here we dived about 10 meters. The fish were exquisite. We had no trouble equalizing and it was a whole different world. Diving was so much more comfortable than the pool dive. We took a few pictures, a video and spent about 30 minutes under water. But I couldn't let go off my instructor's hand. I was nervous being all by myself. The best thing our instructor had said was, "There is nothing that can go wrong, which I can't fix". After we got done with our first dive, we came back to the restaurant and our lunch was ready. We took about an hour long break and then walked to the shipwreck dive site. It was a few meter away and was super crowded being a popular dive spot.  

Happy Divers

We dived in, but I had trouble equalizing, so we went only till about 7 meters instead of 12 meters we could ave. But looking at the ship wreck was a new experience. I wish we could have gone a bit deeper to experience it more up close. 

Once done, we headed back to the hotel and it was another 3 hour long drive and we slept through it mostly. Once back, we freshened up and headed straight o Queen's Tandoor in Seminyak, an India restaurant. There was wait, so we strolled the streets and went to the shops nearby to kill time. Didn't buy anything in particular. Food here was decent enough, but costlier than other places we had been to. Once done, we thought we'll Uber. But the Uber cancelled on us, since there was a lot of traffic. This we realized later, was a norm. We somehow managed a taxi and got back to our hotel.

Day 4

Manta Dive Gili Air resort

Today we were leaving for Gili Air island. We had picked Gili Air as the reviews said it was more of a laid back place and that's what we were looking for. Gili Trawangan is a party island and Gili Meno is very laid back as well, but has fewer resources than Gili Air. So Gili Air it was. The way to get to the islands is either via ferry or by air. Make sure you book your ferries timely, because only a few providers have good ferry boats with good reviews and the frequency isn't as much as you'd like. We had booked Gili getaway one way and Blue Water Express for our return. Both had good services.  Here is the link to book the ferries. Make sure to book a "fast boat". And don't hesitate to look at other ports in Bali if your best option isn't available, as the transportation from your hotel is included. 

So, we were picked up at the given time, bright and early from our Seminyak hotel and driven to the Serangan port. Everything was smooth, check-in, bag tags and then we had to wait. They were giving a sea-sickness tablet, which I took as I knew I get sea sick. I am glad I did as the waters were really choppy and I slept through most of my ride. Also, make sure to pick the side of the boat where you won't get any sun. It took us about 90 minutes to the get to the Gili Air port. Since there are no motorized vehicles on the island, you can hire a horse cart. But, remember, everyone is trying to rip you off for some money. We were asked for some horrendous amount for 0.5 mile distance. So, we decided to walk. Good call. There are no paved roads here, btw. 

All meals by the beach

Our resort, Manta Dive Gili Air was located by the beach, like all the resorts. There was check in cabin where we checked in and were walked to our cottage. There were a couple of pools and across the road was a restaurant by the beach and some hammocks. This was the perfect place for a vacation. Once we got a bit settled, we got some food from the restaurant by the beach. The weather was perfect. Not too hot, not too humid. Then we rented a couple of bikes to go around the island. It would take only an hour on the bike. But we were 20 minutes into the ride, and I tried to ride in sand and bang, I fell. I had a huge cut in my ankle and I wasn't a happy kid. So, we cut short and walked the bike back to our hotel. Rest of the evening was all about a grumpy kid who fell off the bike. But, I wish we had continued further. The bikes were rusty and old, so we didn't. So rent better bikes and complete the loop, at least view the sunset on the other side :)

Day 5

Right way to vacay

It was what I call, "free vacation day". Sumit had plans to go diving, his briefing was happening in the same restaurant where I was killing time. So, I just sat close by and observed what was going on. Once he left, I knew he would be back only late afternoon. So, I decided to go get a massage. I looked up online and decided to go to H2O Yoga and meditation centre and I didn't like it much. Now mind you, I get sports massage done mostly, so unless the masseuse is working on the knots, I am not too impressed. But after the massage, I walked back to hotel and on my way stopped for a Crepe. Again, everything here is by the beach. Nothing happens inland! Then stopped by a few shops, but they were so much more expensive than the Bali island.

We snorkeled here a bit

I spent rest of the day on the hammock, reading a travel guide, drinking cold coffees, eating and browsing facebook. Perfecto! 

Once Sumit got back, we went to Cabalito De Mar for dinner. Really good location. Beautiful beach views, lovely weather and good food. I could just eat and eat. Then we got back and it was movie night. It was our last day on the island and next time I am going to stay here for a few more days.

Btw, Sumit had a great dive and saw many fish. He dived independently and was super excited to have done it all by himself, of course under the supervision of his dive master.

Day 6

Ditched plans to go for a run and see the other side of the island. I was on a vacation! Packed up, had breakfast and checked out. Glad I had booked this resort, Manta Dive Gili Air. Everything was smooth. Even before we had arrived, we had made a few calls to ask which fast boats would work best and about booking dives, etc. and the lady on the phone was super polite and super helpful. Except for a patchy wifi connection in our cottage, everything was just great. 

Pura Besakih with Mount Agung in the background

Again, a horse cart was horrendously expensive, so we just walked. We had booked Blue Water Express and they were pretty good too. I took the sea sickness tablet and it got me through the choppy water ride for the next 90 minutes. We had booked our return to Padang Bai as we wanted to visit a couple of temples on this side of the island and it made sense to land here. We had booked our driver for the day and he was picking us up. 

We were headed straight to Tirta Ganga first. I am glad we came to this side of the island. Beautiful lush green scenery. The temple wasn't too big. It had stepping stones in the water ponds. Lot of fish in the ponds. Was fun hopping on those stones. After a few pictures we were headed to Pura Besakih. It is the biggest temple on the island, with Mount Agung in the background. The tickets include a guide. But you need to buy some flowers, incense, etc. to actually enter the temple, else you can roam around in the complex. It was a very different architecture for temples. But then if you have seen one temple on the island, I guess you have seen them all. It was nice to see separate temples for Brahma, Vishnu and Mahesh. Once we got done, drive to Ubud was another two hours. So we drove back to Ubud and there was just crazy traffic. Ubud is so much more crowded than Seminyak. Anyhow, we reached Ubud and checked in to our hotel, Komaneka Rasa Sayang. Not the most high end hotel, but a luxury hotel as per my standards. Great location, great staff, a balcony and a spacious room with a cookie jar.

Once we settled in, we headed to Ganesha for dinner. It was walking distance from our hotel and excellent food. Crispy chili potatoes were too goo. Highly recommended. We landed here for dinner the next two days as well. A very popular street and had everything you'd want. Then we asked our hotel staff to arrange a scooter for next two days the next morning and called it a day. 

Tirta Ganga

Day 7

Goa Gajah

After a late morning, we picked our scooter from the hotel lobby and headed straight to a laundry shop across the hotel. Then we went to the monkey forest. Everything was neatly inside our bags. The monkeys were too aggressive and I felt scared. Plus, I have seen quite a few monkeys in India, so I was okay doing this quickly. There were a lot of tourists, but I possibly wouldn't have kept calm if a monkey would have tried to snatch something from me. So, we quickly went around and I just wanted to get out. We stepped out and I felt so relieved. Whew! 

Then we headed to Queens in Ubud for lunch. Not that great food. Then, we drove to Goa Gajah. Paid entry tickets for this small cave temple. The cave entrance is pretty, but that's about it. Inside is a small dingy cave set up a temple and that's about it. A bit underwhelming I felt. Next, we drove to Tenguengen falls. Hiked all the 150-200 steps to the falls and back up. Too crowded, but I love waterfalls. Weather was good and the coconut water at the end of our hikes was the best. It was fun driving around the city on our scooter. We then headed straight to the Ganesha for dinner. Ordered chowmien and hara bhara kabab today. All good. Once we got back to our hotel, we looked up online for massage parlours and booked an appointment for the following day.   

Too many monkeys for my comfort

Day 8

Today we were headed to the rice terrace fields. It was hot and humid, so we ditched the hike around the fields. Just took a couple of pictures and spent time souvenir shopping around the area. Then, we drove back and went to Buda bar for some snacks. Decent snacks. After this we spent some time at the pool hotel and  headed for our massage at Shambalaya. Great pick. Good experience. Then we headed for dinner, straight to Ganesha for a simple dinner of dal and rice. 

Rice fields

Day 9

Our flight was early morning so we had booked a taxi to the hotel and we were ready to go. But Bali is one of the best vacation places to go to as everything is made convenient for tourists.

Where else could you go?

• Komodo islands for Komodo dragons. But the reviews were so bad, that we dropped the idea
• Jakarta for urban Indonesia
• Lombok islands 

Other pointers

Renting a scooter is the best option

• Rent a scooter. Cab is a bad idea. Scooter will take half the time.
• If you are booking a cab for the day, make sure you do that before you land in Bali. Drivers here are very busy so you need an advance booking.
• Food is good here and options are plenty. 
• While shopping, bargain, bargain, bargain. Go down to 20-30% of the asking price.
• Uber also works here, but during rush hours, drivers cancel their rides. Its a norm. So they aren't reliable.
• In case you are planning to book fast boats to any of the nearby islands, book them in advance too. There is a very high demand and only a limited options. We had to book our hotel reservations according to availability of the fast boats.
• If you are planning to get massages in one of the better places, book them a couple of days in advance as these are mostly booked too.