Bali Bliss

Tatum & Corbin
Dec 16, 2019
3 min read

Is there a better place to begin a second round of epic travel than on the beach? If there is... we couldn’t think of one. We made the most of our return tickets to Bali and spent 2 weeks relaxing and exploring beautiful Indonesian islands. The following pictures give me Deja vu...

Our first stop was the beach-front, surf town of Uluwatu. We nursed our jet lag on the beach. Tatum was welcomed back to Asia by having daily run-ins with monkeys. Ahhhh... its good to be back. A highlight was visiting Uluwatu Temple and taking in the dramatic cliff-side ocean views. The Hindu temples found across the island are very unique looking, with their black ‘hairy’ tops.

After a few days on the main island, we hopped on a ferry and headed to Nusa Pendia. Nusa Penida is a small island off Bali’s eastern coastline. We spent 4 days on a motorbike, zipping across sketchy roads, and exploring all corners of the island. On our first full day we headed east to Diamond beach and thousand island viewpoint. Along the way we had to pull over to allow what looked like a big parade to pass (we later found out it was a cremation ceremony). We sat happily on the curb watching the colorful ceremony unfold. It’s hard to determine what was more enjoyable that day... being immersed in a culture completely different than our own or taking-in the epic, tropical landscapes.

Day 2 was dedicated to scuba diving! It felt good to be back under water as we spotted eels, loads of fish, and large coral fields during our morning reef dive. After surfacing for new tanks and a quick bite to eat, we boated 30 minutes down the southern coast to manta point. Nervously, we prepared for our second dive with the hopes of spotting manta rays. We jumped in, put our face masks in the water, and immediately saw 2 big, dark creatures swimming below. Hesitantly we descended and spent the next 40 minutes swimming with 4 GIGANTIC (over 12 feet wide) manta’s. They are gentle giants and after a few minutes we relaxed and enjoyed. Man are they cool... and weird looking! We resurfaced with adrenaline filled smiles.

On our third day on Nusa Penida, we visited the famous Kelingking beach. We dodged hoards of other tourists and took in the view... let me tell you, it did not disappoint. We decided to hoof it down to the beach, which turned out to be more than we bargained for. We scrambled down the rocky, vertical trail, and ran into the blue water. The stunning beach turned out to be less relaxing than we thought due to the unpredictably large waves. We giggled as we were crushed by waves and completed summersaults under the water. Tatum decided it was more fun to sit on the sand and watch others take the hits.

Our time on Nusa Penida was the highlight of the 2 week trip. We survived steep hikes, rough roads, manta rays, and loads of monkeys (although it was a close call when one charged (Tatum’s term)/ galloped (Corbin’s term) at the two of us... we can’t come to a consensus on the events that occurred.)

Our final week in Indonesia was spent back on the mainland. We snorkeled in blue lagoon, enjoyed splurging on an upscale resort where we did nothing but lay by the pool and read our books, and strolled around the popular hippie streets of Canggyu. Corbin can’t decide if his favorite part of snorkeling was swimming with sea turtles or throwing a handful of fish food inches from Tatum’s face and watching her panic as fish darted towards her.