Category: Personal Travels

Alas, I have returned to Bali!!!!

I had been here back in 2016 and knew I’d come back one day. That is how much I liked it.

Wonderful island with so many things to do and enjoy, stop #3 on this trip.

If you are interested in how much this all cost and the visas/entry forms needed – click here.

If you are interested in the preceding trip to Ho Chi Minh – click here.

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Sunday, December 29th

We arrived in Bali around 4pm.

I had read that the airport in Bali had become super busy since the last time I was there, but I was well prepared. If you read the budget breakdown I had linked at the beginning of this post – you will see ALL the necessary requirements to enter Bali and how much they cost.

Let me tell you…. having ALL those things prepared and ready? We landed and got out of the airport in under 10 minutes. Be prepared. Move fast.

Because I had the epiphany some weeks before to pick a hotel close to the airport, we arrived really fast from the airport.

The hotel we were staying at was Risata Bali Resort & Spa.

During the 12-minute or so drive to this hotel from the airport, I spoke to our Grab driver. I mentioned to him that we had initially booked a villa out in Canggu and he said to me, ‘if you were booked there, our drive now would have been almost three hours to get there in traffic.’

So. About that epiphany? Good decision making.

The hotel was cool. Nothing particularly outstanding, but for location it was especially perfect.

Aside from the location being prime, the second best thing about the hotel was the Indian restaurant they had on site.

Annapoorna.

We were SO hungry so we went there after we dropped our bags. Listteeennn. The food here was outstanding. Delicious. Loved it. The best garlic naan I’ve ever eaten as well. If you are in Bali and around the Kuta beach area, or staying at this hotel, make sure you eat here.

After eating we took a little nap and then we were off to a nightclub. Yay dancing.

The plan was to go to this weekly Sunday event named Afroroots.

The club location was only 16km away. We decided to leave at 930pm so we would get there with enough time to get in before 11pm, because it was free.

HA.

We arrived at 1210am.

Over 2.5 hours after we left the fucking hotel. TWO AND A HALF HOURS IN THE CAR to go 16 kilometers. We were so pissed. The only saving grace was that the party was really good! The place is small but the vibes were great.

At least when we left back to the hotel at 230am, it only took 30 minutes to get back. The traffic had subsided. Thank goodness.

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Monday, December 30th

I want to say we did a lot today, but not really? We woke up, and went to another beach club and stayed there for ten hours. Literally, the entire day.

Time for the ‘worlds best beach club‘ – Finns Beach Club!

We booked our table/bed way ahead of time, and we were in the VIP Adults Only Section, which had its own entrance and our pool area was for adults only. Hallelujah. I hate being drunk near children.

Finns was so much fun, I don’t think writing or photos will really do it justice. Living it in the moment was everything. My boyfriend and I just had an absolute ball.

The staff was AMAZING and took such good care of us, the drinks were flowing and there were eight different restaurants to order from. EIGHT. While we loved our time on Yona Beach Club for Christmas, this? This was soooo much more fun. The music as well. But specifically, the food. Having eight different cuisines at your whim is quite the situation for a foodie like myself.

Booking the bed came with a minimum spend, which was like $400.00 CAD equivalent. We were there for ten hours eating and drinking, and we still came up $100 short. I couldn’t believe how much we indulged and still didn’t spend it all. We just gave it to the staff as a tip.

I will tell everyone to go here just for one day if they are in Bali. Great time will be had and also, we had the best luck ever. This is rainy season in Bali and we got zero rain. Beautiful sunshine all day, and trust me, I got burned bad. I had the physical proof of how nice it was.

Make sure you get the pizza and make sure you get the 10-person drink. I know, we were just two people. But, YOLO.

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Tuesday, December 31st

We made it to New Years Eve.

Today we were trying to do some relaxation and chose to do it at Bodyworks Spa.

This place was so beautiful. You see it in person and it is heavenly. We both got individual massages along with rose baths. Great experience. It was also really neat that when looking through my massage bed the word staring back at me was ‘gratitude‘ – wonderful moment for me. Exactly the message you’d want to see before you enter a new year.

By the time we left the spa, the crazy traffic had begun again. Shocker. It was so bad that our Grab driver at one point suggested maybe we should hop out and take motorbikes. Yeah, really bad.

Luckily he also mentioned there was a toll road for $2.00 CAD or so, and yeah it was the long way around, but there was zero traffic that way. So we took that route to get back to our hotel, much faster.

Naturally, took a nap again.

At about 1130pm we walked over to the beach by our hotel. Another bonus of the location of the hotel, the beach was super close.

Fireworks on Kuta beach were fun. You could see damn near the entire side of that island lit up.

Welcoming 2025 on a beach in Bali – happy and memorable moments in my life.

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The Bali shenanigans were done on January 1st, it was time to go to the next country.

I did enjoy Bali on this second trip there, especially the food and Finns Beach Club.

However, the overcrowding of the island is ridiculous. I know I am a tourist and therefore a hypocrite saying this, but it really is a problem. I was in Bali in 2016 during this exact same time of year as well (Christmas/NYE), it was nothing like this.

The traffic situation is a catastrophe. I complained last year about the traffic in Lagos, Nigeria – but that is a city of many many millions and also, not an island. And also, it isn’t foreigners, the city is populous, that is why Lagos is so busy. But Bali? No no no. This is all tourists.

Anyone who travels has definitely been in places like Cairo or Lagos where the traffic is nuts. But you never feel unsafe, because it is locals driving. They know what they are doing, they know their country roads.

With Bali, so many people on the motorbikes are foreigners and this makes it anxiety-inducing on the roads. Maybe just for me? Maybe.

Not sure I have the same ‘want‘ to return to Bali like I did after my trip in 2016, but you can’t trust me when I say things like that……if I ever see a flight deal, I might fly right back.

• Mirna