Bali & Komodo Islands Indonesia | What to DO and Where to GO

foreign for its more than 17 000 beautiful islands filled with Landscapes of Rice Terraces Lush rainforests pristine beaches 130 volcanoes and a population of 274 million people making it the most populated country in Southeast Asia the culture is deeply rooted in Hinduism influencing all aspects of daily life the Indonesian people are known for their warm hospitality and a strong sense of community this week we share two of the three places we visited over the past several weeks the first is the tropical island of Bali and the second is Komodo National Park where John fulfilled a bucket list adventure to walk among the dragons we're John and Beth and we are the retirement Travelers if you've been following along with us you know that we most recently visited Singapore we had a great time so be sure to check out our website retirementtravelers.com for travel guides of our adventures you can also sign up for our newsletter there that's right now when we left Singapore we flew to Denpasar in the southern part of the island of Bali it was there that we met our guide Rudy who had been recommended To Us by an American family we met in Singapore he drove us about an hour and a half or so to the city of ubid where we stayed at the natural Villa Resort and Spa we hired Rudy to give us a tour of some of the best places in the area and we started at the sacred monkey forest located in town now this is a sprawling park that is home to several hundred long tail macaques we purchased tickets and walked around the park which included 14th century temples now the sign there said don't make eye contact with them because they see it as an act of aggression it's really hard because they just they look at you I know I mean you're you're trying to not make eye contact it's not easy it really is try not to look at someone when they're looking at you and a monkey and they're awful cute they're really cute and they also are known for jumping on people so you must be careful not to get scratched now they haven't been known to have rabies but there are rabies in Bali so we wanted to be careful and as a travel tip we actually took a series of rabies vaccinations before we left I mean who knew people could get rabies that's right I mean it's no fun getting shots but you might as well get them ahead of time just in case yes because if you get them on the road your trip kind of comes to a stop while you go through the whole series yeah it's no fun so the the next place we visited was the tegula Lang Rice Terraces this was a beautiful Park and it offered opportunities for the perfect Instagram picture we didn't quite get one it was a little rainy that day not now The Terraces were beautiful like I said it was very rainy uh but we took a break and just kind of hung out on a picnic bin chance to wait it out it was so green and the view was pretty fascinating yeah I loved it too I mean it was a little touristy but the view was just incredible when we left there we headed toward mount Batar which is one of two active volcanoes on the island it last erupted in 2000 and is a popular place to hike with its large Crater Lake it's a popular hike at Sunrise so if you're in Bali we recommend this hike now the other popular activity that we are very very good at is eating now we ate lunch overlooking the volcano we told Rudy you picked your favorite restaurant and he took us to batur sorry restaurant where there was a huge Buffet it was very very good lots of local dishes and we had a chance to just sit and talk to him about his life in Bali our next stop was the pendula Turin traditional Balinese Village I think I pronounced that right but this is a town where they allow you to come in a pedestrian traffic they stop all motorbikes through the area so you can really just walk around the architecture is so fascinating and it was so impressive I mean people live here and Rudy walked along with us and provided narratives to what we were seeing and we also then made a stop at the turtle and pull Temple this is one of the most sacred Hindu temples in all of Bali you know the name translates to the holy water spring and it's believed that it was built around the 10th century and the in traditional Balinese architecture there was Lush Gardens and ponds fed by the natural spring now the main attraction is the bathing area which consists of a series of pools filled with fresh water and we watched people take part in prayers and then they entered the pools and put their heads under the spring that's right now Rudy explained that these devotees go through a series of fountains and it's kind of a purification ritual you know the ritual involves praying making offerings and then immersing yourself in the water to symbolize the spiritual cleaning and seeking of blessings the waters thought to wash away all negative energies when our time in Bali was finished we flew for 1.5 hours from Denpasar to the city of La Juan banjo the gateway to Komodo National Park now John loves dragons I do love dragons you know I and I learned last year when we were in Slovenia that dragons represent courage strength and power and I think we should have them on our logo I think you've said that before I have and Bev I got a great idea why don't we put dragons on our retirement Travelers bridge and we could put a dragon on there now this truly was a bucket list experience for me when we realized we could make it to Indonesia this year I knew we had to fit in a visit to Komodo National Park yeah when we arrived at the airport we checked into our hotel a long Hillside bamboo Villa now this hotel is pretty close to the airport but it was still out of town a bit from our Bungalow we could see the city below and we really enjoyed this day it was just a beautiful Hillside View and it was really beautiful beautiful place now on our second day there we took a full day tour to visit some of the surrounding islands and beaches we use batang Komodo tours they picked us up really early at the hotel at 5 00 a.m and they took us to the dock where we boarded a boat there was probably about 12 guests on board and several crew we stopped at padar island for some hiking to the top now this took about 30 minutes maybe 45 minutes to stop um this this was just such a beautiful trip and so worth it it was just a breathtaking view from the top and we stopped for pictures and and people were so nice on that Hillside because everyone's taking each other's pictures it's one of the most beautiful places in the world actually yes now after we left the island it was still quite early and you know we did leave at 5 a.m that morning so we headed to what was called the pink sand beach we did a little snorkeling and swimming and it just felt great after a you know a hot hike we were a little sweaty then we headed to Komodo Island now we were briefed about what to do should we come face to face with a dragon and we listened very carefully and I made John promise that he would behave himself I did didn't I yes but I told him that our daughters would never forgive him if he got bitten I had to use the daughter card well I was very good on this visit respectful for sure because Komodo dragons are extremely poison yeah the saliva in their mouth has a bacteria in it and when they bite their prey it essentially paralyzes them and they die of a slow death doesn't sound you know like a great experience to me no no not at all we had a very quick briefing from the park rangers and they took us on a 1 on our hike through the park I think the entire hike we saw maybe eight dragons uh this is this is pretty good there is actually 4 000 dragons in the park but depending on when you visit it can be hit or miss for seeing them the first one we came to our guide offered to take our picture now we were a little hesitant to get anywhere close to them but they explained that if you stand behind them it's a pretty safe place to be I know I was shocked to learn that there is a village on the island where people live full time and knowing how careful our kids are with car seats and such I cannot imagine them raising our grandchildren on an island with Komodo dragons can you I know I can't imagine it now Komodo dragons can run 12 miles an hour but but only for a short distance which is still too fast to outrun but the trick to outrunning them is to run in zigzag motion because they can't change directions you know which is why staying behind them is still probably the safest place to be I know our guys had these sticks with forked ends and they assured hold them back them bags us but I wasn't sure someone couldn't invent a better apparatus for defense uh than the stick in the woods they were just cut down you would think I think we need a bigger stick now we went into the woods and came across another one and our guide took Bev's camera and captured a great clip of this Dragon walking I know he was a little too close for comfort though yeah I mean he had to the fact that he had to lay down his stick to take the picture just didn't make me feel very uh comfortable in this situation as we walk they made sure one guide was in the front and another was in the back you should not wander away from the group so when you're on Komodo Island yeah when we returned to the dock they served a meal it was chicken and rice and some vegetables I think it wasn't anything special but it tasted great because when we left our hotel before breakfast we were very hungry I'm hungrier than a Komodo dragon when we left we headed out to a snorkeling Reef now this is a great place to snorkel and we saw some beautiful fish the Komodo islands are known for great snorkeling I mean because it falls on the edge of the coral triangle it's an area of the world's very best Marine biodiversity we saw sea turtles beautiful coral and many colorful fishes yes overall we had a great time at these two stops ubin was is a wonderful place it's a little crowded these days but getting you know out of the city and seeing the island is pretty fantastic you can get a real Indonesian experience on Bali yes if you go try to combine a trip with Komodo it wasn't difficult to get there and it was so much fun so where are we off to next we're off to Raja ampat Indonesia it's it's a remote island paradise it is one of the most perfect places on Earth with Incredible snorkeling so we can't wait and if you're a diver you definitely want to tune in next time and hear how to get there and why you need to go it really is I think it might be my favorite place on Earth well we will see you next week be sure to hit subscribe and follow along on retirement Journey around the world

Channel: Retirement Travelers

Views: 18,650

Keywords: komodo dragon, komodo island, bali travel guide, komodo national park, labuan bajo, bali indonesia, pink beach, padar island, things to do in bali, komodo island indonesia, travel to bali, travel indonesia, pink beach komodo, ubud, ubud bali vlog, ubud bali 2023, ubud bali indonesia, labuan bajo 2023, indonesia travel, visit indonesia, bali vlog, ubud bali, indonesia travel vlog 2023, labuan bajo vlog, bali travel tips 2023, labuan bajo trip, padar island indonesia

Id: cN-3N9MBhSU

Length: 11min 6sec (666 seconds)

Published: Sun Jun 18 2023