It’s been almost three weeks since my last post and I sincerely apologize for not posting more often. The concept of blogging is still so new to me and I really need to get more disciplined about sitting down and penning my thoughts. I will surely try and make an effort to post at least one article a week 🙈. In my defence though, I have been keeping Facebook, Instagram and mostly Snapchat followers up to date with our everyday adventures. It’s so much easier to capture what’s happening in the moment and post it rather than reflect on it later and type up an article. (I must confess, I can’t believe I am writing this as it’s such a lazy and millennial perspective, but it’s just so darn convenient!). So for those that would like daily updates, follow me on Instagram or snapchat @ sweetsimms.S

Now, moving on. When I last wrote we were still in Ubud finally staying at a place that made us feel at home. Darta Homestay was special and what made it so were the hosts. Puttu, was so caring and was always present to answer our million questions about Balinese tradition, food and locations.

She even invited us to a relative’s wedding she was attending and let me borrow her traditional garb. Sadly, my amnesiac brain, entirely forgot about the invitation and by the time I realized it, we were out in some rice paddy, enjoying a cold coconut and missed the event. 😦

I did however witness a funeral ceremony. For Indonesians, this is by no means a morbid affair. In fact, Indonesians sometimes spend all their savings on lavish funeral ceremonies. I won’t go into the history and details of Indonesian funerals as there are tons of articles online describing them.

We spent two weeks in Ubud and regretted not spending three. As most people know, Ubud is the cultural hub of Bali. It’s also less polluted and noisy as the other popular spots in Bali such as Kuta, Legian or Seminyak. While there, we thoroughly enjoyed the vast choices of restaurants and cafes Ubud offers. From vegan to Indian, to traditional Warungs, the options were endless. In fact, I had one of the most delicious burgers ever in Ubud. ( Don’t ask me the name of the restaurant as neither I or David can remember, lol) The best part are the prices! We were eating for less than 10$ per person each day. Apart from eating we also explored Ubud’s rice paddies, gorgeous waterfalls, the renowned monkey forest, trekked Mount Batur, visited temples, did Acroyoga at the Yoga Barn, got full body massages, pedicures, manicures and David took a wood carving class. Most days we would just take the scooter and head out exploring Ubud and it’s surroundings. I am grateful that David has his motorcycle license, as it really enabled us to cover a lot of ground and explore parts of Bali we likely wouldn’t have stumbled upon had it not been for the scooter.

After Ubud, we spent the last two weeks in Kuta, where we took a surfing lesson and mostly relaxed by the pool at our hotel.  After spending 3 hours in the scorching mid day sun surfing, I had reached my tanning quota for the year and needless to say, relaxing in the shade by the pool was certainly welcome.

Now, if only I could conclude my story of Bali this way. But sadly this is not the case. To keep my life exciting, RBC cancelled my debit card while I tried using it at an ATM machine in Kuta Bali. After being told three different stories on the three different occasions when calling customer service, I attempted to call and email my main branch customer care manager in hopes to get the matter sorted. I am  yet to hear anything from her, it’s been two weeks and counting.  I am all for security measures, but there’s got  to be a better way. I am now stranded without access to any of my Canadian funds. If it wasn’t for David having access to his account, I would have no choice to use my credit card to withdraw cash and be stuck paying 21% interest and 3.50$ per transaction. Not cool!  I still have 7 months of travel ahead of me and no thanks to my bank, I have to find creative ways to access my money. As a client, and more so as an employee of this institution, I feel majorly let down.

Anyway, I can continue to grumble and share my dissatisfaction but at some point, I have to move on.

We were approaching our one month time limit for staying in Bali and given Virgin Australia would not let us board our flight to Bali unless we had an exit flight we booked a flight to Bangkok on the 6th of September via Air Asia.

With mixed emotions, it was time to move on and turn the page to a new chapter of DaveNis Diaries.

Stay tuned for our adventure in Bangkok and Chiang Mai!!

Is there a place in Thailand, you would like us to visit? Comment below, and we will try our best to include it in our itinerary. 🙂