DAY NINE
Our ninth day in Bali was spent, transferring from Ubud to the Jimbaran Bay. We stopped during this transfer at the Tegenungan Waterfall. This waterfall was beautifully situated in a valley surrounded by the Bali jungle with palm trees, moss and amazing greenery fully surrounding. There were tourists swimming in the pool at the foot of the waterfall and many locals who had taken advantage of the opportunity for a pop up shop or quick eatery after a swim. Matthew and I viewed the waterfall from the top and opted out of taking a quick swim. Our minds were on the beautiful beaches that were waiting for us at the end of this transit.
We drove roughly two hours to arrive at the Belmond Jimbaran Puri. Jimbaran is a much more secluded and low key town than Seminyak. Our hotel sat overlooking the calm bay with little waves and many paddle boarders and swimmers. What. A. Dream.
We enjoyed an afternoon on our swings at the villa to read and to spend quiet time writing. We highly highly recommend to all couples to take a long honeymoon. It allows for you to adventure and explore as well as have down time to just breathe, and revel on the beautiful unity of marriage that just occurred! I could not stop thinking about the wedding and was just in awe of the people that came and the amazing night that we celebrated. Forever my favorite day.
As the sun began to set, we experienced most likely the most beautiful sunset sitting on the beach and was able to film a few thank-you videos to people who made our wedding such a special day. This was the close of our ninth day in Bali.
DAY TEN
Day Ten is one of our favorites! We woke up to be transferred to Benoa harbor where our large catamaran awaited. We boarded the boat and as both Matthew and I have grown up on boats, it was very easy to spot the individuals who may not have been as experienced. We had a BLAST people watching while sitting on the front of this catamaran and enjoying the breeze, the beautiful clear water and the views of the Bali coastline.
Our boat sailed to Lembongan Island, once arrived we transferred to a smaller boat to be able to snorkel the reefs along the island. Although beautiful waters the reefs did not compare to the Bahamian, Mexico, Great Barrier Reef or even the Florida reefs that Matthew and I have snorkeled. We truly enjoyed just being in the water and seeing the same fish across the world!
We then hopped back on the boat to arrive at a beach club on the Lembongan Island where we would have a beach side lunch and have time to lay out and explore the island. Little did we realize as we approached the shore that docks were not present to be able to drop us on the shore. The tide was rising and the waves on this small boat were quickly coming over the sides. The strategy that we found was for the men on the shore to help guide the boat in via a long rope and then one by one everyone hop off the boat and run to shore to beat being hit by a wave from behind. I mean it was CHAOS and also hilarious. We both look at docks with much appreciation after this experience. One thing we did value was the entrepreneurial spirit and true grit of the Balinese culture. This was present in how they innovated to dock boats, with how they created their own shops based upon their comparative advantages.
We loved the views of Lembongan, we sat on the beach and looked at Mount Aguyn off in the distance which is the recently active volcano in Bali. After a few hours of just enjoying the beach we headed back on our catamaran to be accompanied by schools of dolphins and a beautiful golden hour sky.