life. love. and the pursuit of miles.: Free Hotel #4- Ubud, Bali

The very last hotel has been booked! :) It's exciting to know that all we have left to do is figure out the fun things we'll do once we're there. Specifically this!!!!

Elephant Safari Park

How cool is this?!?!

We're going to Bali Safari and Marine Park, just one of the many things on the agenda for our time in Ubud. Ubud is the cultural center of Bali, known for local crafts, goods and markets speckled between beautiful temples. I am very excited about visiting Ubud! I love meeting "the locals," trying local dishes and really getting a feel for how the Balinese people live, not how well they can make me feel like I'm "comfortable" on vacation. Ubud looks to fit the bill!

After my dream of riding an elephant is fulfilled, we'll take a stroll through the Monkey Forest, or as some call it, sticky finger monkey land. No joke, you will have a finger taken off if your hands aren't in your pockets because they associate hands with food. As if that isn't bad enough, these monkeys are bonafide kleptomaniacs. They have been known to take earrings out of a woman's ears before so basic things like sunglasses, bracelets, rings, etc. will be gone before you know it. They are NOT shy!!!

Okay, okay, I'll get back to the hotel. Set 10 minutes outside of the heart of Ubud, on a beautiful rice paddy, we found a really great hotel called D'Omah Ubud. It wasn't until we started looking at reviews did we discover that a famous designer, Warwick Purser, designed the entire hotel! He is responsible for the overhaul to Balinese design over the last decade, modernizing the way hotels particularly are decorated. It's very clean, sleek and yet still captures Bali in a way that feels authentic.

Not too shabby at all! I especially love the yoga hut that sits over the pool. Bali is VERY well known for yoga/meditation so not only are there really great little huts like this overlooking pools, rice paddies and oceans but every hotel offers yoga lessons/classes for free daily.

This is Frances yoga.

There is so much to do in Bali that we're already feeling like we won't be able to see everything we want to. We're spending 5 nights on the coast to include diving and 4 nights in Ubud and hoping to squeeze as much in as possible! One this is for sure, we are most definitely visiting this place:

So stunning and it looks like something out of a movie! I'm hoping to watch the sunset from this point one evening and cuddle with the hubs. :) Most extreme sight I've come across so far for Bali? Why that goes to the infinity pool at the Ubud Hanging Gardens Hotel. There are simply no words.