Singapore, Bali and Thailand

Have you ever been on a vacation, which made you miss your home and daily life more than it is supposed to? We had just one, and we had so many reasons that made us feel lucky and happy. It was not just because the vacation was so good.  The real reason was the vacation created awareness that our simple life in Michigan is very beautiful. We felt fortunate and looked forward to coming back to our home.

It was our late honeymoon, which I planned and dreamed of since last year. The idea for our trip was going to Bali, and Thailand through any country, where we could get a connection flight easily. So, the best option we found was going through Singapore. Later on, it turned out that Singapore became the best part of the vacation.

When we arrived in Singapore, the hot and humid weather was waiting for us. We spent three nights and four days there. The beautiful metro system and our hotel were better than we expected. Mostly, we walked around the city, even though it was really hot. We went to the Gardens by the Bay and visited most of the street food markets. We enjoyed the local food and lifestyle. Our favorite foods were the laksa, kaya toast, and Singapore tea. We also found a small local coffee shop where we could get all 3 of them at the same place called ‘The Toast Box’. The only shortfall was the weather because it was extremely hot and humid. But the people were very friendly, the city was safe, and the country was well-organized. We will go back. We wish that we had a direct flight from Detroit.

Our next stop was Bali, Sanur, which turned out to be not a good idea. The beach was dirty.  There were so many flies and mosquitoes everywhere. Also, we did not feel that the local food was clean enough to eat. Luckily, we did not get sick. The shocking part is that even though it was not a pleasant place to visit, it was extremely crowded. The traffic was scary, everyone was beeping their horn and there were so many scooters. There were no traffic rules that we saw that anyone was following. We saw more foreigner backpackers with scooters, who rode worse than the locals. The smell of petrol was toxic, and the sound of the scooters and cars was very disappointing. The hotel was not good either. I regretted that I didn’t book a homestay. To make our Sanur stop more bearable, on our second day we took a day trip around Bali, which was a great idea, because Bali has very beautiful nature. We agreed with one of the local drivers to take a day trip for 600IDR. We started our journey at 6am in order to not get caught in a traffic jam. The driver was very nice, he took our pictures, and also took us additional places that were not initially in the plan. I highly recommend everyone to take a day tour.  However, we weren’t aware that some locations require a long drive. We were lucky because we left the hotel very early. For example, when we arrived at the Besakih temple, it was not even open yet.

The sad part of our day was when we asked the same driver to drop us from Sanur to Ubud the next day, we were asked to pay 250 IDR. It was only a 37-minute drive. I would be fine if we did not take a 9-10-hour day trip for 600IDR. My husband had a local share drive app.  It was cheaper through the app, so we requested a car from the Grab app. Until that time, we were not aware of the taxi mafia issue. Once we arrived in Ubud, each corner had taxi drivers who were trying to sell tours and asking if we needed a taxi. After a certain period of time, it made us very annoyed, and also, we realized that there were so many signs which say no one could use Grab, bluebird, or uber in Ubud. According to the local taxi drivers, these people, who work with the share drive apps, were not from Bali, and they did not support Bali’s economy, which was insane.

Even though we started our journey to Ubud with annoyance, we loved the hotel we booked. The Bali plan was all about this hotel, which was in my vision board since 2017. I was dreaming of staying at that hotel, though we did not stay in the hotel room which was in my vision board, but we still loved it. It was called ‘Kupu Kupu Barong ‘ which had a beautiful view and a great breakfast. If we had stayed only at the hotel, we would have been happy and peaceful. We assumed going to the city center and seeing local things would have been a good idea, but it was not. Ubud had a similar traffic jam, scooters, and annoying taxi drivers who did not make us relaxed.  Bali was beautiful, but the only income was tourists and the locals were trying to take advantage of it.

Our final destination was Phi Phi Island, Thailand.  We took a 90-minute ferry from Krabi to the Phi Phi Island, and we were planning to walk to our hotel from there. Unfortunately, to be able to reach the hotel, we had to take a long tail boat at our own expense. When I booked the hotel, I was not aware of this. I was thinking we could take a tuk-tuk or walk. The most disappointing part was that when we arrived at the hotel, we saw a sign which says, “The long tail boat is managed by the third party. If something happens to you while riding it, the hotel is not responsible.” According to us it was not acceptable because all the long tail boats had the hotel’s name on them, and it was the only way to get to the hotel. Also, none of our meals were included with the room price, and we found out hotel restaurants were very expensive.  We felt trapped since we were stuck in an expensive hotel. Even though we went to the nearby village to eat more affordable meals, it was not convenient.

I must admit the hotel had very nice pools and its own beautiful beach, and also, they offered yoga classes two times a day. So, we did yoga early mornings and afternoons. It was the best part of the vacation at Phi Phi island.  When it was time to say good bye to Phi Phi, we were happy to leave the island.

On our way back to the airport, we stayed in Krabi, a small city in Thailand. We loved the hotel we stayed in, and we liked the night market at Krabi. We also had a chance for getting a foot massage. To be honest I could stay one more day there, but my husband was already ready to come back home.

Overall, I loved our vacation, and my husband liked it too, but he said several times that he would not visit Bali and Thailand again. It was his first time in Asia, so he was surprised with the cultural and life style differences between Europe and Asia.

To be honest, visiting countries whose economy relies on the tourist is sad and annoying. We felt lucky that we were not living there or born there. And also, we felt sorry for the way people lived their life. Everyone was staring at their phone or chasing tourists to rip off for expensive rides. At least that’s we experienced. It was a great feeling coming back home to our private life. We felt blessed.

Lesson Learned for our next trips:

• Visit less touristic places
• Exchange money through the bank before travel
• Book hotels where we can walk to the main attractions
• If possible, travel during off-peak season
• Travel with mosquito spray and mosquito bite cream
• When things go wrong, try to fix them, if not change the plan
• Enjoy every moment, tomorrow is not promised.

  

  

  

  Ritz_Coffee break

  
  

  

  

  Bali

  

  Thailand

  
  

  

  

  Ubud

  

  Ubud