To Be Continued…

Our time in Bali was nothing like we anticipated. We planned for three weeks of bliss, sunshine, and relaxation…what we got was a little chaotic. I guess God did not want us to get bored!

The island of Bali, Indonesia is much bigger than people expect. It has everything from beaches to jungles, waterfalls to coffee plantations, rice paddies to busy streets.

We started this leg of our trip with a few days in the beachside town of Sanur. We relaxed by the pool, strolled along the beach, and ate some DELISH Italian food. We quickly fell in love with Bali!

Then we continued on to the town of Ubud, in the middle of the island. We loved our time here, it is truly a jungle paradise! This was a fun travel day because our driver who drove us from Sanur to Ubud loved country music!! George Strait is not something you hear often in Southeast Asia.

On our first morning here we woke up with the sun to explore the Campuhan Ridge Walk. This was a short hike with beautiful jungle views! We were glad we did this early in the morning, because boy does it get hot!

We expected to come back to our hotel and enjoy a nice leisurely breakfast before relaxing by the pool for a few hours. However, upon our return we found out from a boat operator that our next destination, the Gili Islands (off the coast of Bali) were closed to stop the spread of the coronavirus. It was soon after this that the United States updated the Global Health Advisory to a level 4, which means if you are out of the country, get home now!! We decided it was time to try to change our flight back home. After spending 13 hours on hold with Expedia/Turkish Airlines, we were still unable to change our original Turkish Airlines flight. We had to buy a completely new flight that took us: Bali –> Taipei –> Seattle –> Boston. God was truly watching over us though because all Turkish Airlines flights were cancelled, so if it was not for this last minute flight through Taipei we would have been stuck!!

Anyways, after booking this flight, we still had few days to ‘enjoy’ in Bali. We did our best to have a good time, but we were constantly checking to make sure the airport was still open and our flight was on time.

We panic-bought all sorts of gifts for our families (and ourselves) since we hoped to be heading home in a few days before heading to the Monkey Forest.

This forest is a sanctuary with walking paths where monkeys roam free. It was quite exciting to see them playing and interacting with each other. They were grooming each other, cannonballing into a small pond, and eating corn on the cob. The last time I was in Bali (three years ago), I was ambushed by two monkeys in this forest, so needless to say, I was a little hesitant. This time we were having a great time until a monkey jumped onto my backpack because he was interested in my baggage tag. Once he realized I did not have any yummy treats, he jumped off (definitely not as traumatic as last time!).

The next day we explored the Hidden Canyon. A wonderful local guide took us through two slot canyons. We spent a few hours trekking, swimming, and climbing.

We had a great time and the scenery was absolutely beautiful!! It was a great chance to get our mind off of the coronavirus chaos!

On our second to last day we explored the rice terraces and waterfalls of Bali. Our first stop was the Tegalalang Rice Terraces. It is a beautiful sight, rice paddies built right into the hill side.

Next we visited four different waterfalls. We are glad we got the chance to do this because the following day most tourist attractions started to close to stop the spread of the coronavirus. We definitely got all of our steps in for the day, walking up and down stairs to the different waterfalls.

On our last day in Ubud, and the last day of our trip, we took a cooking class. We cooked alongside a British couple, Dominique and Jack, and we had a blast! This was the second cooking class Reid and I took on this trip and they have been great! We are less than talented cooks, but these classes make it pretty much impossible to mess up!

We ended this day with my favorite dinner of the whole trip!! Reid made me order coconut milk curry noodles, something I would otherwise never order and it was SO GOOD!!! For dessert, we had vegan gelato (even Reid thought it was good!).

This trip has been nothing short of incredible. Reid and I had the chance to learn and grow together in new, fun ways! The question that we were asked most frequently by our friends and families: “Are you sick of each other yet?”

Short answer: NO!! There was only one time the whole trip we were apart. In Ubud, Reid went down the street to get a haircut and I stayed at the hotel to take a nap. Reid was gone for all of 45 minutes, and it was WEIRD! Quality time together is something that we have learned to cherish because it does not come along often for us.

I also must say how proud I am of Reid! Backpacking through Asia was completely uncharted territory for him and he took it like a champ! He was an expert navigator, always knew what to do if something went wrong, and he (quite literally) picked me up when I was down. Seriously, in Phuket I fell down carrying both of my backpacks and he grabbed my big Osprey bag to stand me upright. I do not know what I would do without my Florida cowboy/world traveler.

Although this once-in-a-lifetime trip has come to an end and we are thrilled to be home with our families. We are already looking forward to future adventures together!

Thank you to everyone who kept up with our travels. We truly appreciate all of the prayers and well wishes!

Love,

Sorrell

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding: in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.” -Proverbs 3:5-6