3 years ago I spent a little over 2 weeks in Indonesia. Indonesia is an amazing country with so much to offer. We spent our time in 3 different parts of the country. We visited Komodo National Park, Bali and the surrounding islands, and Sumatra.

We left New York on a Friday, and after 3 flights we landed in Labuan Bajo (LBJ). We spent our first day at the hotel settling in and taking the occasional dip at the pool.

The next day we woke up early for our full day tour exploring Komodo National Park and surrounding island and waters.

First stop of our tour was the Island of Padar. Padar is famous for its amazing viewpoint as well as its unique pink sand beaches. The hike to the view point was pretty easy.

Our next stop on the tour was to Komodo National park to visit the endangered Komodo Dragon. These large lizards definitely made me feel like I was walking with dinosaurs.

After our visit to the park to see the dragons, we hopped back on the boat to go snorkeling with Manta Ray. This has to be one of the top underwater experiences of my life. Manta Ray are so magical and amazing. We were lucky to see so many.

That concludes my time in Komodo. The next day we hopped on a flight from LBJ to Bali via Jakarta. We arrived in Bali and made our way to Ubud. We spent about 9 days in Bali. Our time in Bali started with a few days in Ubud. After Ubud we spent a few days on Nusa Penida Island, then back to main Bali Island to spend a few days in Kuta and Uluwatu.

We stayed in a really cool tree house in Ubud.

Ubud is located in the center of Bali and was well known for its spiritual culture and lush landscapes. While in Ubud we spent time at the Sacred Monkey forrest, the Tegallalang Rice Terraces, and experiencing a spiritual bath at Tirta Empul Temple.

After our time in Ubud we hopped on a ferry to Nusa Penida. On Nusa we stayed in a little Beach Hut.

We spent our time on Nusa exploring the island by motor bike (which was terrifying). Our stops consisted of Crystal Bay, Kelingking (aka T-Rex) Beach, Diamond Beach and Atuh Cliff. Although the sites are amazing driving around Nusa on motorbike is not for the faint of heart, the roads are windy and steep accompanied by a myriad of blind corners with roads too small to fit the vans that come at you in every direction. If I were to come back I might just see the island in the safety of a van/day tour. Over all the views were amazing and like nothing I’ve ever seen.

After our time in Nusa we headed back to Bali by ferry. This time we chose to stay at a hotel on Kuta Beach. Our hotel was really great and the proximity to the beach could not be beat. They even offered surf board rentals and surf lessons.

After a couple days surfing and beaching we decided to spend a day/night in Uluwatu. We visited Uluwatu Temple for the Kecak dance performance, and afterwards had a surprise beach dinner.

After Bali we hopped on another flight to the Northern Sumatran Jungle, Bukit Lawang National Park. After spending the night in our eco lodge, we trekked for 3 days and 2 nights while sleeping in the jungle to track the wild Orangutan in one of the only remaining habitats left on the planet.

After our time in the jungle came to an end we hopped in tubes and took the river all the way back to our eco lodge to spend one last night before the long multi-leg journey home.

Indonesia was amazing and I have every intention of returning. Thank you for stopping by, and as always Saif Travels.