We had an amazing 2-week trip in Bali and Lombok
Indonesia
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May 25 - Jun 5, 2026
We had an amazing 2-week trip in Bali and Lombok! First, everyone loooooved Tejaprana Resort and Spa in Ubud. It was amazing in all ways -- the property, our rooms with pools overlooking the jungle, the spa, the food, the service, the passionfruit drinks! We stayed for 5 nights and could've stayed longer.
Mt Batur hike - It was exactly what we anticipated. Glad we had a beautiful sunrise as we knew that's not guaranteed. The hike was tough in parts but totally worth the 2am wake up call.
Bike ride from Kintamari -- This was in the top 3 activities for the group. Amazing day! The two guys from Infinity were wonderful. It was an exhilarating day cycling through the villages and countryside.
Cooking class -- Excellent. However, it lacked some "intimacy" because of its scale. There were 3 other classes happening at the same time. Good food in a beautiful home, though. [I'd skip the market tour next time.]
Overall food in Ubud -- We ate really well...from Compound Warung to Mozaic. Breakfast and snacks at Tejaprana were delicious!
The traffic in Ubud was NO JOKE. We were glad we hired Edi to get us around a couple of those nights. We did use Grab a few times and that worked out for us, as well.
Budi (tour guide)-- What a great guy! So full of life and an amazing sense of humor. We enjoyed our time with him which was only the one day (as we did Pasir Putih the following day instead of Lempuyang). We got to Besakih early before the crowds which was really nice. We had the place to ourselves. And Tirtagangga brought a smile to our faces. Who doesn't love feeding koi and eating ice cream? :)
Amed -- Stayed at the Griya which had pros and cons. I think we would have given it 5 stars had we not just stayed at Tejaprana. The coastal view from the pool made up for it, though. And good food in their restaurant.
We opted for a day at Pasir Putih beach instead of visiting Lempuyang due to the crowds. Edi (driver) took us. He seemed pleased that we wanted to go there. Wow what a beautiful beach. Quiet. Cheap, great warung food and beers. Perfect weather. Super relaxing. A memorable day for us.
Sunset boat ride and BBQ -- The boat ride was lovely and HOLY COW the BBQ was amazing. We didn't know what to expect but it exceeded our expectations! Quite a spread.
Our guide in Lombok-- Maliki! Too much to type but we will probably keep in touch with him. Really great guy. :)
Snorkeling was a good day. So many turtles which made it memorable...a really nice day on the Gilis and in the water.
The Mahagiri Villas in Sanur were great. We arrived and checked in and congregated at one villa, ordered a bunch of snacks and beer, sat in the pool. We were happy.
Then we pulled ourselves together and walked the backstreets of Sanur and wished we had had one more night there, fyi. Lovely town. Walkable. Hit the night market. Ate dinner on the promenade. It was an ideal final day.
And Edi (our driver).
EDI!
Loved him. He's great. We established so much trust with him. What a good guy.
Last but certainly not least -- Marc. Our travel specialist. We were so glad we took his advice on so many things...staying at Tejaprana (it wasn't our first choice), the bike ride he picked, hiring Edi for additional driving services. I could go on and on. Marc is a great communicator and we were tough customers. We highly recommend using Marc. We'd take this trip all over again.
