After visiting Ayaan’s 40th country (Japan), we arrived in Bali via Kuala Lumpur. My parents arrived from Mumbai two hours after us, and we planned to spend a week together in Nusa Dua and Ubud. Ayaan and Ariana were very excited to get another week of family time, this one with dada and dadi.

Our first destination was to relax and get some pool and beach time at the Ritz Carlton Nusa Dua for four nights. The first couple of days were a bit overcast though the weather did get lovely after that, and we made the most of it by taking advantage of the resorts programming. Ariana enjoyed the kids club where she made cupcakes, made new friends, and went down the water slide. I enjoyed a massage at the spa and got some much needed gym-time. All of us engaged in making Dudur Gulung, a local dessert just like a pancake made with pandas leaves and filled with palm sugar and coconut, and in a cooking class making fish satay and sambal. Anjali and dadi took a Balinese dance lesson, while Ayaan took buggy rides around the resort.

Every evening we stepped out of the resort to explore different neighborhoods (Sanur and Nusa Dua), get foot massages, and eat some local food with live music. Ayaan got pampered with his first foot massages that he thoroughly enjoyed, and Ariana got braids and did her nails. On our last night in Nusa Dua, Anjali and I left the kids with the grandparents and ventured out for a fun night out at Rock bar and the After Rock nightclub (our first in a few years).

Our next and final destination in Bali was a stay at a private villa with a pool in Sayan, on the outskirts of Ubud. It was a very different experience than staying in a large resort, and we all enjoyed the serene view and peace at the villa, a few km away from the craziness of Ubud. We did have our first misadventure at the villa though, when some money was stolen from our bags in the room.

The drive to Ubud from Nusa Dua was two hours, and we stopped at the Monkey forest on the way to the villa. Ariana was fascinated watching the monkeys interact with each other and the visitors. After a delicious rijsttafel meal at Gedang Sisi Warung, we watched a traditional Legong dance show at the lit up Ubud Palace.

Anjali had planned a surprise ATV tour for Ayaan the next day, and the three of us set out early. Dada, dadi and Ariana had their own adventure visiting Tanah lot temple and eating some dosa. The ATV tour was definitely the highlight of our Bali adventure. We spent two hours driving our ATVs through rivers, caves, villages, hills and mud tracks. Ayaan had the time of his life driving the ATV with Anjali’s help. Our reward was lunch and drinks at a pool club overlooking the rice terraces, where we spent a few hours relaxing. After reuniting that evening, we all had an amazing dinner at a gazebo on the water watching the sunset at Bebek Tebasari. Anjali and I took another opportunity to get some cocktails at the Pinstripe bar at the Viceroy which was recommended and lived up to its reputation (they even had an amuse bouche and dessert drinks to supplement our cocktails).

On our last full day in Bali we rented a car to take us to the north side of Bali. Our first stop was breakfast at Sayan Point with a wonderful view of rice terraces, the river and forests. Next we stopped at the famous Tegalalang rice terraces where the kids enjoyed “hiking” up and down the fields. We briefly visited the holy springs temple before driving up to the peak of Mount Batur, with its cooler temperatures and sprawling views of Lake Batur and surrounding forests. At this point, we became accustomed to eating Nasi and Mie Goreng for most of our meals. Ayaan has been very amused that chicken is called Ayam in the local language. On our way back to the villa after a long day, we made a final stop at a coffee plantation where we learnt about how coffee is made, including Luak coffee, and got to taste 13 different teas and coffees.

For our last meal in Bali with the grandparents, we had planned to go to the popular Cafe Lotus. However, the infamous Bali traffic had us stuck for 45 minutes and we decided to eat at a random restaurant named Brie, which turned out to be our best meal in Bali! After a fun family week in Bali, we bid farewell to the grandparents and continued onwards on our adventure in Indonesia.