Ubud, Bali

“Haven’t you always wanted a monkey?” (in Bare-naked Ladies voice, naturally). Well if we had a million dollars, we’re pretty sure we would have taken home a few baby monkeys, pounds of Balinese coffee and all of the açaí bowls we could smuggle back home from Ubud.

There is no shortage of beautiful places to explore in this little town, which is about an hour north of Denpasar. We spent our first few days shopping in the art market, playing with monkeys in the Sacred Monkey Forest, walking through rice paddies and talking to farmers, swinging life away on the rice terraces and bopping in and out of sacred temples. Between UNESCO World Heritage sites and learning about Balinese food and culture, we have had a great time crossing items off our bucket list.

But one experience we didn’t realize we we’re crossing off the list was trying Kopi Luwak coffee. Made world famous by the movie Bucket List, featuring Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman, this specific coffee is made by using coffee beans that have been eaten and disposed of (yes, pooped out) by Luwaks (a cat like creature). Supposedly the enzymes in the Luwak’s stomach change the taste of the coffee bean for the better. After learning how it’s made we said, “hey, don’t knock it till you try it"!” and ordered a couple of cups. Well all we can say it we have lived to tell the tale and we will definitely be back for more coffee.

One of the highlights of our trip was our 2AM wake up call to begin our trek up Mount Batur, an active volcano that last erupted in 2000. After a quick breakfast with our guide, we started our 1,717m ascent to the top in the dark, the path only illuminated by the flashlights of each hiker. It was quite a hike, but like Miley Cyrus says, “life’s a climb, but the views are great”. Truly one of the most beautiful sunrises we have ever seen.