The clues for the third destination are as follows:

• Difficult for Jennifer – The “Islands of Gods” is still south of the equator.
• Medium for Alexander – Monkey see, monkey do.
• Easy for Charlotte – Bollywood is not here (wrong kind of “bolly”).

Take a moment to venture a guess before scrolling down past the envelope picture to reveal the answer.

The third destination is Bali, Indonesia! Combined with our suspicions of warmer weather (because Chris had told us that we can use up our cold weather clothing at the prior destination), the first clue immediately made us think of Indonesia due to the sheer number of islands in this country. Alexander and Charlotte thought the second clue was so funny and could not stop giggling about it even though it did not help them narrow down the location. The simple third and final clue confirmed our guess of Bali.

Much to our Pokemon loving kids’ delight, our flight to Denpasar, Bali in Garuda Indonesia business ended up being on the Pikachu Jet, featuring Pikachu wearing traditional Indonesian batik. The theme carried through from the aircraft exterior to the seat head protectors.

We stayed at the Andaz Bali in Sanur, Denpasar City for three nights in a Garden Pool Villa (through a Hyatt suite upgrade award combined with a further upgrade upon check in). Charlotte loved that our villa came with a its own outdoor space complete with a private pool, but both kids had a blast playing together in the main pool with the blow up pool toys provided at the hotel.

With Hyatt Globalist status, the all-you-can-eat a la carte breakfast at Village Square was included for our family (two adults and two kids). We kicked started each morning with fresh fruit drinks, classic egg dishes, fluffy pancakes, local favorites, and frozen fruit sorbets. We ended each evening with dinner at a different restaurant at the Andaz Bali: Fisherman’s Club for seafood, Wok Wok for Indonesian cuisine, and Fire Fox for Hansik Korean BBQ.

Korean BBQ.

Charlotte and Alexander utilized the Kemu Mai kids club and participated in various activities, including fish feeding and aloha flower crown making, but the highlight was definitely the nightly Balinese Kul-Kul Parade. Alexander and Charlotte dressed in traditional Balinese clothing and paraded through the hotel grounds playing the kulkul instrument to recreate a ritual meant to ward off negative energies and evil spirits.

We ventured outside the hotel for a full day on a private tour with Merta to see sites around the Ubud area. We explored the Monkey Forest to observe Balinese long-tailed macaques monkeys in their forest home. We were mesmerized by the beauty of the cascading rice fields owned by different farmers and learned about the rice farming process at the Tegalalang Rice Terrace. We took a mid-day break and dined surrounded by nature at d’Alas for lunch. The adults climbed on the swing with sweeping views of the valley below and the kids dipped into the infinite pool by the d’Alas restaurant. After visiting the Gunung Kawi Sebatu Temple in the afternoon, we ended our day by cooling off at the Tegenungan Waterfall.

Stay tuned as we move on to Secret Trip 2.0 Destination #4!

• A Brief Programming Note: Secret Trip 2.0 Is Here
• Trip Introduction: Secret Trip 2.0 is Back with New Players
• Secret Trip 2.0 Destination #1
  • Another Great Meal at the Delta One Lounge LAX
  • Air France Lounge LAX Review: Great Food, Poor Location
  • Delta One A350-900 LAX-SYD Review: A Long But Great Flight
  • Four Seasons Sydney Review: One of the Best Luxury Hotels for Children
  • Excellent Views and Plenty of Fun: Taronga Zoo Sydney
• Secret Trip 2.0 Destination #2
  • Virgin Australia Lounge SYD: Simple But Easy to Access
  • Virgin Australia 737-700 Business Class Review: Short And Sweet
  • Intercontinental Melbourne Review: A Good Location But Not Luxury
• Secret Trip 2.0 Destination #3 (this post)
• Secret Trip 2.0 Destination #4
• Secret Trip 2.0 Destination #5