Work Hard, Bali Harder

Trip Region: Southeast Asia
Country(ies): Indonesia
Partners Trek? No
Cost: $1185
Airfare Estimate: $1200
Structure: 2   •   Lodging: 2   •   Nightlife: 3   •   Activity: 3

Does spending 10 days rafting through class III rapids, climbing a mountain, befriending monkeys, and soaking up the sun before Ann Arbor winter hits sound super awesome to you? Yeah, us too obvi. Together, your fearless leaders will guide you through four cities in Bali and make sure you have the time of your lives while building incredible friendships along the way, and becoming as close with each other as these monkey are in the photo. Somehow, this group of BUS Managers and pitcher-crushing MBA students feel confident that they can take care of you halfway across the world, so join us for an unforgettable adventure to BALI!!!

Day 1 — Sunday, Aug 20

Welcome to Ubud! Our Trek will officially begin at 6pm with a welcome meeting at the hotel, followed by our first family dinner of the trip, where we’ll start to get to know each other over a few fancy umbrella cocktails. Who knows what secrets we’ll be able to get out of Kuntzy on night one! So far he has refused to tell us any, so we should ask him for secrets at every drunken chance we get. He’ll love that.. But don’t get too carried away with the liquid vibes tonight, for we have a long day ahead of us tomorrow!

Day 2 — Monday, Aug 21

We’re waking up early this morning so we can have a serious white water rafting adventure. We’re going to zoom down an 11km river (which is who knows what in miles… they don’t teach us that in b-school, but it sounds like a lot), working our way through class II and class III rapids! Maggie is going to take tons of pics with her GoPro so that we can remember how terrified Colleen was the whole time. But seriously, this is going to be one of the most beautiful journeys of the trip so get your cameras ready! After our two hour rafting extravaganza, we’ll shower it up and then head back to Ubud for some lounge time, which to Leo means crushing pitchers by the pool.

Day 3 — Tuesday, Aug 22

MONKEYS!!!!! This might be the highlight of the trip for a few of us, where we get to spend all day hanging out with tiny and super giant monkeys all at the same time. Okay maybe not all day, but how often do you get to hang out with monkeys in a monkey forest?! Maggie told us not to bring food, but Colleen probably still will so that the monkeys come hang out with her (even though she’s kind of scared that they’ll climb onto her hair and get stuck forever). After the Monkey Forest we’ll hang back, spend some time strengthening our new friendships, and make sure Nate gets beer’ed a few times.

Day 4 — Wednesday, Aug 23

Today we head out to Sidemen, hopefully without any monkey stowaways in tow. When we arrive, we’ll get a chance to experience some of the local culture, visiting the craftspeople of the local songket weaving industry and enjoying a traditional ‘bungkus’ lunch while taking in the beautiful sights. We’ll continue trekking higher into the mountains, driving along the caldera of Mt. Batur volcano, enjoying the view of Lake Batur below. We’ll be crashing at the base of Mt. Batur for the night, making it easy for us to grab some drinks while we take in the massive volcano, and mentally prepare for the adventure tomorrow.

Day 5 — Thursday, Aug 24

Today is probably our most insane day - good and bad. We’re waking up at 3AM, yes, like, in the morning, and then climbing a volcano (!!!) to see the sickest sunrise on the island. We’ll summit Mt. Batur in two hours, and take in the breathtaking views with plenty of photo op moments. Last time Colleen summited a mountain they all got naked at the top and froze their arses off, so who knows what will happen. Once we descend, we’ll go for a much needed soak in the hot springs and then head to our transportation device where we’ll likely take a nap on the way to our next town.

Day 6 — Friday, Aug 25

We have a free day in Lovina to get a massage, take a yoga class or a surfing lesson, or simply enjoy being the beach bums that we are. Make sure to get Cowboy an umbrella drink at the beach today. He loves those things.

Day 7 — Saturday, Aug 26

Today we’ll visit a hidden waterfall and a coffee plantation where we’ll get to try some of the world’s most famous coffee, kopi luwak. From here we’ll head down to our final destination and party spot, Seminyak. Take a nap on this two hour car ride out of the jungle, you’ll need it for the following 3 days of non-stop dancing and cocktails at the local day clubs.

Day 8 — Sunday, Aug 27

Now that we have covered all of the fun stuff to do around Bali it's time to #treatyoself to a beach bum kind of day. How does sun, sand, and most importantly fruity drinks sound? Yea it will be a great way to relax and get the feel of the beach town vibes of Seminyak. After an afternoon in the sun, we will experience local Balinese cuisine for a delicious dinner!

Day 9 — Monday, Aug 28

Enjoy another free day to sleep in, drink, surf or explore the town! We will have a final splash bash at Potato Head Beach Club (think Rehab in Vegas, but Bali style!!), and hopefully meet up with the other group of Bali trekkers to celebrate in style. Then, we’ll likely need a quick nap before we enjoy our final group dinner in beautiful Bali.

Day 10 — Tuesday, Aug 29

Today we, unfortunately, head back to Ann Arbor to return to the reality of Ross. Fortunately though, we’ll have made some awesome memories and created some dope stories for you to share with your classmates at Skeeps. Also, let’s be honest, Ross is awesome, and this will just be the first of many great experiences along the way!