We did not know what this year would hold for us. As of this very moment, I am sitting in my office looking out at a perfect view of the sunlight filtering down through the green leaves of the trees, a perfect blue sky, and bird song fills the air. And to top it all off, the butterfly migration is in full swing. There are butterflies gracefully arcing through the wind every which way. This is paradise, surely?
It was so much fun shredding around every emerging corner and shift in the fluffy snow. The higher we got up the mountain, the more the few clouds around us dissipated and suddenly there we were, snow mobiling through fresh white powder with deep emerald pine trees and a beautiful blue sky all around us.
By the time we edged out of the pine trees on the other side of the path, the Fairmont lay to one side and the first glimpses of Lake Louise lay to the other side. And in between, a little wooden cabin, straight out of a winter movie.
It took a few seconds before I realised what we were barrelling towards. We stopped halfway across the frozen lake and got out to spend some time bonding with our sled teams while they rolled around in the fluffy snow.
When we swam into the part of the cave where the salty rock drops down closer to the surface of the water, that rocky kind of roof soars back up into darkness...and sleeping bats. The contrast between the bats and the dark heights of the insides of the cave and the weightlessness of the light aqua clarity of the water that has built up in the cave is quite wild and ridiculously cool to experience...just drifting inside the cave, enjoying it all.
Diving down deeper to swim with the fish, seeing them whirl around you in dizzying flashes of vibrant colour. And then, out of nowhere, a sea turtle surprised us! Swimming gracefully through the brilliantly clear blues, this little guy stayed around for a while before continuing on with his day. Under the surface, watching that little turtle glide through the ocean, it feels like paradise. And it is. It really is.
This was honestly one of my absolute highlights of the entire week. I had never done this before in Bali and getting to wind through the jungle, under waterfalls and through caves was so epic.
The ride to the rice terraces from our villa is bright and vibrant - just like everything in Bali. From Ubud, it only takes around fifteen to twenty minutes to ride to Tegallalang Rice Terrace.
We just got back to our villa in Ubud yesterday after a week or legitimate bliss. The Nusa Islands are every single bit as spectacular as everyone says they are (if not more so).
Four to six hours long - depending entirely on how often you stop throughout the day - Samoeng Loop takes you past waterfalls, vast valley views, towering mountains, cafes - some of which are amazingly set down in the streams so that your feet dip in the cool pebbled waters while you eat and drink - and fruit and vegetable farms.
