Extending your stay in Bali?

Here are a few suggestions from my time there and friends who have traveled here..

• Rent a scooter and scoot around the island! Dangerous and fun. There are beautiful small fishing villages, lots of temple, rice paddies, and generally is pretty safe in terms of being a woman traveling alone. The roads are just kinda wild so that is the dangerous part. I did this for a few days and really enjoyed it and just stayed at local hostels here.

• Decide as you’re there! The time of year is an amazing time to go and also is not peak time, so you have the luxury of booking hotels really as you wish.. you can wake up and go pretty much anywhere.

• Sunrise Hike on Mt Batur I have not done this but Kirin has and loved it! There's also an option to do this during the retreat if you want. It's the kind of thing you can book when you're there, so we can check in with the group and you can go with a few folks from the retreat or on your own.

• Canguu hipster town! I have not been here either, but there is a lot of buzz about it in Bali. You can check it out! It's easier to get to than the Gili islands, which I mention below. But, the beaches are a bit more crowded, and generally feels a bit more explored.

• Beach chilling / Scuba diving in the Gili Islands. This is about a 3-4 hour trip from Ubud - 1.5 hours to the coast, and then 1.5 hours on a ferry to the islands.

  I spent time a couple days on Gili T (the biggest of the 3 islands) and about a week on Gili Air, the middle sized island that is a bit more chill. I fell in love with scuba diving there and stayed longer than I planned. I went with diving with Blue Marine Dive and they were so great, so patient.. I was quite scared but really wanted to try it! The diving here is some of the best in the world, and the water is pretty warm. Highhhhly recommend!