The journal

Three trips, in the order they happened.

What we did, what it cost, what we got wrong, and what changed between one trip and the next. The map came out of these; the pages below are the working notes behind it.

  1. Rice terraces in Bali with sunlight coming through the palms

    19 days

    The one we got wrong

    Our first trip: two bases, too much booked ahead, and every famous sight at the wrong hour. What nineteen days taught us about planning Bali badly.

  2. A green rice-field valley in east Bali with Mount Agung behind

    27 days

    East, and slower

    The second trip, twenty-seven days: fewer bases, nothing booked more than a day ahead, and the hills and the islands instead of the beach strip.

  3. A rider on a scooter on an unpaved track between rice paddies

    Checking our own work

    Our third trip was not exploring. Two hundred and fifty places, gone back to one at a time, to see what had changed and what had gone.

Every place named on these pages is on the map, with its hours, its best time and what it costs.