Boy, the Four Seasons resorts in Bali really know how to plan an excursion. One of my favorite activities on the whole trip was the “Ocean to Table” excursion, which was extremely special, and you can read about that here. The “Can you keep a secret” tour was no less interesting, varied, and extraordinary, and I highly recommend this tour if you are staying at Four Seasons Sayan. You really need to book in advance, though, because this is a private tour that I’m pretty sure they only do once a day.

After we had breakfast at the resort, we headed up to the port cochere where our driver and tour guide were waiting for us. The whole point of this tour is to visit the less explored and less touristed areas of Bali, and so I don’t even know what the names of the villages and temples we went to. Hopefully these areas do remain a secret!

First, we drove to a Balinese village which was about a half hour from the resort. We were able to go inside a Hindu Temple, which is unusual and unique, because normally you’re not allowed in the temples unless you are worshipping. We were provided an education on the architecture of the temple as well as villages. You’ll notice in the photos that there’s no one else around, and there really wasn’t. Most areas in Bali known to tourists are going to have lines for photos at every darn gate and photo spot. Here, we encountered zero other tourists, which was such a refreshing change of pace.

We were also able to visit a Balinese home, which houses a large, extended family. The home contains many buildings within its walls, including a kitchen, bedrooms, and a temple. Here, several generations of women in the family were working on cake decorations for a wedding cake.

Following this, we took a break from the secret places, and Noah tried the Bali swings, which you can find all over the place in this area. There are many companies that have set up swings all along the river and over the rice paddies. I think it was around $35 to swing as often as you wanted, and the guys there took all sorts of photos and videos. I thought it was terrifying, so I didn’t try it, but Noah tried a few of the swings and different photo opportunities.

Next, we drove by some beautiful rice paddies where we were able to take some photos. These weren’t the terraced paddies that you think about in Bali and all over Asia, these were more flat. They were gorgeous just the same. It was nice to be able to see such beautiful surroundings not crawling with hundreds of people.

Finally, we went to a water temple that was not jammed full of tourists like the Tirta Empul water temple in Ubud. There were a few local folks here, but we mainly had the place to ourselves. We changed into our swimsuits and headed down to the water purification area. We were taught by our guide how to proceed through the different water spouts and perform the ceremony properly.

After this, we received a Hindu blessing from the priest in the temple, as well as a tri-colored bracelet representing Brahma, Shiva, and Vishnu. It was said that as long as you have the bracelet on, you will have good luck. I managed to wear it for about eight weeks until it was lost, and let me tell you, that day I lost it was NOT a good day!

We returned to the resort after the water temple feeling fresh, purified, and I was so happy to have been able to show Brian and Noah the Bali I remember from 20 years ago. This tour was incredibly special, and super personalized. It’s about a half day, so you have plenty of time to explore or go to the spa (which is what I did!) afterward. If you really want to see the real Bali, as well as undergo the water purification ceremony without a hundred other people there watching you, definitely reserve the “Can you keep a secret” tour!