My Bali dream came true this summer! It was a wonderful trip, filled with breathtaking landscapes, encounters with the friendly locals, delicious food and beautiful cultural experiences. One of our guides told me that most Europeans usually spend at least one month in Bali, because they love adventure, hehe. One week is enough to have a relaxing holiday and to visit a few places but just as I was getting used to the island life, time to go back has arrived… And as much as I want to think of myself as a “traveler”, I was mostly a tourist in Bali. As I was leaving Bali I was thinking how much I’d love to come back someday and spend more time, maybe even one month. But for now, I’ll tell you how I spent one week in Bali and what made me fall in love with this place.
Perhaps my idyllic image of Bali was already partly shaped by the famous movie, Eat Pray Love, and by all the beautiful photographs on the internet. On the other hand, I was also a bit scared about the “Bali Belly” and about their notorious bad traffic. But, as always, getting as informed as possible before traveling somewhere new and different is the most important thing.
Although the itinerary I thought of was quite busy, it was a trip where I properly managed to relax as well. It is impossible not to relax when you are surrounded by so much nature, by beautiful, relaxing music playing everywhere and by so many spas!
Here is how we spent one week (in fact 5 full days) in Bali!
Day 0: Arrive at Ngurah Rai International Airport, Checkin at hotel
Day 1: Ubud (Coffee tasting, Tegallalang Rice Terraces, Barong and Legong dance performance at Ubud Palace)
Day 2: Lempuyang Temple Tour / East Bali Day Tour with Nice Tour Bali
Day 3: Beach Day (Seminyak, Potato Head, Tanah Lot Temple)
Day 4: Nusa Penida Tour with Nice Tour Bali
Day 5: Spa Day at The Udaya Resorts & Spa, Ubud
Day 6: Checkout and flight back to Tokyo
Fly
I mentioned my flight for this trip in my newest post about KL. So it was an AirAsia flight from Tokyo-KL-Denpasar (Bali) and the price was pretty good as well, roundtrip 40.000 JPY or around 355$ per person. It was the longest flight I had with an LCC, almost 8 hours from Tokyo to KL and 2 hours from KL to Denpasar. So it is important to have comfortable seats and enough leg room and I think AirAsia had this.
And for those traveling more in Southeast Asia, AirAsia offers a special ASEAN Pass with which you can travel around and save a lot of money!
Accommodation
As always, I used booking.com when choosing where to stay and I found a great place with awesome reviews and at a very good price, that is Kailash Bali. By the way, if you use this link to make a booking on booking.com you’ll get 10% off your stay and I will also receive a small discount!
Most people who go to Bali usually change accommodations between the beach area (Seminyak, Kuta and so on) and Ubud area, but as I found it quite troublesome to move from hotel to hotel and as I am more into arts & culture than beaches, I chose to stay only in Ubud (near Ubud) and from there to go to various places. I heard traffic in Bali is quite bad so moving around could be troublesome but we were quite lucky and didn’t experience much of a bad traffic, except for the day when we went to the Seminyak area… We only experienced bad traffic in Ubud on a single occasion, when there was a festival happening there.
Now, back to Kailash Bali, it is a family business so it is quite small, it’s a villa-style accommodation (they also call it homestay) with only a few rooms. But it is a wonderful place and we had a great stay there. Rooms are super large, clean, the garden, the inside temple, the pool are super beautiful and the food is delicious. And most important, very kind and helpful staff, they helped us to arrange transportation for the days when we did not have any booked tours. They also offer a few tours around Bali. In our package, we had breakfast included but also chose to eat there for dinner a few times and the food was yummy, my favorites were their banana pancakes and the fruit plates!
Price was 24,000 JPY or 212$ per room for 6 nights, so quite a good deal, right? I definitely recommend this place to anyone traveling to Bali! Resort feeling at an affordable price 🙂
How to get around
Now, let’s get to the complicated part, haha. Before going, I had heard that getting around in Bali might be… difficult, especially for someone who doesn’t drive. The best way to get around is by renting a scooter but it might not be the safest way… it depends on your experience but even if you are an experienced scooter driver in your country, conditions in Bali are totally different so it might be difficult to ride a scooter there.
Public transportation is almost inexistent so that is not an option. The best option for us and for many other travelers who prefer to stay safe and comfy is through organized tours and private drivers. And there are plenty of drivers offering day tours at quite a reasonable price, usually around 40$ per day per car, so if you share with more people, it gets super cheap. There is even the possibility to ride a scooter with an experienced Balinese driver, so, why not?
In the end, finding methods of getting around was not that difficult, we were also thinking of using taxis but our accommodation always provided transportation service when we needed it, for example from Ubud city center, to the beach, from the airport or to the airport and so on, plus their services were cheaper than taxi, usually having a fixed price.
Now, let me introduce a bit about how we spent each day on this amazing island.
Day 1 / Discover Ubud
Coffee tasting at Uma Pakel – Tegallalang Rice Terraces – Ubud city center – Barong and Legong dance performance at Ubud Palace
The first day in Bali was sunny in the morning but rainy in the afternoon. Was thinking to see a nice sunset over the rice terraces but unfortunately, it was rainy and muddy when we visited. However, the view from the top was amazing, like a green version of Santorini!
Since it was cold and pouring rain, our first stop, as suggested by our kind driver for that day, was to drink some coffee. At Uma Pakel, you can try many types of coffee (for FREE!) and only have to pay if you want to try the famous Luwak coffee.
In the evening, we had dinner at Melting Wok Warung, super yummy, local food, simple but delicious. And after dinner, at the recommendation of our villa’s owner, we went to see traditional Balinese dance, Barong and Legong dance based on a historical romance of the 13th century. It was fascinating to watch the dance and get to know a bit about the rich culture in Bali. It was a full day but a good beginning for an unforgettable trip!
Day 2 / Culture Day
Lempuyang Temple Tour / East Bali Day tour (Lempuyang Temple – Tirta Gangga Water Palace – Kerta Gosa Hall of Justice – Bat Cave / Goa Lawah)
I don’t usually do tours when traveling, but in Bali, since it is hard to go places by yourself, they represent quite a good option. Lempuyang Temple was probably the place I wanted to see the most in Bali. I find the Balinese architecture so beautiful, thus more than pristine beaches, I was interested in Balinese temples. And the Gate of Heaven at Lempuyang Temple is special because of its position, from where you can see Mount Agung when it’s clear. On the day we went, Mt Agung could apparently be seen in the morning but by the time we got there (around 11 am) it was already cloudy. However, I think that the landscape looks more heavenly with the fluffy clouds behind. When I am looking at the photos now, I almost cannot believe I was standing there. It was an experience worth the long trip!
Lempuyang Temple didn’t use to be a tourist attraction, thus it was quite hard to reach. Apparently, one photographer made it famous after spreading dreamy photos online. Locals are happy that tourism flourished in their village and are thinking of new ways to make profit (for example, there is a shuttle that takes you to the temple from the village, although before, cars could go up as well). The sad part for me was that the only part accessible for tourists was the entrance, the rest of the temple being reserved only for praying. Although I respect their decision, I wish I could have seen more of the temple…
Choosing a tour was also a good option because our driver and guide, Samba, was really kind and knowledgeable and taught us many things about his culture and about the places we visited. And everything was included, lunch, dinner, entrance to all the temples and museums we visited and so on, quite a good deal.
How gorgeous are these Balinese wedding garments?
Day 3 / Beach Day
Seminyak – Potato Head – Tanah Lot Temple
Besides its gorgeous rice terraces and temples, Bali is also famous for beautiful beaches. In fact, many people just choose to go to the beach, without visiting the cultural heritages in Bali, and that’s a perfectly ok choice, each person has different traveling styles. Unfortunately, during our stay, the weather was quite unstable so sunny mornings but rainy afternoons, rainy mornings but sunny afternoons and so on. So for the day we chose to go to the Seminyak area, it wasn’t raining but it was cloudy and the sea was rough. Instead of staying at the beach, we went to Potato Head Bali, a leisure complex with restaurants, an infinity pool, a bar and so on. You could easily spend a whole day there, plus at night they also have a nightclub. Although I was not impressed by their food (we had lunch there) I looooved their infinity pool! (it was free to enter but if you want chairs they have to be reserved in advance…).
After Potato Head, our plan was to see the sunset at Tanah Lot Temple, a beautiful temple located right in the sea. But as traffic in Seminyak was very bad and we left Potato Head quite late, we arrived too late for sunset 🙁 . And also missed the famous Bali sunset from Potato Head… Ohh well, maybe next time.
Day 4 / Nusa Penida Island
Sanur – Kelingking Point – Angel Billabong – Broken Beach – Crystal Bay
Another day trip tour with Nice Tour Bali, this time not in Bali but to a little island close to Bali, Nusa Penida. It is a bit hard to access Nusa Penida, its roads are quite undeveloped and getting around by yourself, without a local guide, might be quite dangerous. That is why I chose a tour again and it was totally worth it!
In Nusa Penida, I have seen one of the most breathtaking landscapes ever. Kelingking Point is the most popular spot on the island because of its resemblance to a T-rex, since the nickname T-rex beach. Nusa Penida was not a touristy place until photos of this T-rex beach became viral on social media, so, once again, we can see how powerful social media can be.
Angel Billabong and Broken Beach were close to each other but a bit further away from Kelingking point. They were also very beautiful and it was the first time for me to see such a beautiful color of the sea. The only disadvantage was that the sea was rough so we couldn’t really swim or do snorkeling at Crystal Bay as we were supposed to according to the schedule. Still, I’m happy I went and saw such magnificent landscapes although, behind them, the lives of the people living there seemed very harsh.
Day 5 / Spa Day at The Udaya Resorts & Spa Ubud
And finally, the last day in Bali. After so much sightseeing, a day of relaxation was needed. One cannot come to Bali without trying the Balinese massage. I chose Kaveri Spa at the Udaya mainly influenced by the beautiful flower baths they have, and as a flower lover, that was a must-try experience for me. So, after a refreshing Balinese massage, that made me feel like a new person, the session ended with a beautiful, dreamy flower bath. The good part is that you don’t need to stay at this resort in order to try their spa and it can be booked separately. I really recommend it if you are looking for a great spa experience in Bali!
This post became quite long but I hope my itinerary will inspire you at least a bit if you are also planning a trip to Bali! Thank you for reading and happy, safe travels around the world 🙂
