The 12 days we spent in Bali, Indonesia, were the most relaxing and adventurous 12 days. The activities are plenty. From finding waterfalls, climbing 1717 meters to the top of Mt. Batur to see the sun rise, meeting wild monkeys on the mountain, name just a few of the highlights. But, the good times didn't come without the bad! Read on to hear about it all. In this blog I will share our experience, our photos, and hopefully give you some inspiration and ideas for your next Bali trip.
It was March 2018. Louis and I had been working all Summer doing bar work at Ice Cream Factory and Fringe World, busy saving our money to finally go on our first over seas trip together. I had been to Bali for a few days when I was 14 (eight years prior) so I knew what to expect. Louis had also been before. If you've never been to Bali I think the first time is abit of a shock. As luxurious and beautiful as it is, you have to remember that it is a third world country so the luxury is sort of mixed with a bad smell (I hope this isn't too rude to say but it's true). There is abit of a dark underbelly and you may experience some confronting images.
The whole way of life is so different and the way that Bali runs is just crazy to someone from a place like Australia. I have to say the first day or two took us abit of getting used to and settling it, but this is usually the case for any travel we do, even local camping trips.
We arrived mid morning and had a driver there to meet us and take us to our hotel. I think we organised that through the ticket booking process online and I would definitely recommend this. It just made the whole thing a lot easier and gave us a piece of mind knowing we would arrive safely and without stress. He was such a friendly guy, as you will find with basically every Balinese person who is offering you a service.
Pro tip- we had already planned every hotel and every activity prior to the trip and we had planned down to a tee! We even got some money exchanged in Perth and put aside the amount due for each hotel and activity into separate envelopes to be extra organised.
We arrived at our first hotel at about 11am, a place in Legian called Panorama Cottages I (breakfast is included and was delicious). Our first impressions were pretty good as the garden surrounding the cottages were beautiful and lush but it was super humid! Our room was huge, and on the upper level we had an amazing view of the garden.
So the first impressions were great. The second impressions however... Not great at all. It was such a humid day and all I kept thinking was "I can't wait to get to the room then we can crank the ice-cold air conditioner." But it didn't work! It was only on fan blowing out warm air. The second shock was the shower.. It was just a bath with a hand held hose (I got used to it pretty quick). The first thing we should have done was go to reception and tell them about it. But we kind of felt like they wouldn't do much about it so we didn't bother. The first nights sleep was so bad for me. I opened the windows but they had no fly screens so there were mosquito's and I was super paranoid about getting infected by a diseased bug as you hear in the news. It was just so bad! Also the pool was beautiful, but they had a sign there saying there were "Collipillars" which I think meant caterpillars and that they could cause itching skin.. I didn't see any caterpillars, but I did get very itchy skin so I think the chemicals weren't balanced.
The next morning we went and told reception about the AC, and while we were out during the day they had a guy come and repair it, simple as that! The rest of our days here were perfect.
Pro tip- if theirs a problem with your room, just go and ask for help right away.
We stayed at this hotel for four days, enjoying the busy streets of Legian, the luxury of buying $2 beer and drinking it as you walk down to the beach. Once we figured out where all the action was, the food and drink, our spirits lightened right up and we were officially on holiday.
Our favourite restaurant and love of our lives- Bella Italia. We ate here so many times it was just the best.
On the fourth day we met another driver who was taking us to our second hotel in Ubud. We also organised this driver through the hotel booking website. It was an hours drive to get us to the beautiful Kudesa Homestay. Ok, so the first impressions when we drove to this place, I was abit worried. It felt so isolated compared to Legian, where there are constant taxi's driving by. This was in a back alley, no cars, no people, and the fact that the driver laughed and asked us "what are you going to do here?!" did not help to ease my anxiety. But once we got inside and saw the amazing buildings and gardens, the friendly staff at the desk, we were okay. We reminded ourselves that Legian was too busy and this is what we wanted. A quiet sanctuary to relax.
The photos above show the view from directly outside the hotel gates. Once inside you are in a luxurious, traditional sanctuary. Bali new year was close approaching, "Nyepi Day", where the locals build these scary figures to fend away evil spirits. It was really cool to drive around and notice all these different figures in the process of being made.
Wondering around the streets of Ubud on our first night, we found an awesome little family restaurant. The husband and wife were so welcoming and friendly. We had Nasi Goreng, Mi Goreng and a coconut for coconut water and it only cost about $7.00 AU. And the food was just delicious. After all the worrying about not having restaurants galore like the busy city, then finding this gem, we were stoked. This really felt like authentic Bali which was a nice thing to experience.
The following day we were picked up to go white water rafting nearby in Ubud. We did this through Sobek Bali. These guys were so amazing and I'd highly recommend this tour. You go on such a fun adventure and see some wonderful sights. I will warn you, there are MANY stairs leading down to the water and just as many leading up, it's pretty tiring. Once you get to the end, there are showers and a buffet lunch included for a small price of $100 AU, which includes the drive there and home.
I think it was the second day of being in Ubud we decided to hire a moped to get into the town to check it out there. I was pretty nervous about being on the back of a moped in Bali, especially because the road rules are so different and sometimes non-existent. But I put my trust in Louis and gripped on tight.
As scary as it was (I didn't get used to it at all) it was a good experience and felt more adventurous. We knew we had the freedom to go anywhere any time. We drove into town and it was so cool there. It felt quite bohemian, things cost more here than Legian. But it was lovely nevertheless.
Another highlight of this area was the local waterfall. You can see this on my Youtube Video.
We somehow found our way to the famous Monkey Forest using offline Google Maps. I was so pleased that we got ourselves there and I give Louis 100% of the navigation credit and driving. I'm beginning to see a pattern here, with things being scary as well as fun, which was exactly how the monkey forest was. You have to be really careful not to look them in the eye, make sudden movements, because they can be violent. It's like gambling because you never know what might happen. As you'll see in my YouTube Video (time stamp 3:36) I had a run in with a monkey even though I was just standing there!!
The last adventure we had was the best of all. We had booked ourselves in for the Mt. Batur mountain hike. Your driver picks you up at about 1:30 or 2am in the morning, drives you about 45 minutes out to the base of the mountain where you meet up with a large group of tourists. You all get split up into smaller groups and lead by a guide, in the dark, only by torch light, to the top of Mt. Batur (1, 117 Metres up) all before sun rise. I tell you what, this trip really got me out of my comfort zone!! It sounded like fun but I didn't even consider the physical exertion needed to get to the top. It was such an intense exercise. We took regular breaks, which was exactly what I needed. I started out cold but before too long I was panting and covered in sweat, it was soo intense. In my head a little voice was telling me to give up, but I knew I had no choice but to continue as we had already come so far, and I didn't want to be embarrassed by giving up and I didn't want to ruin it for Louis.
There were people of all ages and fitness levels. I remember one man who looked about mid 40's, a little on the heavy side, was having a really hard time. It got to the point where he was having to stop for breaks really often and was literally saying he needs to give up. Everyone was encouraging him to just keep going, but I think he was the only one who went back down early.
All I can tell you, if you are put off by this story so far, is it was actually the best thing I've ever done. Louis and I were lucky enough to be the only two in our group with an amazing guide. He was so experienced with this hike and believe it or not, he does it almost every day. He wasn't puffing or panting one bit, he wasn't even hot or sweaty. He was walking as though he were walking on flat ground, I was in disbelief. He was so kind and attentive to us. As we got closer to the top, the hills got steeper, the terrain was getting alot more rocky. It was as though our guide knew each and every step off by heart, warning us of jagged edges and holes in the ground.
Toward the very tippy top now, we were asking "how much further now?". It was getting very hard, instead of walking up a steep slope now we were climbing up vertical rocky walls. The guide had to hold my hand and help pull me up. It was such relief when we finally reached the top, it was quite a large area, mostly flat now, many people already at the top having snacks. Our guide got us a hot chocolate, and warm banana sandwhiches to eat while we waited for the sun to rise.
We had hard boiled eggs that were cooked in the steam of the Volcano. Everyone was looking around, exploring the vast top that they had worked so hard to get to. I'd say there were 100 or so people. Our guide never left our side to make sure we were safe. We were just in awe of what we could see. The entire town below, was built in an old ancient Volcano crater! (See top few photos).
Just when I thought things couldn't get better, we noticed some wild monkeys on the mountain in the distance, so we went to investigate. Our guide was offering banana to them, and they came right up to us, a Mumma with her baby and many others. You get a good view of this in my Youtube Video (time stamp 4:38) That was such a beautiful moment, experiencing nature in such a raw and personal way. I almost cry when I watch it back.
The run down the mountain was hilarious, 1- because it only took like 5 minutes to get back down! And 2- because Louis kept slip sliding down and making me laugh.
It was sad to say goodbye to our guide, it felt like we shared something really special with him and we were so grateful for the care and attention he gave us.
To ease the muscles we took a dip in the natural hot spring below at a resort, the water heated by the volcano and a buffet breakfast with THE MOST AMAZING VIEW I've ever seen! (All apart of the package) You could see the entire crater, and the mountain we had climbed. Unfortunately I didn't get any photos or videos of this place.
We had done so much by the time it was 11am. Back to our room for a snooze with the sound of rain outside.
The following day, it was time to say good bye to our beloved room at Kudesa Homestay. Our hearts were so full from the past four days and brimming with joy at the memories we had created so far. In our plan, we had booked the last four nights at a resort in Kuta because we thought we might want to be back in the busy area.. As soon as we were there, the driver driving around and around trying to find the resort called Bali Sandy, seeing the streets packed with traffic, people, shops, we were kind of bummed we decided to come back to this part of town. Compared to the calm serenity of Ubud this was just intense. We had to get out on foot and pull our suitcases to get to our hotel because the driver just couldn't get access for some reason. This is the part of the holiday that was BAD...
I had come down with a flu after the hike, so I was feeling pretty crap and all I wanted to do was get into the room and lay down for a while. So the man walks us upstairs, opens the door and notices the room hasn't been cleaned yet. So he goes back down, grabs another key and sees us into a different room. It instantly smelled damp and gross. The room had damp stain on the wall, the floor was gross and sweaty, the tea and coffee in the room had to be paid for. That's not even the worst part. I go to lay on one of the beds and the pillows stink! Like so disgusting to the point I just couldn't even attempt to lay on it. I pull back the blanket and theirs hair and marks on the sheets! They had not even changed the bed linen! EW. Feeling sick and tired, now very grumpy, we went down to complain at reception and see if they could do something about it. The lady said she would send someone up to change the linen, so we sat down by the pool to wait.
There were some super bogan people by the pool, loads of kids which put me off thinking how gross the pool must be, you couldn't even get wi-fi reception by the pool. The whole place was just disgusting and a turn off, I started to panic and said to Louis "we need to find a different place right now." The following day was silent day in Bali, which meant every shop was closed, every hotel LOCKED shut so you couldn't leave. The whole place went silent for 24 hours, no internet or TV. I was in horror thinking of being trapped in this hell hole for a whole day and night, somewhere you can't even lay your head without a terrible smell. We were still waiting around for our linen to be changed so we got online and started looking for somewhere different to stay.
The first place we stayed in Legian, Panorama Cottages I, had a cousin called Panorama Cottages II. We had a look online and it seemed nice, the price was right and they had one double room available. We booked right away and went to reception to get our money back. The lady tried to only give us some of the money but we argued that we had only been here for two hours, most of which we spent at a cafe down the road because the room was so bad. Luckily we got the money back and got a cab to Panorama. The funny thing of all is that Bali Sandy Resort (the bad one) cost quite alot more than the two amazing ones.. It was just crazy that people can put up with staying there. We even spoke to a large family group and they were disgusted too, but felt they had no choice but to stay.
What relief at Panorama Cottages II! This place was beautiful. Spacious, private, peaceful, lots of plants. As we were being shown up to our room the cleaner was literally just walking out so it was all perfect timing and we felt really lucky. The room was even nicer than Panorama Cottages I from our first few days. We had a private balcony and the best view of the garden. Again, breakfast was included and we had a cute kitty cat that was pregnant, who joined us at breakfast each morning.
We went out for dinner at our favourite Bella Italia, and got extra food for the following Silent Day, because we wouldn't be able to leave the hotel and get food. It was quite pleasant being locked in this place for 24 hours. Unfortunately we couldn't go swimming because we got tattoos the day before. We just drank some beer, ate some pizza, and had chit chat on the balcony, had a nap.
The night before Silent day the locals all gathered in the town centre for the Ogo Ogo parade and there were many tourists. It was buzzing with energy and we were keen to see what might happen.
These were the scary demon figures I mentioned earlier that we saw under construction all around the place. Many Balinese boys and men were carrying these figures down the street, and the girls walked by with flame torches. They went into the distance and for the life of us we just couldn't find where they all went.
We walked the streets and tried the corn on the cob covered in chilli, it was so delicious we should have tried it from day one.
There were many other things that we got up to, some hilarious to think back on. Like getting totally lost in the maze that is Poppies Lane.
Oh Bali, so full of adventure and peace, raucous and spiritual all at the same time. We had such a wonderful time here. The food was great, some times funny and interesting, always a surprise wherever we went. I saw views I can't compare to anything else I've seen. Our plane tickets were only $250 AUD return and we only spent $1000 each on accommodation, food, drinks, shopping and transport for 12 days which I think is pretty damn good. we even got tattoos. It didn't feel like we went super budget either, I guess that's what's so great about Bali.
When I go back I'd like to stay in Ubud or other more quiet areas with beautiful scenic things to do.
Comment below any recommendations I should check out next time.
All photos shot on my Olympus power focus om101film camera.
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