Bali: An island which is both spiritual and sensual!
Ask anyone three things they want to do in their lives, I’m pretty sure that 9 out of 10 will mention traveling. It’s true for me too. I believe that traveling is one of the most exhilarating and eye-opening things you can do.
I’ve been thinking about what I should write about for a while and nothing seemed to inspire me much nowadays. It’s basically been about 2 months since I went to Bali, but I’ve been reminiscing on that 1 week so I decided that I should just dedicate a post recapping my time there. I should probably start at the beginning.
I’m fresh out of college and before I continue to study again for another 2 years, I really wanted to travel. So naturally, me and my best friend set off researching places we could visit that were cheap and of course beautiful. Obviously, we came across Bali. It’s Instagram famous! (Yeah. These are the words we use nowadays to describe things). So me, my best friend and her sister, decided that we wanted to see those amazing places we saw on Instagram first hand!
Just letting you know if you’re as naïve as I was that don’t expect what they show you on Instagram! :P I mean Bali is a stunning island, but all those pictures on Instagram- highly edited! Either way, it was definitely an incredible experience. It was also our first girls' trip out of the country, so we were all very excited.
We booked our tickets and we were off for a week. One recommendation I’d make if you’re planning on wanting to see all of Bali, go for at least 10 days or rather 2 weeks. We realized that one week was not at all enough. There’s so much to do there! Each city has its own specialty. The best places to go to would definitely be Seminyak, Ubud, Canggu and Nusa Penida. Naturally cz we were on a budget and were there for only a week, we only went to 2 of the 4 places I’ve mentioned. Anywho.....
OUR FIRST STOP- SEMINYAK
We decided to go to Seminyak first because we knew we’d be tired after our flight and there’s not much to do in Seminyak other than chill. If you want to have the city experience of Bali, you’ll have that in Seminyak. You can go clubbing, to the beach or just chill in your villa in your private pool! Yeah, a villa with a private pool sound expensive? They’re really not. You get villas with private pools at much cheaper rates then you would in India or anywhere else in the world so even if you’re on a budget, that’s one luxury you can still enjoy!
So in Seminyak we basically did water sports, the usual- paragliding, parasailing, banana boat etc. The interesting things to do are scuba diving. I mean if you get a chance to go underwater and explore the corals and the marine life, you should definitely take it!
Apart from that, you can go to the spa or go to beach clubs to enjoy the sunset! Seminyak beach has these colorful beanbags on the beach where you can chill and enjoy the waves and the wind with a bottle of beer!
Now when it comes to clubbing, the most famous club is Sky Garden. Get there on time or you’ll miss their buffet- unlimited food and drinks from 5-9pm. After that get your groove on and dance till 3am! Also, this club is in Kuta, and it seriously looked like that Hauz Khaas gali, a road with clubs on either side!
Interesting fact- The best way to travel in Bali would be to rent a scooty. The problem with us was that none of us knew how to drive a scooty, so we ended up hiring a cab. Cool thing is you can even hire a scooty with a driver. That’s how we came back from Sky Garden. It was late at night and that road was jam packed and our cab was taking a lot of time to get to us (use Blue Bird Taxis if you’re going to book cabs there and always use their app because there are a lot of people pretending to be Blue Bird drivers hanging around that will take much more from you) . So we negotiated with the scooty drivers and they agreed to take us. It was late at night, but we got to our hotel safely (thank god). I’m just saying it’s an option especially if you want to avoid traffic.
Now if you want to enjoy Bali’s nightlife you can stay in Kuta as well. It’s cheaper than Seminyak but I heard the crowd could get a bit rowdy, so we decided to stay in Seminyak instead. But it’s your choice. Kuta and Seminyak are very close to each other and all the good beach clubs and pubs are located all over Kuta and Seminyak.
Fav places: Potato Head Beach Club, Sky Garden Club, Alila Seminyak Beach Bar, Warung Bejana Restaurant
OUR NEXT STOP- UBUD
After exploring the nightlife in Seminyak, our next visit was Ubud. You get the real feel of Bali here! All the main attractions are closer to Ubud like- Bali Swing, Monkey Forest, Tanah Lot Temple, Mount Batur etc.
We were really excited for Bali Swing. After looking at all those pictures on instagram we were ready to see what it was all about. It was a great experience, the only problem being the looong lines! Bloody annoying. It’s a paradise for all those people that love to get their pictures taken (like my friend’s sister :P). You can even hire professional photographers to get those perfect pictures, or just tell the guy operating the swing to take the shot (they’ll do a much better job at taking the photo than you, they know all the right angles).
Another great experience was trekking on Mount Batur volcano. You leave at 2 am and travel for 2 hours till you get to the base of the volcano and then take a guide to the top which takes another 2-2.5 hours. The trek gets steep after completing half the distance and there are lots of rocks and it’s pitch black (you get flashlights). It’s also pretty famous I guess cz there were a lot of people there. The trek may seem hard if you’ve never trekked before (for the rest it’ll be a piece of cake) but it’s absolutely worth it when you get to the top. The view is just AMAZING.
You see the sunrise and you will be mesmerized! Also, our guide was great! He was talking to us about Bollywood movies, singing Bollywood songs (Kuch Kuch Hota Hai seemed to be a fav movie of his) and he even knew about the Mahabharat.
Interesting fact- The hotel we booked in Ubud was in Central Ubud (10 min walk from Moneky Forest). I’ll highly recommend everyone to book their hotels in Central Ubud cz you also get a wide variety of restaurants (of every cuisine) nearby. It’s a great street- enjoy the live music and the salsa nights!
NOW LET’S TALK ABOUT SHOPPING
You can’t go to Bali and not visit the very famous Ubud Market! It’s an arty-handicraft market. Lots of stuff sold there is hand made by the people living in the neighboring villages. They then come and sell it. You can find tons of crochet clothes (like bikinis), jewelry (a lot of funky stuff from rings to neck pieces), silk scarves, cotton sarongs, and cotton jumpsuits. But the best things to buy are the basket bags and the dreamcatchers! I mean every type of dreamcatcher of all sizes are available here. Get some for yourself and your family and friends! And the basket bags are also really cool! They’re perfect with your summer outfits and they are also available in different shapes. The best time to go to this market is in the morning (say 9am). You’ll skip the crowds and you’ll be able to bargain with the sellers and get a good price. There are also some great places to eat there, so don’t miss out on that!
Interesting fact- I noticed one very peculiar thing. I went to Goa Gajah Temple and there were stalls there too at the entrance. I found stuff cheaper there then at Ubud Market. The same thing happened when we went to Tanah Lot temple. So if you’re walking by and you find something you like, I’d suggest you buy it rather than thinking that you could buy it from Ubud Market. Chances are, they’ll probably be cheaper there than at the market. I’m not saying going there is a waste of time, cz there are lots of things you’ll see there that you won’t get anywhere else. Also, you need to find the right shops and bargain well.
PLACES TO DEFINITELY VISIT
1. Uluwatu Temple- This temple stands on top of a cliff, 70 m above sea level. Its purpose is to protect Bali from evil. Being on a cliff, be ready for some beautiful views of the sea and the beautiful sunset!
2. Tanah Lot Temple- Again, it’s a picturesque place. It’s a Balinese temple in the open sea. You don’t want to miss the sunset here as well!
3. Luwak coffee Tasting- It’s the most expensive coffee in the world, so see how it’s made, taste the coffee and buy some too!
4. Beach clubs- Just go there during sunset and enjoy the waves and the view! Potato Head beach Club is the most famous one. They could also ask you money for just sitting there but don’t worry. There are lots of options.
5. Tegalalang Rice Terrace- Yes it's going to be very hot and humid, but everything is sooo green and nice. I at least really enjoyed it!
6. Waterfalls- There are lots of waterfalls there. My advice - DO NOT GO FOR TEGENUNGAN WATERFALL. It’s not that amazing and there are lots of waterfalls much better and far more beautiful. We didn’t get the time to visit the Sekumpul Waterfall (it’s on the outskirts and could take most of your day), but if you have the time, I would recommend it. I’ve heard it’s the most beautiful waterfall in Bali.
There are some places that we couldn’t go to, but I’ve heard lots about them, so I’ll tell you a bit-
1. Canguu- It’s great for its small cafes and its coffee. The food there is great. You can ride bicycles and just lounge around. It has a different feel than Seminyak.
2. Nusa Penida- This is one regret of mine, that I couldn’t visit it. It is probably the most beautiful place in Bali. You have to take a boat ride to get to this island. You can spend a day here but if you really want to enjoy it, take 2-3 days. The island is not as developed as compared to rest of Bali, so it could get a little expensive. You can do snorkeling here, scuba diving, enjoy the view from top of Kelingking Beach (T-Rex point). There are other small islands so you can do island hopping as well. Bali is now very commercialized so going to Nusa Penida takes you closer to experiencing the real natural beauty of Bali.
Well, that’s about it. If you’re wondering whether you should go to Bali, the answer is YES! Enjoy the food, the culture, the ocean and the wind. The temples are majestic and the beaches stunning. There is everything for every type of person here.
Follow my instagram page @shagunjohari for more photos!
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