To the island of the Gods! – Bali

A vacation that I was looking forward to all year, in fact all my life! We always have an idea of the perfect holiday with our partner and I finally got the opportunity to plan this with my man!

Alongside our wedding preps, we began scouting for the best of hotels to make sure that each stay would be worth cherishing for a lifetime! Meanwhile, putting together a well stitched itinerary was high on our agenda as well.

While booking our flight tickets, we decided to extend our stay by a few more days, totaling up to 12 days at Bali. Just to make the best use of our time at Bali, we split our vacation to cover – Ubud, Gili Air, Nusa Penida and finally Kuta.

UBUD

Ubud is a town in the island of central Bali, made up of rice paddy fields, small farms and is a major art and culture center. There are several villages nearby where the artists display their work in galleries/workshops. The strides they have made in architecture is visible in every corner of the town and the spirit of the place makes it an enjoyable stay. The visit of ours was in early November, the onset of the rainy season at Bali, and the weather was fairly cool in the morning and early evening, but the scorching heat would set in right after 9 am and stay a little beyond 4pm.  We were lucky to have experienced overcast days too! One thing we observed was, every cab driver we met at Ubud was a tad too friendly and very soon we began to feel at home!

On the first day of our Stay at Bali, we checked in to a Villa with the pool having a splendid view of the rice paddy fields. After a merry dip in the waters and a filling brunch, we headed out to explore the Ubud market. As we walked around there were a few people handing out tickets for a traditional Balinese dance performance at the Ubud Palace. We watched the Legong Dance and the depiction of the Ramayana in the ancient Balinese dance form. Our hunger was satiated after dining at an Indian Restaurant which we spotted opposite the Ubud Palace.

Our driver insisted on us, visiting the Windu Sari art shop for souvenir purchases, as everything was under one roof and would shield us from the wrath of the sun, cocooned in the cool air of the air conditioners.

We did pick a few things, but finding the articles quite pricey, we decided to put off our shopping to the last day of our stay at Bali. The area around the art store encompassed some magnificent structures. ATV ride in the marshy forests of Bali is what we found more challenging than the initial plan of white water rafting in Ayung river, and sure enough, it didn’t fail to meet our expectations. The day ended with a rejuvenating Balinese massage at the spa of our resort.

We spent a considerable chunk of the next morning sauntering amidst the rice terraces at Tegallalang and found a lot of wonderful photospots. We walked to the Tegenungan waterfalls and bought the tickets, and chose to admire the beauty of the waterfalls from a distant café where we had our breakfast of an over sized tender coconut and a fruit platter. After a quick change at our hotels, we visited the Tirtha Emphul temple to take a dip in the holy waters. 

Early next morning we wandered through the rice fields soaking in the rays of the sun, hopping along the deserted roads and all of this was quite a beautiful experience by itself.

The breakfast at our resort was more of a feast than a humble one and we thoroughly relished each bite. For the remaining half of the day, we explored the hotel grounds, admired the beautiful architecture, shopped at their souvenir store, climbed down the narrow creeks to the Ayung river.

The night that followed was rather colourful, as we got a front seat during the Traditional Balinese dance performances along with a 5-course meal at the Restaurant. Though we must admit that most of the Balinese cuisines don’t tantalise our taste buds, we had a fair tasting experience of their dishes covered in peanut sauce and lemongrass.

GILI AIR

We reached Gili Air by a fast boat, enjoying the warm breeze ruffling our hair and sipping on chilled beer as it raced through the ocean . Our cidomo rides were waiting for us at Gili Air harbor. The horses tottered along the narrow roads carrying us and a few of our luggage to the other end of the island where our Resort was located.

The welcome at our resort was rather warm. We were escorted to an exquisite palatial villa decorated with furniture in shades of pink and white, whose balcony overlooked the beach.

With rented bicycles we pedaled through the dainty streets to tour this tiny island. Gili Air being a mere 1.5 km in diameter overall, it took us not more than 15 minutes to reach the other corner of the island.

This island is lined by a variety of restaurants and beach bars on both the northern and the southern sides, each emanating a different vibe altogether. We hopped from one restaurant to another before settling down on a certain one to have our dinner for the night.

Scuba Diving was on our itinerary for the next day at Gili Air. After a quick pre-dive session in the pool, we were driven in a boat along with other divers to the dive location. Wearing and fixing our Spandex suits, oxygen tanks, flippers and goggles we took a backward plunge into the ocean. The next 45 minutes of our dive was absolutely enthralling. We could explore the marine life- sea turtles, clownfish, angelfish and large coral bommies at Meno wall as we dived upto 13 metres underwater. We tried to make the best of the remainder of our stay at Gili Air by visiting the unexplored shops, chatting with the lively shopkeepers, stopping by different restaurants to try their mouth watery dishes, walking by the beach and finally savoring the feeling of being pampered at our hotel.

NUSA PENIDA

Our ferry reached Nusa Penida close to mid afternoon. Crystal Bay beach being the closest to our resort on this island, we set off in the evening on hired bikes. We settled down on the beach sands while we watched the sun set into the horizon changing its colors from a bright yellow to a dark orange. Once the skies turned dark, we huddled  back to our resort for the fear of losing our way on the steep sloped roads and the thick jungles.

The second day at Nusa Penida was a very eventful one. We hired a cab for the whole day to explore multiple locations on the island. Our first stop was Kelingking beach which has a T-rex shaped cliff. It had one of the most marvelous views we had ever seen! We walked down till the neck of the T-rex cliff to take a few shots on our go pro. However, the walk back up was quite taxing owing to its cliffy nature.

We drove over to Angel’s Billabong next – one of the highly photographed spots in Nusa Penida. It has a natural infinity pool enveloped between the cliffs and an arch, making it a picturesque sight. In order to be able to step into the pool, one must visit during low tide. However we got here during high tide. We could marvel the beauty of this location since we got here a wee bit early. As we were leaving, we noticed a crowd of travelers flocking in.

We tasted the best Nasi Goreng in Bali at one of Nusa Penida’s most sought after restaurants – The Warung Jungle. The food served, was mouth watering and well prepared.

We had seen and heard a lot about the Rumah Pohan Treehouse and the thousand islands viewpoint, and were overly curious to have a look for it ourselves. Our cab driver agreed to take us there on our insistence. On reaching however, there seemed quite a few steps leading down to it. Walking back up would surely be a herculean task, given that we had already had a very exhausting morning walking up and down the steep crags. Nevertheless, we decided to give it a shot having come so far, the view that we got from the tree house was absolutely mesmerising and worth the effort put!

The day ended with us stopping by the Diamond beach. The beach has been recently opened for the public with a set of carved stairs leading down. The white sands, velvety blue waters and the stairway make for magnificent views!

A quick chat with the cab driver who was a localite, gave us an insight about snorkeling activities that happen at Nusa Penida. We struck a very reasonable deal for snorkeling for 4, the next day in a private boat for 2 hours. We woke up very early the next morning, dressed in our swimsuits, rushed to be punctual for our little underwater adventure. We had an incredible time as we snorkelled around the 4 points – Manta, Gamat, Crystal Bay and the Toya Pakeh Wall. We got a good peek into the wide variety of aquatic life alongside a few bites from the passing jelly fishes as we swam around.

KUTA

A ferry took us back to Bali mainland and we got off at the Sanur port. To pass time after checking into our hotel at Legian, we walked around the area and discovered a souvenir store where we picked several articles symbolizing Balinese culture to carry back home. We had a cab waiting, to drive us to the Uluwatu temple- A Balinese Hindu sea temple located in Uluwatu. Perched atop the steep cliffs overlooking the Indian ocean, one can witness an enchanting sunset alongside the waves hitting the shore. Kecak dance performances take place everyday at scheduled timings in an amphitheater within the premises. Balinese architecture, intricate sculptures and artistically designed gateways add to the charm of the Uluwatu Temple.

On the way to the Uluwatu temple, we made a quick stop at the Lumbung Sari house of Luwak Coffee to try out the authentic Kopi Luwak coffee also known widely as the poop coffee. Kopi Luwak is the coffee that is made out of the digested and fermented coffee cherries passing through the intestines of the Asian Palm civets. Meanwhile, we were also given a variety of other teas and coffees for sample tasting. They had a store where we swung by to buy some fresh Indonesian tea to take home with us.
Lemongrass tea, Lemon tea, Bali cocoa and Ginger tea is what we absolutely loved and purchased!

A romantic candlelight dinner by the beach serving Indian delicacies was an icing on the cake and a perfect end to the day. We managed to get a few quiet and magical moments in this beautiful setting laid out specially for us.

As planned, we chose to shop on the last day of our stay at Bali. We dropped by the Bali Bidadari Batik and the UC Silver Gold art gallery to pick the traditional make articles by the artisans. Ubud art market was our final stop for the day where we picked lots of Balinese style home decor pieces.

Bali was very welcoming and a marvelous place! Overly friendly people, hospitable staff at the hotels we stayed at, the happy vibe, the laid back and relaxed aura of the islands, lush untouched greenery, lovely cafes in every corner and the numerous shopping options! Though our itinerary was quite thorough, we missed on visiting several parts of north Bali and a few of the islands. Our stay at the Gili Air was something that would stay etched in our memories for a long long time! While leaving Bali we vouched to come back for yet another vacation, a much relaxed one the next time!

Takeaways:

• Car charters: We booked most of our car charters ( Ubud, Nusa Penida and Kuta) at Klook, at reasonable prices. The drivers sent were experienced, had a fair knowledge of the local places and were very friendly.
• Hotel rooms: these we booked mostly on Agoda, Booking.com and Airbnb, and we tried to get the best deals at the time of booking.
• Shopping: Agung Bali Oleh-Oleh near Legian sells Bali Souvenirs at bargain prices. We bought some wonderful pieces of art at the Ubud Art market after bargaining for one third the price.
• Currency: It is best to convert INR to USD in India as the exchange rate for USD in Bali is quite good. There are many reputed money changers seen in all the major locations which offer anything between 13300 to 14000 IDR for 1 USD.
• Charger: The standard used in Bali is a two-pin round plug with- Voltage: 230V, Frequency:50 Hz, Power sockets: type C/F
• It is advised to avoid eating unclean street food or at smaller restaurants in order to avoid the Bali stomach. Always carry/purchase packaged drinking water.
• This vacation being our honeymoon, we chose to spend a little too lavishly for the food, stays and experiences. But, Bali can definitely be a budget vacation if planned accordingly. There are plenty of accommodations and restaurants offering good food at lower prices.
• Ubud has plenty of Gourmet ice-cream stores which sell vegan ice-creams made of coconut milk.

Stays:

• Ubud- Samkya Villas, Ayung Resort
• Gili Air- Pink Coco Resort
• Nusa Penida- Merta Beach bungalows
• Kuta- S18 villas

Activities:

• ATV ride- Silakarang Adventure, Gianyar
• Scuba diving- Blue Marlin dive, Gili Air

 Restaurants

• Ubud/ Kuta – Tanjung Benoa Beach resort, Milk & Madu cafe, Potato Head Beach club, Queens of India
• Gili Air– Bel Air, pink coco resort, coffee and thyme, Boogil’s sunset Lounge bar and resto
• Nusa penida – Penida colada beach bar, Warung Jungle, Namaste Bungalows, Zactie bar, Penida Minang Beach resto and bar