8 Days in BALI : A backpacker trip #RomanticPlaces

UBUD- Monkey Forest, Ubud palace and Saraswati temple.

To begin with we started our journey from Bangalore at 11.15 PM to Bali and had a 2 hours layover in Bangkok. We reached Bali around 11.15 AM. Our taxi was pre-booked so we need not to exchange any money at the airport(usually currency exchange rates are lower at airport). For our first stay we have booked our hotel in UBUD which was approximately 40 kms from the airport and by 1.30 PM we reached our hotel.

By 3.30 PM we were ready to explore the nearby places but before that we had to exchange our money and buy a SIM card. There were many currency exchange counters but it is always advisable to do a exchange from a authorized shop which will give you a receipt. (Please do not fall for the trap, exchange rates are always higher in local shops and it is very easy for them to fool a tourist as they are expert in it ;P). And it is  advisable to exchange smaller amounts so that you can easily keep a count on it and it will be easy to carry.

Note: You need to convert INR into Dollars or Pounds first. As it will be difficult to find a shop where you can  convert INR to IDR directly

After exchanging the money we first bought a SIM card which costed us 150k IDR (approx 750 INR) with 6 GB data plan and no talk time which was sufficient for our 8 days.

After getting the SIM card it was the time to check out the nearby places. Monkey Forest which was 10 mins from your hotel was our first destination. After visiting the Forest which took approx 30 mins to cover we headed over to Saraswati temple. Saraswati temple was approx 2 kms away from Monkey forest. After visiting Saraswati temple we went to UBUD palace which was adjacent to the temple. You can cover both the places in approx 20 mins. Opposite to UBUD palace, there is an UBUD art market where you will get to see all handicrafts traditional things and you can buy gifts for your loved ones (please note bargaining is the key here)

Apart from this there is no much to explore in night in UBUD as all the shops and restaurants are closed by 10 PM and most hotels have their own recreational activities.

Entry Fees:
Monkey forest- 80k IDR (approx 400 INR)/Head
Saraswati temple - Free entry
Ubud palace - Free entry

There are cultural dance shows which happens everyday in UBUD palace and Saraswati temple. If you are interested for these shows you can buy tickets extra which will cost 100k IDR (approx 500 INR)/head

Tukad cepung waterfall,Taman Tirthagangga and Lempuyang temple (Gate of Heaven)

Today we started our day a bit early as we had to travel a long distance. At 8 AM we came out and rented a scooter for 2 days which costed us 140k IDR (approx 700). You can also rent a car which will cost 500k IDR (approx 2500 INR)/day. After having breakfast we headed towards Tukad cepung waterfall which was 28 kms from our place. We reached waterfall at 10AM. From the entrance after walking few meters and climbing down few steps almost 100 steps we went inside a cave to witness the beautiful and mesmerising view of the waterfall.

Around 12 noon we left the place for our next destination taman Tirthagangga which was 36 kms away from the current place. As we were not aware of the roads and was travelling in scooter the roads were steep and scary ( if you are not a good rider please avoid travelling in scooter). At 1.30PM we reached our second place. After roaming there for 30 mins we had our lunch and by 3 PM we started our trip for Lempuyang temple which was 6 kms away. The road towards the temple are really very steep, please be very careful if you driving/riding on your own. Lempuyang temple (Gate of heaven) is usually famous for the instagram pictures. While entering the temple you will get a token number and to enter this temple mandatorily you need to wear a sarong. The token number will be used to call your names in sequence wise to take the picture on Gate of Heaven. We were late in reaching the place so we had to wait for 1 hour or more for our turn to take a picture which we could not do as we were travelling on our own and we had to return back before the sunset because of the roads. So by 4.30 PM we left the place and had to travel 70 kms back to our hotel. By 7  PM we reached our hotel and spent the evening by the pool.

Entry fees:

Tukad cepung - 15k IDR (approx 75 INR)/head
Taman tirthagangga - 30k IDR (approx 150INR)/head
Lempuyang temple - No fees ( but you need to donate some amount at the entrance )

Tegenungan waterfall, Goa Gajah, Tegalalang rice teracce fields and Tirtha Empul temple.

Today is our last day in UBUD so after breakfast we visited Tegenungan waterfall which was 12 kms away and we took 30 mins to reach there. We reached the place by 9:30 Am so the crowd was less and could easily take a picture inside the nest 😉. After clicking the pictures we walked down to the fall and enjoyed  the dip in the water. After this we went to our hotel to get fresh (you can directly visit the next place if you are coming from far as our hotel was nearby we preferred to go back and freshen up). We visited the next place Goa Gajah by 1.30 PM which was located 4 kms from our place. Goa Gajah is a small temple and it won't take more than 15 mins to cover the area. Sarong is mandatory to visit the temple.

After visiting the temple, we headed towards Tegalalang rice terrace. There are many cafe's where you will get to see the spectacular view of the rice terraces. It was raining during the time we reached, so we waited at the terrace restaurant and enjoyed the rain and the view. When the rain stopped we went for the Bali swing (there are many other activities you can do). After Bali swing, we headed towards the Tirtha Empul temple which was approximately 6 kms from our current place.

Tirtha Empul also known as Holy Spring. Tourist from all over the world come to this temple to worship as each spring water has different meaning. If you are planning to go to holy spring it is advisable to carry extra cloths. By 7 PM we returned back to our hotel and then we ended our day with the most famous Balinese massage in UBUD.

Entry fees:
Tegenungan waterfall- 20k IDR (approx 100INR/head)
Goa gajah/elephanta cave - 50kIDR (approx 250INR/head)
Bali swing- 100k IDR (approx 500INR/head)
Tirtha empul temple- 50k IDR (approx 250INR/head)

Taman Ayun, Coffee plantation and Tanah Lot

Today we had to check out from UBUD so we returned our bike in UBUD and hired a cab for a day tour and transfer to our next stay at Seminyak.

We started our day a bit late around 11 AM for Taman Ayun temple which was approx 16 kms from our place and within 45 mins we reached there. Sarong is mandatory in this place. We roamed around the place within 30 mins and relaxed a bit at the park which is located within the temple premises. The next place was a coffee plantation where we got to taste 12 different varieties of tea and coffee for free. Bali famous coffee "Luwak coffee" was also available but  we had to pay 50K IDR which we didn't opt for. We purchased few products from the shop because we liked the flavour for some tea and coffee (the products are really very expensive). After finishing the lunch we went to our next place that was Tanah Lot temple which was 5 mins drive from the coffee plantation. Tanah Lot is one of the most famous temple in Bali and you can really enjoy the spectacular view during sunset. As we have hired the car we reached the place in the afternoon itself so we missed the sunset 😒and it took us 1 hour to cover all the places inside the temple(try to visit the place after 4 PM because the place is very sunny and hot during afternoon) after clicking pictures we left for our next hotel in Seminyak which was 17 kms away.

After reaching our destination we spent our evening in exploring Seminyak market.

Entry fees:
Taman Ayun temple- 50K IDR (approx 250 INR/head)
Tanah Lot temple - 60K IDR (approx 300 INR/head)

Lembongan Island

After reaching Seminyak we contacted local travel agents for our Lembongan and Nusa Penida tour. Today we have booked our lembongan island tour and our pick up time from hotel was 8.30 AM so after breakfast we got a hotel pickup to Sanur port. The transfer from Sanur port to lembongan was through a speed boat and it took 45 mins to reach lembongan island. There are different packages available for the island tour, you can choose your package based on your requirement. We opted for only island tour (excluding snorkelling) which included devil's tear, panorama point and mangrove tour.

After reaching the island, our guide took us to visit the scenic points our first point was devil's tear and it took  10 mins for us to cover the place and then the next point was panorama point which is a small point for a glance of the island. The next point was mangrove tour where we were taken inside a forest in a canoe. The view will have resemblance from Hollywood movies 😉. Maximum it will take 15 mins to cover the place and then the guide took us for our lunch which was also covered in the tour package.

After lunch we went to a beach which was near to the restaurant and spent the afternoon there. By 4 PM we got pickup for our transfer to Sanur port and by 6 PM we reached our hotel.

If you have less days in hands in Bali, you may skip lembongan island tour as there are not many spectacular sites in this island.

Around 8 PM we planned to go out again and visit the DMZ Bali 3D Art museum which was really amazing and we got some wonderful pictures from there. We booked cab through GOJEK app which was really affordable and it's readily available.

There are several locations in Bali where you can find the 3D museums.

Entry Fees:
Lembongan island tour-800K IDR (4000 INR/head)
DMZ 3D Museum- 125K IDR (625 INR/head)

Garud Vishnu, Uluwatu temple and Kecak Dance

Today we thought to start our day a bit late as we were covering nearby places. So today again we hired a scooter for 3 days which costs us 200k IDR ( approx 1000 rupees).

At 12.30PM we started our journey towards Garud Vishnu which was around 17 kms from our hotel. We prefered to travel around the city in bike but be careful you need to have an international driving license as there might be checking inside city limits. Once we reached garud vishnu we chose to walk till the garud vishnu statue (there are shuttle service available from the enterance to the garud vishnu statue which will costs 30K IDR (150 INR/head)). The premise is really very big and there are different shows happening throughout the day. We got to watch few traditional shows and we bought few souvenir which I felt unique. To cover the whole area it will take few hours we started late so we had to rushed to our next destination Uluwatu temple to witness the sunset. Uluwatu temple was around 11kms from Garud Vishnu and we reached the place on time to watch Balinese traditional kecak dance and the beautiful sunset. After spending the evening we planned our dinner at Jimbaran beach which is famous for seafood. If you love sea food you can visit this place for a sunset dinner.

Then after dinner we headed back to our hotel and ended our day.

Entry fees:
Garud Vishnu-125K IDR (625 INR/head)
Uluwatu temple- 30K IDR (150 INR/head)
Kecak dance - 100K IDR (500 INR/head)

Nusa Penida Island tour

Today we were about to check out from Seminyak hotel and transfer to Kuta but we booked Nusa penida tour so we kept our luggage and bike in the hotel. The pickup from the hotel was at 6 AM and the boat timing was at 8 AM. So we reached Nusa Penida island by 9.30 AM. The Nusa Penida island is very big and there are different your options available, we chose our package for Western Nusa Pendia which includes kellingking beach, angel's Billabong, broken beach and Atuh beach.

Our cab was ready at the port to give us the island tour. Our first point was kellingking beach, the view was one of the best view from all the locations. We could only view the beach because to reach the beach we had to go downhill over 1000 steps which was not possible in our limited time span ( if you have more time you can choose to stay overnight at the Penida island and go for this trek). Our next spot was angel's Billabong and broken beach, both the places are adjacent. The place was too hot and too sunny during the afternoon 🥺. The roads in the whole island is very bad and rocky (do not ride on your own it's very dangerous). Once we completed the three spots we headed towards our lunch which was included in our package and then our last spot was Atuh beach. The last spot was basically for our lesuire and we went for swim. We got our pickup by 4 PM and we reached sanur port by 6 PM. Once we reached our hotel we took our luggage and bike and headed to our next hotel at Kuta.

Entry fees:

Nusa Pendia island tour - 800K IDR (4000 INR/head)

Parasailing, Jet ski and Finn's beach club

Today we were in Kuta and our hotel was near to Kuta market. As today was our last day we planned to do some shopping first. We went to Kuta market and the market was quite reasonable as compared to Seminyak and Ubud. Once we finished shopping we kept our bags in the hotel and headed towards Nusa dua for some water activities. Nusa dua is famous for water sports activities we opted for jet ski and para sailing. Once we completed our activities we had our lunch and came back to our hotel. We had to return our bike today which we took in Seminyak so we went to Seminyak and returned the bike. We hired a cab from Seminyak to Finn's beach club which is one of the famous beach club in the city as we had to return our bike we missed the sunset at the beach club. There are no entry fees at the club but to book a table we had to deposit our credit card and we were given a token for the table. By 9 PM we came out from the club and went to our hotel as we had a early morning flight to catch on next day.

So this is how we planned and covered few places in Bali in 8 days. We saved some money in travelling because we have hired scooter instead of cab and we got some good deals in hotels too 😉

Hotels
Puri asri villa Ubud - Rs 2500 per day
7 bidadri Seminyak - Rs 1800 per day
Angkul angkul segara beach Kuta - Rs 1800 per day