Bali - Everything you need to know.

With over 17,000 islands and more than 300 ethnic groups, Indonesia's cultural diversity is nothing short of awe-inspiring. In the heart of Indonesia lies a mesmerizing paradise where the sands meet the sea. Welcome to Bali, an enchanting island that beckons the weary wanderer with its siren call of lush landscapes, vibrant culture, and captivating spirituality. Bali has the most pristine and clear beaches, exotic marine life, beautiful temples, lush green rice terraces and so much more. With just 10 days in hand, We started our journey to explore this beautiful paradise and without any second thought it became our favorite destination. Being a free soul, we did not want to be bound by package deals, tours, timings and limitations. So, we planned the whole trip on our own.

Best time to travel to Bali

April to September is considered dry season for Bali, but most tourist flock to Bali in July-September. These months are summer season in the country, which means clear sky, sunny and the weather is good this time of the year.

Cost of travelling

Major cost for travelling to Bali is the flights, as there are no direct flights from India to Bali. We planned our Bali trip 3 months before and the flights costed us around 80k round trip for 2 people. But accommodation, food, transportation, activities inside the country are fairly cheap. For 10 days we spent nearly 80k on the above things for 2 people, which makes it total 1.6L for 2 people.

Currency

Indonesian Rupiah is the currency for Bali, which is nearly 183 IDR against 1INR. For cash, do not exchange INR to IDR from India, rather buy dollars from India and get it exchanged in Bali to IDR. For 100$ you will get around 14,8 0,000 IDR, this exchange rate may vary from place to place. Exchange rate from airport is also good enough, but try to get it exchanged from authorized centers only. We used Niyo Global credit card to make payments on restaurants, hotels, etc. without any additional cost. Also, we made ATM transactions using Niyo Global credit card to get cash, which costed us additional 354INR per transaction charged by the card. ATMs in Bali do not allow making transactions more than 15L IDR at once , so its better to exchange dollars at a time.

Documents required for Visa

Visa on arrival is available for Indians, which cost 35$ per person. Required documents which needs to be carried - Passport, Accommodation proof, Return flight ticket, Covid vaccination certificate. The immigration officers did not ask us for any documents, but its better to keep them as soft copy. Fill out the gadget declaration form : https://ecd.beacukai.go.id/, before coming. We bought the local sim from Klook, which needs to be pre-booked and it costed us 1300INR for 18GB from XL Axiata, which had good service all over and was enough for 10 days.

Food

For all the vegetarians out there, who think food will be a problem- Do not worry. All over Bali there are plenty of vegan options available, even on the islands. There are vegetarian version of foods available in most of the cafes and Warungs. We found quite a few Indian restaurants, but they are rare and extremely costly. If, you do not find anything just explain the cook to make the dish without meat, most common dishes are Mee Goreng (Fried Noodles) and Nasi Goreng (Fried Rice) which can be customized easily. Use translators always to avoid any mishaps. I used google translator app and saved Indonesian script offline for easy access, this comes in handy because not many Indonesian people speak English.

Itinerary, Stay and Transportation

Day 1 : We boarded our flight from Mumbai at 1:00 AM, and reached Denpasar Airport (aka Ngurah Rai International Airport) at 3:00PM including the time difference (Indonesia is ahead of India for 2.5 hours). The immigration and custom will take nearly 2 hours. After, picking up the sim from the airport, we booked a Gojek cab to our hotel. Grab is much costlier than Gojek, but usually Gojek cabs are not allowed inside the airport. So we coordinated with the driver about the pickup. We booked all our stay through Booking.com which allows to pay during checkout, and gives enough time to cancel/update the bookings free of cost.

For day 1 and day 2, We stayed in Uluwatu. Uluwatu is a less crowded place in the southern most tip of Bali, it has a lot of pristine beaches, the famous Uluwatu Temple, beautiful beach clubs. We stayed at Ocho Bali Surf Resort. This is a beautiful little place with greenery all over the place, clean rooms and very friendly staff.

After check-in, we booked 2 Gojek bike taxi and went to Pantai Pandawa beach, to stroll around the beach and explored the area for few hours. The entry charge for Pandawa beach is 15k IDR per person. After watching the beautiful sunset from the left end of the Pandawa beach, we started back for our hotel. But, unfortunately we were not able to get any cab and we had to take lift from another tourist, be aware that cabs and bike taxi do not come to Pandawa beach for pick up because of the extra entry charge. After reaching the hotel, we relaxed in the pool for a bit.

Day 2 - For the next day, we rented a 2-wheeler from the hotel, which costed us 100k IDR per day. Starting very early, we went for a drive around the place but first got petrol which costed us 10k IDR for 1L. In the morning we decided to visit Pantai Batu Barak, which is a most picturesque place in Uluwatu but gets crowded with time. After, this we drove around exploring the town and getting into the blue waters in Pandawa beach. By afternoon, we went to the GWK cultural park to see the magnificent Garud Wisnu statue, which we booked from Klook and it costed us 1100INR for 2 people. After enjoying the tour and exhausted from the scorching heat, we headed towards one of the best beach club in Uluwatu - Palmilla Beach Club, located at Melasti Beach. It has a entry fees of 125k per person which includes 1 drink/1 bowl popcorn /1 towel. It has multiple options for beach beds which will cost extra. There is an infinity pool facing the beach, and the ambience is superb with light music, swings and a laid back environment. Food here is very affordable. We spent the whole evening here chilling in the pool and enjoying few drinks.

Day 3 - For the next day, we started our journey towards Nusa Penida. We had already booked a ferry from Klook, for a journey from Sanur port to Nusa Penida. The boat operator Maruti Fast Boat is a very good ferry company and it costed us 1100INR per person. The journey is about 1 hour from Sanur to Nusa Penida. The ferries in Bali are very basic, there is no AC, no toilets, it gets hot and suffocating in the boat, so be prepared for uncomfortable ferry rides. As soon as we reached Nusa Penida, we rented a scooter for 100k IDR per day and paid Island entry charge of 25k IDR per person.

We stayed at : Waterside Inn. This is sort of an homestay, but the beach facing rooms are superb. We got a 1st floor room, facing the pool and the beach. The view was mesmerizing, especially the sunrise. The staff is very polite and the owner will help with booking tours if required.

After check-in, we explored the beautiful roads of Nusa Penida, there are plenty of beach side cafes, beach clubs and dive centers. The roads are just parallel to the beach with beautiful views, but the roads are very narrow and not in good condition, so be careful while driving. Heading towards Kelingking Beach, the roads are very difficult but the view is all worth the efforts. The trek down to the beach is very difficult, so carry enough water and wear comfortable footwear. We went only halfway down to get away from the crowd , clicked few great pictures on the way. It was a great experience, watching the most beautiful white sand beach, turquoise blue waters and ocean water hitting the rocks.

Next spot was the Tembeling beach & natural pools, which was a location I had never seen in my life. There is a natural infinity pool facing the beach, it was nature's magic. The spring water was flowing between the rocks and got accumulated creating a pool. But this beach is 2km trek from the road, so we had to park on the road. There are bike taxis available, who take 150k IDR for 2 people and drive us till the natural pool. This spot is beyond beautiful and should not be missed.

Day 4 - For this day, we booked a snorkeling tour from the hotel in 150k per person. The tour company was named Captain Dolphino, and it was a great tour which took about 4 hours for 4 different spots. The marine life in Nusa Penida was very diverse, we did not get to see the manta rays on manta spot, but saw a pool of dolphins passing us underwater. The visibility is superb, and the corals are very beautiful.

In the second half of the day, we went to Diamond Beach, but the road is very tricky especially for 2 wheelers. For all the locations , google maps is reliable just download the offline version. Trek to diamond beach takes about 20 mins, it is little difficult towards the end. The beach is not meant for swimming, because the waves are very violent. We spent sometime on the beach, enjoyed the view and climbed back.

Day 5 - Today we were travelling to Gili islands, we booked the ferry tickets from Maruti ticket counter in Nusa Penida 2 days before, which costed us 300k IDR per person and the journey took about 3 hours. The ferry rides are not comfortable, so be prepared. We reached Gili T , the largest island among the three islands which has no vehicles, you can travel inside the island through horse cart, bicycles or on foot.

In Gili T , we stayed at Wah Resort, this property is just 1km walk from the port. We did not like the property very much, except the location which was perfect. Located right in front of the turtle point, it was perfect for swimming and snorkeling. Also, we saw the most wonderful sunrise from this location.

After check-in, we immediately jumped into the beach with our own snorkeling gears, it was simply an amazing experience, the corals are not that alive but we saw a variety of fishes, ship wreck and most awaited - the green sea turtles. After spending few hours in the beach, we started to explore the island on foot.

Gili T is a well planned island, all the resorts are located on the other side of the beach, who has their restaurant/ beach shack right over the beach. Almost every resort has a scuba dive company associated with them, so its easy to get snorkeling/diving trips. Gili T has a very chilled, laid back vibe. We started walking along the beach till the sunset spot, which was amazing. There was a low tide, beautiful sunset hues covered the sky with good music playing in the shacks. We chose a spot and soaked in the beauty of the place.

Day 6 - As soon as we reached Gili T , we had booked a snorkeling tour with Cemos and Coral Voice , for 150k IDR per person, which included photography and snorkeling gears. It was a group tour which started at 10:30 and they took us to 4 spots near the island to see the vivid corals, famous green sea turtles, diversity of fishes and my favorite the Gili Meno statues. There were around 10 people on the boat and we absolutely loved all the spots, the current was very strong because of which we could not see the statues which really broke my heart, but the marine life was beyond beautiful. We covered 4 spots, saw 3 huge green sea turtles, debris of ship wreck and beautiful coral life. After this, they took us for lunch in Gili Air and we spent few hours exploring the island. Gili Air is very small, quite place but the white sand beach was the best among the 3 islands.

After reaching back Gili T , and taking some rest we hired a bicycle from the The Good Heart Resort, near our hotel. The bicycle ride was difficult in some patches like near the port as it was very crowded, and some places where the road was covered with sand, but overall it was fun. Even after dark there are people always there on roads. By 9PM everything calms down, shops get closed and people retire to their rooms.

Gili T is famous for its magic mushrooms, which is sold very openly all around the island as mushroom shakes, we did not try it but it was available in much abundance on beach shacks.

Day 7 - This was our last day in Gili T and I wanted to see the Gili Meno statues at any cost, so we booked a private snorkeling tour from the same company for 8:30 AM in the morning, when the crowd is low and currents are not that strong. A private tour to the 4 snorkeling spots costed us 600k IDR in total, which was pretty cheap for taking a private boat at your own time, with personal guide and photographer. I would highly recommend everyone to take a private tour only , it gives you a chance to explore all the places in peace and click some beautiful pictures without the crowd photo-bombing each second.

This tour was by far the best experience for me in Bali, I jumped into the sea without life jackets and swim around with confidence, even get inside the sea and touch the statues. Our guide clicked beautiful pictures for us which we would cherish forever. In private tour you will get 2 hours, which was enough for us because snorkeling and swimming in the ocean can be tiring.

We got back from the tour, and rested a bit. After which we started our evening routing again. There are a lot of spa available in the island, we got a very relaxing full body massage from one of them, 1 hour full body massage costs 100k-150k IDR per person. After the massage it was time to spend our final night in this amazing place, so came back to drop our bikes and The Good Heart Resort was having a live music event on their beach shack, we sat down for some beer and music. They had a mesmerizing setup of lights. We even requested the singer for some Indian music and he sang a beautiful Hindi song for us.

Day 8 - It was time to leave the Gili T and go back to Ubud. We booked our ferry tickets with Semaya One Fast Boat, which was the cheapest option available. There are 2 options to go back to Bali from Gili T - either you can go to Sanur port (Via Nusa Penida) which takes 4 hours or you can go directly to Padang Bai port which takes 2 hours and the boat companies drop their passengers to their hotels via shuttle cars. Going to Padang Bai and shuttle costed us 350k IDR per person, but Semaya One is the worst ferry service in Bali. We instantly regretted booking this ferry but was the only option available. They took 4 hours to reach Padang Bai and another 2 hours to reach the hotel.

In Ubud we stayed at : Rumah Roda. This homestay was located right in the middle of Ubud Market and there were shops all around. The staff was very friendly, the place had 9 rooms and each room was beautiful, it has vintage interiors and beautiful decorations, greenery all over the place.

After check-in, we freshen up and got out to explore the Ubud market. This area in Ubud had never ending markets in all directions, there were beautiful cafes, many famous Bali temples and touristy vibes. We visited Saraswati temple and few more temples. You can choose to see the famous temple dance show in the evening , the tickets are easily available outside the temple. We did not hire 2-wheelers in Ubud because international driving license is mandatory in the city area.

At night after dinner, we enjoyed a quick music session with the care-takers of the homestay and enjoyed exchanging life stories with them.

Day 9 - For this day we booked a full day tour from the homestay , which costed us 700K IDR for 9 hours and 4-5 locations, which we chose. We started early at 8 AM to visit Tirtha Empul Temple, which is considered a very sacred place for Balinese Hindu community. The temple entry fees is 100k IDR per person and we got a sarong wrap outside the temple which was a must. This temple is beautifully built, and has multiple holy springs where tourists and locals take bath to gain spiritual cleansing of mind, body and soul. The temple campus is very radiant, with colorful fishes in the holy ponds, beautiful palaces for gods and praying areas.

After taking this spiritual bath , we started for Alas Harum - most famous rice terrace with a huge areas covered with lush green rice terraces, beautiful statues, many activities like Giant swing, sky cycling, etc. This place also has a beach club, Cretya for food, drinks and amazing 3 tier infinity pool facing the rice terrace. The entry fees for Alas Harum was 50K IDR per person, which includes watching a coffee making process, this coffee is made from the poop of Asian mongoose aka civet cat. I chose to do Bali swing activity, where they provide long train flowing dress on rent for 1 hour, to click beautiful pictures on the swing. The swing rate starts from 208k IDR for the extreme swing, with many options for super extreme swing and other packages and the dress cost starts from around 200k IDR for 1 hour. We spent few hours here, clicked pictures and started for our next destination.

After an amazing lunch at a local warung, we visited for the beautiful Tegenungan Waterfall and ended our day with Taman Dedari. We spent a delightful time in these locations and started back for the homestay.

Day 10 - After spending 2 days in Ubud, we headed towards our Seminyak to see the café culture and surfing beaches. From Ubud to Seminyak the distance was 30km which we covered in Grab bike which costed us only 150k for 2 bikes. We travelled with our backpack on the bike for 1 hour, and our back and legs gave up near the end but bike taxis are the cheapest and fastest way of transportation.

In Seminyak, we stayed at Lotus Tirta. This hotel was just 600m from the Seminyak beack, which was walking distance. After check-in , we chilled by the pool and had some lunch. In the evening we started walking towards the Seminyak beach, the coast line was never ending, as it was connecting multiple beaches. Seminyak beach had many beach shacks with colorful beans bags, budget drinks and most importantly many surf schools. The beach was crowded, with people swimming, surfing and chilling on the shacks . We enjoyed a beautiful sunset and saw fire dance, live music and walked on cool sand. People were also flying beautiful kites on the beach. It was a wonderful laid back last day in Bali.

Day 11 - After an incredible journey of 10 days, it was time to wrap up and bid farewell to the most beautiful country we had travelled so far. With so many beautiful memories weaved into our heart, and packing many unforgettable moments with us, it was time to board the plane back home. Bali is a blend of adventure, spirituality, and traveler's paradise and with a promise to return and explore more places in the country, we wave goodbye to the enchanting Bali.

I hope this post help you in planning your Bali trip.