How I spent 13 days in Bali Part 1

I have been waiting a long time to get out of India and I'm so glad I chose Bali as my first international destination. Although I spent 13 days on this beautiful island, it still felt too short. In the blog, I'm going explain my journey as detailed as possible as this might help those who are travelling abroad for the first time.

I started my trip from Bangalore. Took a late night Air Asia flight to Bali via Bangkok. Arrived at Don Mueang Airport, Bangkok at 4:30am local time. At the airport, I had to go through security again where I was asked to take off my shoes and throw out drinking water before my next flight to Bali. I mention this because we are usually not asked to take off our shoes at the security and we can also carry drinking water on domestic flights in India. Once I was done with security, I headed towards the departure gates. Bought a sandwich and a bottle of water. Since I did not carry Thai Baht with me, I had to pay for these items using my credit card. The vendors only accept card payment if you buy items worth 200 THB minimum. So if you are unwilling to spend that much on a snack, do ensure to either pack enough food for your flight or pre book your meal on the flight or even consider carrying a small amount of THB.

My flight departed from Bangkok on time and landed at Bali at 11:30am local time. I headed straight to the immigration counter. I already had an e-visa which I applied on the Indonesian eVoA website - https://molina.imigrasi.go.id/. It costed me IDR 500K plus IDR 19K (convenience fee) which I was okay with paying because that way I got to skip the queue at the payment counter. My immigration was done in less than 15 minutes. After that I had to go through customs which was another very easy process. All I had to do is scan a QR code that was available near the luggage belt. I had to declare everything that I was carrying with me. They checked the online form, scanned my bags and that's it! I was ready to start my vacation at Bali. On my way towards the exit, I exchanged some money at the money change counter.

I booked a Grab taxi to my hotel at Canguu. There is a Grab Lounge right outside the airport where you can wait until your cab arrives. It costed me roughly IDR 300K to get to my hotel.

I stayed at Salty Shakas Bamboo Stay. They had small cottages completely made out of bamboo. Although the rooms had no concrete walls, it still had an air conditioner. The bathrooms were common which were well maintained. After checking in, I decided to go out and explore Canguu as I planned on spending only one night in this town. I got out, booked a Grab bike taxi and headed to Krisna money changer to exchange USD to IDR. The person at the counter was very friendly and happily exchanged money for me. I would recommended this money changer to anyone who is in Canguu. Next, I headed to the popular Tanah Lot Temple.

Since I reached there at 5pm, the temple was crowded with tourists. There are several shops right after the temple entry selling souvenirs, food, etc. The temple was beautiful to look at from the outside. The place of worship was closed for outsiders.

After finishing seeing around Tanah Lot, I headed back towards Canguu main town. I decided to go for a body spa as my body was feeling tired because of a 10 hour long flight journey the previous night. I spotted Anjani Bali Spa on the street and decided to give it a try. I opted an hour long body spa and it was brilliant. I would recommend this place to anyone who is hanging around the Pantai Batu Bolong road which is near the beach. After my spa, I headed to Sand bar for dinner.

I ordered Mie Goreng and a local beer Singaraja. Both were delicious! My day in Canguu was well spent but sadly it was time to return to my hotel to rest as I had to wake up early the next day to catch a boat to Nusa Penida.

The following day I woke up at 5am and checked out of my hotel. I booked a Grab taxi to Sanur port. My Airbnb host in Nusa Penida booked a ferry ride for me to the island. I had to go the office to exchange the online confirmation for a physical ticket. The ferry left exactly 7:30am and reached Nusa Penida at 8:20am. The Penida island is quite remote. There is no Grab or Go-Jek service available here. There were several taxi drivers at the port offering a ride which I was reluctant to take initially but had to give in eventually as there is no other mode public transport available. The driver drove me to my hotel for IDR 100K. My Airbnb host welcomed me but he said that since I arrived early, there was no room available. So I left my bags at the reception and headed to Pure Dive Center as my plan for the next 3 days was to get trained in the open water diver course.

The dive center was 5 minute walk from my hotel. After arriving at the resort, I met with my dive instructor, Alex. He was very friendly. He explained everything that I needed to know under water and on the first day I had a confined pool session. Since this was my first time at scuba diving, I must say that this is not as easy as it looks.

The oxygen cylinder is very heavy to carry outside of water and breathing through oxygen supply under water does not feel comfortable at first. So to all those are wanting to try Scuba diving, do keep these things in mind before you sign up for the open water course. I had two pool sessions on the first day. The resort served lunch in between the two sessions which was well prepared. One could choose between Nasi Goreng, Mie Goreng and Fish soup with rice. My pool session ended at 6pm and it was time for me to head back to my hotel and get a good night rest.

Next day, I was up by 6:30am. Breakfast at Airbnb was served right outside my room at 7am. Breakfast at the hotel was complimentary. I could choose between different types of eggs or a fruit bowl. It came with toast and orange juice. After breakfast, I headed to Pure Dive again for second day of diving session. I was given a wet suit to wear. The resort have their own boats and all equipment like oxygen cylinders, masks, snacks, towels, etc were loaded to the boat. All I had to do was get on to the boat wearing my wet suit. The boat ride to manta point was 45 minutes long. I went as deep as 12m and could spot several manta rays. They are huge and beautiful creatures. They prefer not to be bothered so it is important for all divers to keep distance from them.

After the first dive, I was back on the boat. I was given biscuits and fruits to eat. We then headed to the second diving point which was close to the resort. The second diving spot had more coral reefs which were beautiful to look at. I had to do all skills that I learnt the previous day in the open water. This included removing my mask underwater and putting it back on and also removing the oxygen supply from my mouth and inserting in my mouth again. After lunch, my instructor wanted me to do another pool session and this finished at 6pm.

I was up again at 6 am the next morning. Had my complimentary breakfast of eggs and toast and made my way to the diving resort. Wore my wet suit and got on to the boat. We went back to the manta point. Apart from Mantas this time, I also spotted a sting ray, sea turtle and a few clown fish.

The second dive was again admiring coral reefs near the resort and here I went as deep as 18m which is the maximum depth the open water diver course allows a diver to dive under water. One thing I struggled with the most on the first two days was controlling my buoyancy. But on the third day, I was finally able to do much better.

After reaching back to the resort, I had lunch and then I had to write my final exam. The final exam had about 50 MCQ questions. I passed the test and Alex, signed my online certification. Overall, it was one of the greatest learning experiences so far and I would encourage anyone interested in getting certified in Bali should definitely do this with Pure Dive resort.

I stayed an extra day on the Penida island to explore the area as I had not done any sightseeing for the last 3 days. I hired a scooty from my Airbnb property for IDR 100K/day. I decided to start with exploring east Penida first. On the way I spotted a nice view of Mount Agung.

My first stop was at a temple - Goa Giri Putri Temple. I had to climb about 100+ steps to get to the temple. On entering the temple, I had to pay IDR 50K for registration. Then they told me to crawl inside a small hole. After managing to squeeze myself inside, I had to crawl in a little more and finally I could stand up.

I was inside a huge cave which I did not expect to see. It was very cool inside compared to the hot and humid weather outside. Priests were performing their rituals in different parts of the cave. It was almost a 100m walk to the end of the cave where there was the main temple.

I had to climb down another 100 steps on the other side to exit the temple. I then headed for lunch as I wanted to cool down a little. I went to Cactus Beach Club and Restaurant.

I had a Tuna sandwich with a refreshing mocktail. After lunch, I headed to diamond beach. It was a long 40 minute ride to the beach.

On reaching the diamond beach, I had to pay IDR 10K plus IDR 5K for entry and vehicle parking fee. The view from the cliff was beautiful.

There were steps that one could use to go down to the beach but I did not wish to do so. After enjoying the view at diamond beach, I then headed to Kelingking beach which was on West Penida. Since my phone had no network, it was hard to navigate to West Penida. I took several incorrect routes and got lost on the way. The locals did not speak English and they hardly had any idea about the tourist spots on the island. But I finally managed to get to Kelingking Beach. The sun was setting by the time I reached.

Again the view from this cliff was mesmerizing. There were steps built for one to go down to the beach but I decided not to go as it was getting dark. On the way back to my hotel, I stopped for dinner and retired back to my room.

My last day ended well with this beautiful sunset at Nusa Pendia.

Few things to note when planning your travel to this island:

1. The island quite remote. There is very weak or no mobile network available. I was using XL axiata service provider. There was wifi connection available at my hotel but when I was outside, I hardly had any network in my phone. Ensure to download offline maps so that there are no problems finding your way around the island.

2. There are very few gas stations on this island. If you have rented bike and are looking to refill the gas tank, you will find several kiosks who sell petrol and they usually sell at the official rate. If they sell at a premium, you can try your luck and go a little further. It is most likely that you will find another kiosk selling petrol at the right price.

3. Basic necessities like bottled water and food is more expensive when compared to other towns in Bali probably because businesses here have to put in more efforts to source goods to this island. So ensure to factor this in when planning out your budget.

Today, I was up early again as I had to catch a ferry back to Bali island. I requested my owner if I could use the scooter I rented the previous day to go to Banjar Nyuh port. He agreed and the property caretaker accompanied me to the port. I took a ferry to Sanur port and reached by 9:30am. My next stop was Ubud from there. So I rented a scooter online which was delivered at the port. I rode to Ubud which was 40kms. I checked into an Airbnb. After resting for some time, I went to see the sacred monkey forest. The forest was nice to look at with several monkeys living in it.

Entry fee to this forest was IDR 80K for foreigners but I felt this was quite high and not really worth it. Later in the evening, I decided to walk down to Indomart which is one of the largest supermarket chains in Bali. I bought cup noodles and there was hot water available at the supermarket. That was my dinner. I had to rise very early next morning so slept early.

I'm going to end my blog here. Thank you so much reading! I hope you enjoyed reading my Bali travel experience so far. Stay tuned for Part 2.