bali
To say that Bali was 'my favorite destination vacation' would be an understatement. I've traveled to roughly 14th countries in the last 5 years and Bali was beyond anything I would've expected. Maybe its because everyone was so chilled? or the beaches were so beautiful? or that a massage costs less than $10/hour... it was all of that and more! The nightlife was awesome, the food was better and the lifestyle is unmatched.
A couple of things to note while preparing for your trip to Bali: 1) Take out cash - you'll need this for cab rides, massages, and local restaurants (most take card but some only took cash)
2) Prepare for rain - pack an umbrella. the rain doesn't last long but when it rains, it pours
3) Don't rent a car, rent a scooter - the roads are REALLY confusing. The roads are very narrow and run north to south because of irrigation. Scooters or cabs are the easiest way for you to get around. In Seminyak, though, we walked everywhere.
4) Get a massage everyday - SERIOUSLY. they're so cheap, take advantage of it.
5) Go to a bali beach club - there are a couple of beach clubs on island that are popular: potato head, finns beach club, and ku de ta.
6) If you can swing it, take the day trip to Nusa Penida (this was my favorite part of the entire trip!) In my last post, I mentioned that I combined this trip with a trip to Cambodia. We did 5 days in Siem Reap, flew to Bali and spent 4 days here. Here is how we jam packed our trip:
Itinerary
Fly from Siem Reap, Cambodia >> layover in Bangkok >> Denpasar, Bali (8+ total hours of travel)
Day 1: Ubud
Day 2: Ubud & head to Seminyak
Day 3: Nusa Penida
Day 4: Seminyak & Canggu >> flew home on a 1:30am flight on our 4th night
Hotels
Ubud (2 nights): Anumana Ubud
Seminyak (2 nights): Four Points hotel
Day 1 : Ubud
Since we only had 4 days on the island, we wanted to make best use of our time by taking a tour of Ubud. We found an Airbnb Experience - Iconic Bali Swing-Waterfal-Temple Tour- that took across the west coast of the island hitting waterfalls, temples and more.
Stop 1. Your first stop is the Gates of Heaven at Lempuyang Temple
Stop 2. Tirta Gangga, which is well known as the most beautiful former royal water palace in Eastern Bali.
Stop 3. Lunch at Lereng Agung Restaurant with beautiful views of rice Terrace (lunch fees not included)
Stop 4. Tukad Cepung waterfall. Here you will also have a chance to swim in the waterfall.
Stop 5. Shanty Coffee Plantation for coffee and herb tastings .
Stop 6. Challenge your adrenaline with a swing at Tegalalang Rice Terrace, you will fly over the jungle and experience incredible views.
Stop 3. Lunch at Lereng Agung Restaurant with beautiful views of rice Terrace (lunch fees not included)
Stop 4. Tukad Cepung waterfall. Here you will also have a chance to swim in the waterfall.
Stop 5. Shanty Coffee Plantation for coffee and herb tastings .
Stop 6. Challenge your adrenaline with a swing at Tegalalang Rice Terrace, you will fly over the jungle and experience incredible views.
Stop 7. You'll then walk in a beautiful rice at Tegalalang Rice Terrace, here you can explore amazing rice field.
Day 2 : Ubud & head to Seminyak
7am Yoga: Yoga Barn in ubud - We HAD to do yoga in bali. major bucket list item. We really enjoyed our experience at this yoga studio. If you plan to go to this studio, be sure to book ahead of time. It was pretty expensive (in bali $$ terms) - it was NYC prices for their classes.
9am - 12 noon: Ubud Monkey Forest
12 - 1:30pm : cab ride to Seminyak - The cab ride cost around $30 (relatively cheap) but you can negotiate prices with your cab driver 1:30pm: Lunch at KYND
4pm - 8pm : Potato Head Beach Club (photos below) 9pm - 1am: night out in town! Mexicola
Day 3 : Nusa Penida
Day trip to Nusa Penida! We found this day trip on tripadvisors. We spent the first half of the day snorkeling. The water was SO clear - the amount of fish and coral we saw was incredible. Following the snorkel, we beach hopped on the island to places like Broken Beach, Diamond Beach, and Kelingking Beach.
Day 4 : Seminyak & Canggu
10:30am - 2pm: Beach Club @ Finns Beach Club
4pm - 8pm: Massage & shopping
8pm: Dinner @ Baliboba
1:30am: Fly home!
On our last day, we didn't realize it was the balinese new year (!) We tried to get a cab back from Finns to our hotel but all streets were closed off. We had to walk ~2+ miles back to our hotel. To give you some idea of how insane the streets were, I wanted to share this last picture -- it took us about an hour+ to get back to our hotel:
Restaurants
Seminyak:
Lola's Shaking All Day:
Ling Lings:
I tried to put as much as I could on here but let me know if you have questions!!