BALI TRAVEL GUIDE

octobre 29, 2017

It was our first time in Bali for Maxime, Hélène and I. We heard so much about this beautiful island in Indonesia, we were really excited to go there together. We stayed there two weeks, but now I’m back in Paris and I can tell you that 2 weeks is not enough to travel and see everything this island has to offer. If we had known we would have plan at least 3 weeks. But anyway, I think it’s a good reason to go back there, I really fell in love for this little paradise, so I’ll definitely be back.

I loved Bali for so many things: the Balinese culture – which you can find everywhere in the streets-, people always smiling, the trendy cities in the south (Seminyak, Canggu…) but also the wild side of Ubud, more typical, with more locals and the wonderful jungle of palm trees. My only regret is about the sea, it’s really polluted, everywhere we went we could find plastics in the waves and it’s a really big problem in Bali, that made me sad more than once. The ocean is really important to me, and I don’t like when people don’t respect it.

WERE TO STAY IN BALI

📍UBUD

. Kamandalu Hotel – in collaboration

It’s like a traditional village concept incorporating luxury accommodation within a natural landscape that features productive rice terraces. But what I loved the most about this hotel is the view of the jungle. We had a lovely villa in front of it and it was just breathtaking to wake up in the middle of the wild palm trees.

. Private villas in Ubud (Airbnb or Booking)

We stayed 3 days in a wonderful villa, it was so great to have our own place with 2 bedrooms and a pool. After a lot of research, I can tell you that using Airbnb and Booking to find some private villa is the best way to stay in Bali and also the cheapest!
For example we stayed at the Alosta Luxury Private Villa for 3 nights for only 375€ (so we paid 42€ per night per person). Most of the Villa have employees, they can help you book some scooters/taxis/activities and the breakfast is always included.

📍JIMBARAN (south)

Ayana Resort – in collaboration

This resort is one of the most famous here in Bali, it’s also one of the most expensive but when you discover the 12 pools, the wonderful beach and the famous Rock Bar where you can watch the most beautiful sunsets you understand why. This place is really insane and we wished we could have stayed more than one night to see and enjoy more of it.

📍CANGGU/SEMINYAK/BADUNG

This part of the island is really hype, this is where you can find a lot of Australians, the best Açaï Bowl of the island and a lot of cute shops. We stayed every night there in Airbnb in some cute villas with pool. Honestly, there are too many offers with beautiful villas for a really cheap price, we had a lot of choices.
Where we stayed : Umah Joglo Villa and Yoma Villa

TRANSPORTATION IN BALI

I think this is really important because as a tourist for the first time I really didn’t know what to expect.
As you may know, Bali is well-known for having a lot of scooters, so renting a car here is a really bad idea, there is no parking spots anywhere, and the traffic is longer in cars because of the scooters everywhere.I recommend renting a scooter, you can found scooters EVERYWHERE in Bali. First I wanted to look on google for the best place to rent a scooter but it was stupid, because in every corner of the streets you can find someone renting some scooters, and most of all in every Airbnb, Booking or Hotels we went, the person in charge can bring for you a scooter, it’s really normal here.
We rented 3 different times and each time it was like between 3 to 6€ a day.

BUT as you may have seen on my Instagram story, driving a scooter in Bali can be quite dangerous, on our first day we had an accident on the road because of another tourist. There are no rules here, no speed limits and no signals. And to be honest after falling the first time I was pretty scared.

We found the best solutions: Uber !
Prices are so cheap, a 20min ride can cost 2€ only. And a one hour ride (usually between Ubud and the south) is like 8/9€. To give you an idea during two weeks we booked 20 uber for a total of 120€ (so 40€ for each of us as we were 3). So it’s a pretty good deal!

BUT you guys have to know there is a big war between local taxis and uber drivers… Some drivers ask you to move for the pick up if you are close to some taxi spots because they are afraid to get hit! So be careful. Don’t be shocked also when your driver will text you to negotiate the price, it happened to us many times. And don’t hesitate to give tips, we always gave some because the price was so cheap.

BEACHES IN BALI (South)

Bali isn’t known for having the best beaches, if you are looking for tropical beaches and crystal blue water then the main island in Bali isn’t for you, you would rather go to Nusa Penida or Gili for that.

But there are quite nice beaches in Bali, you can also find a lot of beach bars where we loved to enjoy music and have a drink for the sunset.

📍Seminyak Beach

📍Canggu Beach – The Lawn Canggu Club

📍Badung – Potato Head Beach Club

BEST THINGS TO DO IN UBUD

📍Sacred Monkey Forest Sanctuary.

Be really careful, those little monkeys steal everything they can from tourists haha, hide your glasses, phone and everything they can grab. Be careful if you give them food, they can start to fight with each other, get jealous if you hide the food. I know what I’m talking about : one of them bite my fingers till blood. But it was fun anyway to see the monkeys in a very wild jungle. They aren’t kept in captivity because the sanctuary is open, it means they can leave if they want to, they all choose to stay because they are taking care of, they have a huge playground and also they are fed everyday.

📍Bali Swing

(If you haven’t see my post on Instagram about this place) I know this place is kept secret, but I don’t like the “hidding beautiful place” mood on instagram, so I give you the name : “Bali Swing Ubud” all the taxi/uber know the place.

But I want to be honest with you guys. The pictures are really beautiful, the view is amazing, but the company made it very touristy, we were a bit disappointed to see that what used to be two little wild swings in the palm trees became 5 swings and some of them are not even on trees, so many more tourists could do it. A lot of trees were also erased.

And worst of all, all the advertising said it was 20$, even when you call them on the phone, but once you get there they asking you pay at least 35$ and change the price according to the customers. Money is not the problem to be honest, but we didn’t appreciate the fact they tried to rip us off once we are there and they know we came all the way from the other side of Ubud so we didn’t have a choice – and many people complained about it too.

I tell you all of this because I don’t want you guys to be disappointed like us. We expected wild swing in the jungle, and it was all about tourists and money.

📍Campuhan Ridge Walk

📍Tegalalang Rice Teracce

The Rice Terraces in Ubud is famous for its beautiful scenes, it’s was my favorite thing to do in Ubud. Don’t stay in the most touristy part, walk as much as you can, we actually get lost in the terrace, and this is how we found the best views, we met some local farmers and talk to them. The view is so breathtaking, you feel like you really are in another world..

BEST THINGS TO DO IN THE NORTH

We didn’t have enough time to discover properly the North of Bali (I know what a shame) so we decided to go there anyway but just for one day. As it is really far from all the most touristy places in the South, we knew that taking Uber was a bad idea. So we booked a driver for the day. It was a really nice local, he stayed with us all day from 8:00am to 6:00pm and he drove us everywhere we wanted for the day. This cost us around 50€ + the tips, so for 10 hours for 3 people it’s a pretty very good deal !
You can ask your hotel, Airbnb or booking for having a driver, they always have contacts for you.

📍Handara Gates

📍Sekumpul Waterfalls

I fell on this hike, it was so painful I faint in the middle of nowhere… I’ve got to be honest I pretty scared everyone haha. I’m laughing right now on my couch in Paris while I’m writing this, but god we didn’t laugh when it happens. So please please be really careful if you do this waterfall.
It took us 45mins to go down (we didn’t know the way and we didn’t want to pay someone to show us) and like one hour to go back up.
You can pay a guide, he will show you the way. But if you don’t pay one they will not give you the direction, you will have to find by yourself (that’s what we did). However some locals (the non-guides) helped us when we asked the direction.