Contrary to what most people think, Bali is not a country but just a small part of huge Indonesia, which consists of around 18.000 more islands. Even though Bali seems to be quite small in comparison to other Indonesian islands, you need at least one month to see everything. During one week I managed to visit the most interesting (according to me) points in southern part of Bali, starting with the ugliest and finishing with the most beautiful one. It is incredible how one island can vary so much and how it changes if you go further and further from the airport. Below I’m presenting my whole trip, describing the cities/regions in the same order as I visited them.
I've put stars for the cities/regions I visited
Kuta
10 out of 10 people I asked about Kuta told me ‘’DON'T
GO THERE’’ but I decided that it’s nice to grasp the whole experience of Bali
even if some places are said to be trashy.
Why not Kuta? It is the closest city from the airport
(the distance is less than 10 km) and if you don’t get ripped off by the driver
you can go there for less than 2€ by taxi. This is probably the main reason why
Kuta is full of tourists, mostly Australians, who take cheap flights to spend
their holidays surfing (Kuta is best only for beginners, though). The city
consists of very narrow streets packed with a lot of western food and crowded by
international people and even more local people offering you massage, taxi, and
goodness knows what else.
We managed to find one place serving Balinese food and fresh juice (just for 50 cents)
Kuta Beach is quite nice, though. Very clean and
long, gives you the feeling of being in California. It wasn’t that crowded when
we visited it but still more crowded than other beaches. The biggest minus
is that as soon as you put your foot on the beach, you are offered ‘’a massage,
dear? Or an umbrella? Cold bear?’’ and anything else that can be sold. People
come to you, touch you trying to present the massage, ask you many questions so
it’s very hard to relax and chill there. Also, due to the high waves it’s
almost impossible to swim in the sea (that’s why most of the hotels and even
hostels in Bali have private pools).
Unfortunately, I took my camera to Kuta Beach only for the first evening when it was cloudy
It is also worth visiting Krisna market located around 2km from the city center where you can buy all kinds of souvenirs for a cheap price (200g of Balinese coffee - 1€, pack of 5 fridge magnets - 50 cents, traditional Balinese cookies - 1€, etc).
On the way to Krisna market
Seminyak
It's
enough to go 5 kilometers in the north from Kuta to start to discover Balinese
paradise. Seminyak is a quiet and peaceful city with Seminyak Beach looking
more or less like Kuta Beach but definitely less crowded. You can easily relax
there since not many people are offering the massage and most of the tourists
stay in the private resorts.
Seminyak Resort
Seminyak Beach
There a lot of nice private villas in Seminyak
When it comes to prices, Seminyak is a bit more expensive than Kuta. What is funny about Bali is that the prices of hostels and hotels are almost the same (the difference is usually just 50 cents) so we were almost always choosing hotels. The only exception was in Seminyak because we wanted to get some backpacking experience and meet more new people. The hostel we stayed in is definitely worth recommendation – it’s very clean (I had the feeling that one guy is hired only to clean the floor cause he was cleaning it every time somebody stepped on it), peaceful and pretty. One of the most exciting things about it are capsule beds.
Capsule bed
Our hostel - Villa Karisa
Another
funny thing about Bali is that the price of the beer is always the same no
matter if you buy it in the shop, on the beach or in a restaurant/club. The
most popular beer is Bintang, produced by Heineken.
One of the best things to do in Seminyak is to see the stunning sunset from the beach sitting on the bean bag. There are several beach bars offering that, the most popular of which is La Plancha. The sunset starts at 6 pm but to get a good spot you need to go to the bar at around 4 pm otherwise all of the bean bags will be taken.
Waiting for the sunset
Canggu
Next we
moved another 5 kilometers in the north direction to Canggu, which is called
professional surfers’ paradise. Most of the time the waves were so high that it
was almost impossible to enter the sea. The city is definitely less crowded and
more expensive than the previous two locations. During two days we were
sunbathing at three beaches – Berawa Beach, Batu Bolong Beach and Echo
Beach. The best part of Canngu for me
were probably the beach clubs! Finn’s
Beach Club is definitely the best beach club I’ve ever seen. The prices are
quite high but it’s totally worth it since the club offers a private pool with the
most amazing view on the sea and palm trees lane. I highly recommend visiting
this place during the sunset.
Berawa Beach
Entrance to the Finn's Beach Club
For the
night you should definitely check out Old Mans Beach Club, which offers crazy
parties after which everyone goes for the beach party on Echo Beach!
Ubud
After a few
days spent on the beach we decided to move to the jungle. Ubud is a bit colder
than coastal cities and it rains there quite a lot. The first difference we
noticed was that the prices there are really low! Some things were even cheaper
than on Java (which is super cheap).
Ubud offers
a high variety of touristic attractions and the best way to see them all is to
hire the taxi driver for the whole day, which costs around 25€ (renting a
motorcycle for 3€ per day is also a good option). We chose to visit three places – The Sacred
Monkey Forest, Tegalalang Rice Terrace and Tegenungan Waterfall. You have to
pay the entrance to all of them but the maximum is 2,5€ and they are definitely
must-see if you come to Bali!
Don’t bring
anything valuable to The Monkey Forest cause monkeys like to steal things and
are very curious about such things and backpacks, purses and will try to open
them. Almost every monkey was trying to take my hat and I even got beaten by
one of them because I took the hat away.
\
\
Monkeys are coming to you even if you don't bring bananas
First part
of Tegalalang Rice Terrace is free of charge but for the second one you need to
pay a ''donation'' (which is just 50 cents). Also, there are a lot of kids trying
to sell you some pictures and really old rice pickers offering you a photo with
them for money.
Tegalalang Rice Terrace is only a tourist attraction and workers do not pick up rice there
You need to
hike a bit to get to Tegenungan Waterfall but once you’re there you’re allowed to dive into the cold water so it’s
highly advised to take a swimsuit and book the whole day for sunbathing.
Sanur
After two
days spent in the jungle we started to miss the sea so we came back but this
time to the east coast. Sanur was Bali’s first tourist resort and has one of
the most beautiful beaches in Asia. Being the total opposite of Kuta, Sanur provides a wide range of luxury hotels
and relaxed coastal ambiance. We were totally amazed by Sanur Beach, it’s
beauty and tranquility made us fall in love with Bali even more. Also, I had
there the best Nasi Goreng in my life :)
It’s nice
to stroll down the beach until you reach the harbor and wait for the beautiful
sunset.
We moved to
Denpasar for the night to begin South Kuta trip the next day.
Nusa Dua
and Uluwatu
On our last
day we chose to see the most southern parts of Bali. First, we went to Nusa Dua
Beach and were totally stunned by its beauty! This beach is definitely a
must-see if you’re in Bali and it’s definitely my favorite beach there! The
only thing I can complain about is that the water in the sea there is boiling
(seriously feels like 50 or more degrees).
Nusa Dua's sand is almost white
Then we
moved to see The Blue Point Beach in Uluwatu region. The place is quite far
away and hard to reach so it’s best to go there by the motorbike. For the
entrance you have to pay 50 cents and to reach the beach you need to climb down the stone steps. The beach is located inside a cave, which is really cool. Also,
the water is incredibly turquoise and clean. Once you get bored with Blue Point
you can easily move to Uluwatu Beach but there’s no other way than trough the
sea. It’s a really nice experience, though, and the views that are waiting for
you are definitely worth it!
Entrance to Blue Point Beach
Uluwatu Beach is just round the corner
As the
weather got really bad at the end of the day, we had to change plans and didn’t
make it to Uluwatu Temple (located around 30 minutes from Blue Point) but it’s
probably worth visiting.
In the end,
is Bali worth visiting? Definitely yes! Although it’s not that pristine any
more, it is still a paradise. The best thing to do after landing in Denpasar is
to go straight to the south cause there are more virgin beaches than in the
north. Don’t forget about the jungle, though!
If you have
some Bali experience to share, please let me know. Who knows, I might be back soon!
Nice description, good tips!
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