Bali, Indonesia
Bali was by far the best trip I’ve been on to date. It was everything I dreamed it would be and not nearly long enough! It was a “last minute” decision trip. Two weeks after booking my ticket I joined one of my best friends from undergrad and his family for his cousins wedding. It’s a must go back destination for me! This will be an overview guide. when I make my way back I will do more in depth guides for each region hopefully! Until then lets look at what I will include for this article:
What to Eat in Bali:
Bebek Joni
This is a cool restaurant that is quite large and offers a ton of different seatings options. They have plenty of gardens to walk around as well. The food was quite tasty!
Pomelo cafe
This was my absolute favorite cafe. The atmosphere is amazing, the food phenomenal. You walk in and see a tree covered in tea cups, continue back to find a small pool and lots of comfortable seats. We actually ate here a few times because it was so amazing. The French toast was to die for and the smoothie bowls were so fresh!
Mocca Cafe Bali
This cafe had very tasty desserts and great breakfast quiches !
Mywarung Berawa Canggu
This was a cool little restaurant where the walls are covered in photos from customers throughout the years. The food was very tasty and the staff were quite friendly.
Peekaboo Canggu
One final really cute cafe is Peekaboo. They have great fresh food and good prices!
Bars in Bali:
Headquarters
Headquarters Bali restaurant and Lounge was something we just stumbled upon and ended up being a great way to spend half of our day. We paid a small cover charge of maybe $10 and got a free drink or two plus BOGO drink menus and access to the pool bars.
La Favela
La Favela Bali is the coolest bar I have ever been to. It’s huge, it has so many different rooms to explore with different atmospheres. There’s about three floor levels as well and we spent probably half an hour just waking around looking at all the amazing things in the different areas. Also would highly recommend their espresso martinis !
Bikini
Bikini Restaurant was also a cool bar we found. They had good cocktails, a bit more on the pricey side. The bathroom though was my favorite part. The whole thing is full of mirrors floor to ceiling and they have different sayings in each and every stall.
Old mans
Old Man’s is the typical young crowd outdoor beach bar. It’s pretty crowded during the evenings, even weekdays. Was a fun place to hang out and have a few drinks at.
The Lawn
The Lawn is a beach club that has some of the most spectacular sunsets on the island. It’s packed every night and all night long. They have pools, lounge chairs, bench chairs , and tons of beach space (some with swings) all to have a drink and watch the sun paint the sky.
One Dirty Black Cat
One Dirty Black Cat is a speak easy that my friend has recommended to her. It is hidden in a “broken refrigerator” in a tiny grocery like shop. You would never know it is there unless someone tells you about it first. The bar itself is quite small but they have pool tables and some booths.
Finns Beach club
Finns is another often recommended beach club. What I need to stress is go there for drinks and atmosphere, NOT FOOD. Both of my friends ended up getting severe food poisoning and missing the wedding because of bad sushi from Finns. I had a single piece from their plate and I also got sick for about 24 hours.
Sites in Bali:
Kanto Lampo
This is one of my favorite waterfalls in Bali. You trek down into a cavern to find it.
Lempuyang Temple
One of the most iconic temples in Bali and of course is worth the visit. Keep in mind that most temples require you to wear appropriate clothing and some will have the wraps to cover in before you are allowed to enter. I recommend going early in the morning for sunrise and to beat the crowds. Everyone gets in a line to go take the photos one at a time. They have people there to take the “water reflection” photo but there’s actually no water, they use a mirror to get the photo !
Tirta Gangga Water Palace
This place is amazing. You can walk on the stones through the water gardens and feed the fish. They come right up to you and it is crazy how many are at the surface.
Activities in Bali:
Authentic Balinese dance/ theater show. This was pretty cool. There were three acts and they give you a paper that helps to explain what is happening during the performance (but still was a little confusing).
Green Bali Cafe
Green Bali Coffee was such a cool experience! You basically enter what feels like a jungle and see the palm civets (furry little creatures) who’s feces they use to make this special coffee called Kopi luwak. Don’t worry, I’d poop coffee isn’t your thing theres plenty of others to try in the sample platter! They also have a swing over the river in the back of the farm.
Sacred Monkey Forest
Scared Monkey Forest was the second highlight of my trip. You are literally in the jungle surround by tons of monkeys who roam around completely free. If they approach you they say try your best not to engage with them and I saw some people who brought food in (which is prohibited) regret not listening to those guidelines. However, seeing tiny baby monkeys a foot away from you is an experience I would highly recommend to everyone!
Mason Elephant Lodge
The place I was most excited to go, it was both the best day of my life and also a little bittersweet. I thought I had done the research and that it was a no ride sanctuary but when we got there people were getting on them in the water. I was a little disappointed but the elephants looked quite well taken care of and healthy so we decided to stay and talk with some of the handlers. We only talked with the ones who were not being ridden and you could feed them. Anyone who knows me knows my love for these amazing creatures and I loved being able to interact with them but I’d recommend anyone who travels to Bali, look into the sanctuaries as detailed as you possibly can before you go!
Tegallalang Rice Fields
Rice fields, are all over the place. We actually explored the very rice fields (Teras Padi Cafe) that were on our guided tour a day before because we happened to stumble across them and didn’t know those would be the ones we would see. Our tour guide was great though and took us to some other sites instead. Wear comfortable shoes, because it is a lot of waking up and down very uneven terrain. But I’d say it’s one of those iconic Bali must do’s.
Accommodation in Bali:
So our first half of the trip was spent in this amazing AirBnB in Canggu with our private pool and extra guest house. It was right next to rice fields and offered the most beautiful sunsets in the evening! It was very affordable price vs value in my opinion. The guest house had an air con (praise the lord) but the main house did not. When in the house we mostly opened all the windows and doors to let the breeze come in and cool it down. But the air con in the guest house was very nice for sleeping because it is such a humid country.
Haven Bali Suites Berawa was the second accommodation we stayed at and my first word is just WOW. It was the best hotel I’ve ever stayed at. I had a pool suite room to myself. The bathroom is huge with a claw foot tub and walk in rain shower. The bed is a massive king size and there’s a very comfy window bench seat where I spent a lot of time reading. My back door opened right up to the big pool and I could hop in and out all day long.
They had an all you can eat breakfast buffet which was delicious! The staff were very kind and helpful. You can also walk around and see a bunch of the beach. One of the beat parts was I got a 3 hour spa treatment that included a full body massage, face massage, face mask, body scrub, body mask and a milk bath!!! And the best part is , it only cost around $70 USD. That literally cannot get any better!
If you want to have a look at the thousands of options on the island, here is a great place to start:
Extras:
Beach walk shopping center. It’s your ordinary mall just Bali style with a cool rooftop food court area that had great views of the ocean sunsets.
Babayaga tattoo studio Canggu
Getting tattoos was a spontaneous decision. My friend got a tattoo done there and it was beautiful. The price however was too steep in my opinion. She got a small side tattoo and it was the same price as a much much larger piece would be in the states.
Conclusion
Sadly when I took this trip I wasn’t blogging full time and therefore I forgot a lot of the details. Bali is truly my favorite place on earth and I would love to live here one day! I cannot wait to go back and hopefully create a true in depth guide of everything you should see. Until then I hope this mini guide has been helpful!
Happy Travels xx
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Trip: March – April 2019
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