Trip Review : Bali - "The Island Of Gods"

So after doing all the research for our honeymoon destination, out of all the choices from Maldives, Mauritius, Singapore, Malaysia etc, we made our final choice to travel to the "ISLAND of GODS" i.e. BALI :)

Our trip was from 22nd Feb 2016 to 02nd March 2016. Below is the entire Timeline of our Tour:

1: Flight Ticket booking (11 July 2015)

Almost 6 months earlier, we booked our flight from Mumbai to Bali (Denpesar  via Kuala Lumpur through Malindo Airlines. The booking was done after comparing all the booking websites, the cheapest of which was Goibibo.

The details of the bookings are:

Airline Ticket Price    Rs 48,654.00

Goibibo Discount (-)   Rs 1,750.0

Lead Charges* (+)      Rs 700

Total Amount Paid    Rs 47,604

2: Hotel Booking

Hotel booking is the toughest task. The main area of concern for us was that the hotel room must be of good standard as well as the hotel price must be cost effective!

After listing out the places to visit in Bali, we decided to break our stay. For the first part of our trip, we decided to stay in a budget hotel near the busy and happening streets of Kuta. By doing so, we would be able to access transport facilities easily and we could easily get around places and get acquainted. And after roaming around the island for the first 4-5 days we had decided to later shift to a private villa so that we can enjoy our leisure time. Hence the booking was done as follows:

1: Hotel Adhi Jaya Sunset (Booking date: 15th Nov 2015)

The booking was done through agoda.com for stay from 22nd Feb 2016 to 28th Feb 2016. You may find my review for the hotel here:

https://www.tripadvisor.in/ShowUserReviews-g297697-d2549430-r356946496-Adhi_Jaya_Sunset_Hotel-Kuta_Bali.html

2: Samaja Villas, Kunti (Booking date: 15 Oct 2015)

We found this villa from Trip Advisor, and contacted the reservation desk through email and then we sealed the deal at 330 USD.

The package details as quoted by the Villa:

Sun 28 February 2016 - Wed 2 March 2016 (3 Nights)

Daily breakfast for 2 persons in villa or at our restaurant, Welcome drink & cold towels upon arrival, Honeymoon cake & decoration upon arrival, Wi-Fi internet access, Fruit and flower arrangement upon arrival, One way Airport transfer, One time 30 minutes Balinese Massage for 2 persons, Shuttle service in Seminyak area based on villa schedule.

Read my review for this villa here: 

https://www.tripadvisor.in/ShowUserReviews-g469404-d5016208-r353514343-Samaja_Villas_Kunti-Seminyak_Bali.html#SHOW_USER_REVIEW

3: Do's and don’ts for Air Travel:

- Malindo airlines provide free meal on board.

- There is a 2.5 hours halt at Kuala Lumpur airport if you are flying from Mumbai through Malindo. And you dont need any Transit visa for the same!

- There is Visa on Arrival for Indians at Bali airport and there is no Visa Fee for the same! It’s absolutely free for us!

- Standard baggage is 15kg per passenger plus 7kg hand baggage extra.

- Do not carry any liquid in hand baggage.

4. Preparations for Bali:

- The temperature over there is very humid, so bring sweat absorbent clothes, glares, sunscreen and wet-wipes.

- Renting a bike is much effective and efficient than hiring a car because most of the roads are narrow and busy throughout the day and hence bike saves lots of time.

- If you are vegetarian, bring along some ready to eat packets as there are very few options for vegetarians.

- Don’t hesitate to bargain anywhere. You can crack deals @50% or sometimes even @25% of the said price.

- Buy any local sim card which has free mobile internet package. Do not buy it from airport as it is very costly as compared to local market. Also buy a raincoat!

- Get your INR converted into USD before leaving India. $100 notes get higher return in comparison to $10, $20 or $50 notes.

- If you haven't booked Airport pickup through your hotel, then get around 10-20 dollars converted into IDR at Denpesar airport itself. You will not get handsome return at the airport so convert a very nominal amount there. You can get a good price if you convert it in local market. We used to get our USD converted to IDR as and when required as the rates used to fluctuate daily. And yes, don’t just convert it in any shop. Look for genuine and authorized Currency Converters like Prassana Bank. Be aware of Frauds.

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Let the Trip Begin:

Day1: Landing and hanging around

Landed at Denpesar airport at 1 pm local time. Got some USD converted to IDR at the airport. Got Airport pickup from hotel. Reached hotel at 1.30 pm and took some rest. Rented a bike for 4 days from the hotel @70000/- IDR per day. We went to a local shop and purchased a local sim card at Rs. 150/- which included 10 Rs. talktime and 3gb 4G! In the evening, we went to streets of Kuta beach and decided to have Pizzas at Pronto Pizza.

Day2: Padang Padang beach

Situated around 20 km from our hotel towards South Kuta, the beach is very secluded one. The entrance is quite adventurous with a very narrow passage through rocks. The beach is full of foreigners and surf lovers. If you know swimming, you must rent a surf boat and try surfing.

After spending a humid yet pleasant day in the beach, we went for massage at Harmony Spa near our hotel. We had a very relaxing massage for an hour at a worthy price of Rs. 400/- per person.

At night, we looked into Zomato and headed towards Ruchira restaurant for Indian food. Ruchira restaurant is a normal restaurant and one of the few Indian restaurants at Bali. The owner is very co-operative and gives free tips if you ask him, in his own style! he will start like this: "5 chize bataunga..."

Day3: Uluwatu Temple

It was around 24 km from our hotel and just 4 km from Padand Padang beach which we visited day before, but we were so exhausted that we decided to visit Uluwatu on Day3. The temple is situated on a cliff and the view from the top is just spectacular. One gets awestruck after looking at the blue tides hitting the cliff and the greenery around is so picturesque.

Be aware of monkeys here, they are very smart, they can snatch away your goggles, slippers, bags or anything you hold loose. Just stay away from them. If you like cultural activities, then visit the temple in the evening time, there is a cultural dance show there and also the sunset view is just awesome.

At night, we went to Hard Rock Cafe which is in Kuta. This was my first ever visit to Hard Rock and I just loved each and every moment of it. Almost all the songs which the band played were my favorites and hence I got high on music

Day4: Sanur beach, Bagus watches, krisna Oleh Oleh

We hadn't planned much for this day so we decided to head towards Sanur beach. Just like the other beaches in Bali, this beach is also very beautiful and clean, with the speed boats adding to the beauty of it. You can sit and relax here and keep looking at the mountain far away. It was a very pleasant visit.

One more reason to visit this place was that Sanur beach is the point where you can get Speed boats to travel to Lembongan Islands which is coming up next!

We went to Glory Express office and after a little bargaining, booked a return ticket for 2 to Lembongan Island at Rs. 4000/- approx. The ticket included pick up and drop off to our hotel in private taxi.

In the evening time, we went to Bagus Watches in Kuta Street. It is a very famous shop which has huge collection of first copy products like watches, belts, glares etc.

After having dinner once again at Ruchira, we went to Krishna Oleh Oleh Oleh which is fixed price souvenir store and runs 24 hours. You can get everything for everyone here! We bought souvenirs for everyone viz keyrings, fridge magnet, wooden showpiece, toys, Bali tshirt, ornaments etc at very reasonable price.

Day5:Lembongan island, Dream beach, Devil's tears, Mangrove forest, Snorkling

Well this was the bestest part of our trip. After getting picked up from our hotel, we boarded the boat which was a very new and well maintained one. The journey from Sanur beach to Lembongan island takes around 40 minutes and you will be busy throughout looking at the landscape around. Once you reach Lembongan, you will be barged with number of agents who will show you map of the island and advice you various trip packages. Don’t buy any of them. We just clicked a photo of the map and the famous spots, hired a bike from him at the usual fare of 70,000/- IDR and reached our first stop.

Dream beach:

Looks like a private beach, the surfs here are quite high and not so recommended for swimming. You can spend a very good time relaxing here. The resort on the beach is also very beautiful. It has cottages and a swimming pool facing the sea. 

Devil's Tear:

Just besides Dream beach is this spot. You can't afford to miss a view of this spot. Giant tides hitting the rock and splashing high, making huge roar makes you feel goose bumps.

Mangrove Forests: 

We reached this spot and again without any package, bargained with the boat person and took a boat ride  through the dense Mangrove forest on the sea. We enjoyed it throughout.

Snorkeling: 

Just after we came out of the Mangrove forest, we went to the eatery near to it. Surprisingly, the food and the coconut water here was very fresh, tasty and cheap! We talked to the owner and after we had our brunch, he took us in his boat in the middle of the sea for Snorkeling. Well, being non-swimmers, it was definitely a risky task in hand for us. My heart was beating very fast when he instructed us to go into the deep water, but as soon as we put our head inside the water, all the fear vanished and our mind was filled with the amazing view of the Coral life inside the sea. Fishes of different florescent colours were roaming here and there, some of them very near to us. It was a great experience. Well, if you are looking for Scuba diving, then point to be noted is that Sea diving is preferred early in the morning and hence we did just Snorkeling and not Scuba Diving. But if you are very keen to do it, come to Lembongan island, you can do it here at a very low price comparatively.

We returned to the base at 4 pm and were picked up by Glory Express back to Sanur beach.

Day6: Spa, Tanah lot

After having a tiring and adventurous day at Lembongan, we decided to take some rest and went for massage at our regular centre: Harmony Spa.

Later in the evening, we went to Tanah Lot temple. The temple is situated northwards in the interiors. We enjoyed the road trip and took pictures of the rice fields around. The temple though was very crowded, yet was worth a visit. We were lucky since the tides were low so we could reach the feet of the temple. The music band at the gate was producing a very soothing tune. We got a picture clicked by a local professional photographer. We also got to see lots of Indians here!

At night, we explored Seminyak area, which is very similar to Kuta street and had our dinner at Queen's Tandoor.

Day7: Galaria mall, Discovery mall, Beach walk mall, Potato head beach club

We shifted to Samaja Villa, Kunti, which is also situated on the Sunset road and just 3 km from our previous hotel. You might have already read my review for the villa here:

Though we had reserved this day for visit to Mount Batur trekking, but we couldn’t make it due to bad weather. So then we decided to visit the malls of Bali. Galleria mall is a Premium Duty free mall and has all the major international brands including H&M. Discovery mall is a smaller one but we had to visit it due to my wife's craze for Saphora. Later we went to Beach Walk mall which is also a premium mall situated on the Kuta beachside.

At night, we went to Potato Head Beach club, Seminyak. It is one of the famous beach clubs of Bali. The atmosphere here is amazing and we spent a very good time here. Since we are non-alcoholic, we ordered iced tea and sandwich, which was a very new taste for us!

Day8:Spa, Tegenungan waterfall

We went for our last Spa in Bali. This time it was complimentary from our villa.

Then we went to Tegenungan waterfall. It is very far away from Seminyak and near to Bali Safari which is much talked about place to visit in Bali but we opted it out as we were not interested and yes its very expensive too. The road near to the waterfall was the steepest I have ever seen in my life. The road trip was very adventurous and risky due to steep slopes and rainfall. Even after we get off the bike, we have to walk around 10-15 minutes in steep steps to reach the waterfall. The waterfall is mesmerizing and worth a visit.

Day9:Ubud, Tegelalang rice field, Ubud palace, Rock bar

Though Ubud is the most talked place for travellers in Bali, we visited it at the very last part of our trip because it was quite far from our stay! We went to Tegelalang Rice terrace field situated around 40km from Seminyak. The road trip was again tiring but the rice fields on the way energized us. Also, once you enter Ubud area, you get to see outstanding display of Bali's art and culture in the road side shops selling wooden sculptures, lamps and many other souvenirs.

Once we reached Tegelalang rice terrace field, we were not at all disappointed by the view. The whole panorama was filled with greenery and nature at its best. We trekked down the field through the wooden bridge and strolled throughout. It was another unique experience for us. The coffee shops have been very strategically built on the top giving a very nice view of the entire field. Just a word of caution: You will meet small kids offering you to guide, don't entertain them and you will be stopped by locals asking for donation, you can negotiate with them there.

After having coconut water in one of the cafeteria over there, we moved to Ubud Palace. Not a magnificent one, but yet a classy place to visit. You will find the place filled with lots of tourists. If you interested in visiting a historical place, go for it.

Even though we had travelled almost 100km on our bike till afternoon, we were ready to roll once again and for one last time for our last but not the least location: Rock Bar. Well it is indeed one of the most extra ordinary bars in the world. It is a private bar of Ayana Resort. The resort itself is so widespread. One of the entertaining parts of Rock Bar is that you can opt to go down by a cable car. Yes it takes around half an hour for your turn to come but its worth to wait as you can have entire view of the beautiful bar from the car. Only one bad thing about this bar is that most of the hotspots are reserved for the guests of Ayana Resort only. Even then the bar is jam packed during sunset which is so beautiful to watch.

Day 10: Flight

After spending 9 most beautiful days of our honeymoon in this so beautiful Island of Gods, it was time to bid adeu. We were dropped to the airport by our villa taxi. Since there is not much to do in Bali Airport, we took some rest and cherished the moments we had captured throughout these 9 days.

Terema Kesi Bali