Bali. The Island of the Gods.
Bali has always been a constant favorite travel destination, not just by Asians, but by tourists from around the globe. And it is easy to see why. Aside from its great beaches, this Indonesian island is famous for its incredible culture, friendly people, and amazing food. And it helps that the cost of living is very affordable as well. Even for travelers.
Jon Ranara recently traveled to Bali, Indonesia with his partner, and shared with us a travel video he made of his adventures. Haven’t been to Bali yet? Watch his video below, and let yourself be convinced that this island should be your next travel destination.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xI1Lk8Up5M8&feature=youtu.be
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Jon also talked about his itinerary. Take notes! You might need this for when you finally take that leap (or you know, plane ride) for Indonesia.
Here’s what Jon shared:
Bali is just amazing. It has its certain charm and the small islands around it are just as breathtaking. Contrary to what other people might think, Bali is very budget friendly (the only real kicker is the airfaire from PH to Bali). The cost of living in Bali is like next to nothing – its even cheaper there than PH. For example – we stayed in a villa that is a 4-star hotel that is within the main city area for just 3.7k in php for 4 days (that’s less than 1k per day!). The motorbike we rented was just like 250php per day. They even let you keep the bike for your whole stay and just park it in your hotel. Even with a small budget you can live like rock stars in Bali (no kidding). I even, at some point, thought about maybe retiring there someday due to the cost of living. heh.
In any case. We did Bali indonesia as just like our other usual trips – DIY. My girlfriend deserves all the credit for the research/planning/logistics. I only take care of the driving/video/edits etc.
Day 1 arrival is early in the morning. Day 1 for us was just leaving our bags quick in the hotel and get a motorbike to rent for 4 days. Our day 1 was getting out of the city quick and head 30-some kilometers north to Ubud – which is the cultural area in Bali. This place is a bit highly elevated like driving to Tagaytay/Baguio. This is the part of Bali one should go to if you want to experience the serene, quiet, rice terraces and mountain temple type of feels. Ubud is the area where Julia Roberts stayed at in her movie Eat Pray Love (not that I watched that movie btw. Lol). Ubud has great waterfalls as well. There are tons of museums here too to visit and in Ubud is where one will find the popular temples where you do the water cleansing rituals. Plus those monkey temple sanctuaries. (Love those monkeys. Lol)
Day 2 was waking very early to witness the sun rise in one of the best spots — Tanah Lot Temple. Afterwards, we went back to the city to experience the city a bit. The city is a bit hectic and is a lot like Manila in that aspect. Kuta/Seminyak beach is a very long beachfront like Miami Beach or like Bondi Beach in Sydney where a lot of people surf and just chill. Along the beachfront are high end malls, restos and clothing stores. Not my cup of tea to be honest, so after an hour or so of surfing in Kuta Beach, we went down south to explore the rest of the southern part of Bali. The rest of the day was spent driving to the southernmost part of Bali and swimming at all the beaches (dream beach, Jimbaran etc). And the last stop was getting to one of the most popular spots – Temple of Uluatu – for the sunset. This is a pretty rad temple at the edge of a very high cliff. Best place to watch the sunset.
Day 3 was getting a speed boat across the two hidden gems in Bali. Nusa Ceningan and Nusa Lembongan. These 2 islands are a must experience. A lot of tourists that visit Bali unfortunately just stays in the main island of Bali and just spend it in Kuta/Denpasar and/or Ubud. But islands like Nusa Ceningan, Nusa Lembongan, and other islands like Gili are the best island/beach experience you can get out of Bali. These are like the Coron and El Nido of Bali with less crowd and tourists. Nusa Lembongan and Ceningan are separate islands but connected by an awesome bridge seen at 2:23 on the video. These 2 islands are my favorite out of the whole trip. Its very secluded, quiet, and not a lot of tourists go here. As usual, we rented a motorbike and the whole day is enough to drive around and experience what the two islands have to offer. The best spot is Blue Lagoon where there’s a zipline above the cliffs. Also there is a resto/bar situated at the very tip of the cliff for awesome cliff diving.
I’m sure, being our first trip to Bali, we only scratched the surface. One thing is for sure, we’ll be back in Bali for a longer stay and to experience the rest of it one of these days.
Do you dream of exploring Bali, too? Tag your favorite travel buddy in the comments section!
