By Bali has something very special and unique. It’s the smell of incense sticks, it’s the temples, the Balinese hinduism, the rice terraces, the organic cafes, the volcanoes, the amazing accommodation options. It’s so many things, and yet it’s exactly Bali.
When we arrived in Bali, we immediately recognized the familiar scent from the incense sticks in offerings. For me this smell is Bali and I love it (well, on Bali, never at home ;-)).
Bali is an amazing island, and it has so much more on offer than first anticipated – which was a lot to begin with! On our first morning we took a walk and ended up in a really nice cafe having the best coffee on our trip so far. We were so happy that we chose Bali as our next destination on this moving-to-australia-pre-travel-trip.
Both Søren and I had been to Bali before. Once together last year at the end of our round the world trip, and once in another life time before we met. Last year we didn’t do or see anything. It was all about enjoying doing absolutely nothing but swimming and relaxing before heading home after 4 months on the road. But this time we went far around. We had our own car for 8 full days and drove through much of the island.
It’s a relatively small island, but getting around is very time consuming – either because of traffic jam in the southern part of the island (where the main tourism area is) or small and ‘poor’ roads everywhere else. Actually, the roads were really not that bad. There were big pot holes and they were very narrow. But they were definitely doable, and getting around this way is just the best. Topping that with a GPS it is also relatively easy (a GPS is necessary, since there are no signs anywhere…). Nevertheless, I did learn not to trust the GPS completely as we ended up on roads that were only meant for motorbikes a few times. At one point Søren had to turn the car around on a narrow path for motorbikes with approximately 30 cm on each side to use and a small suspension bridge 2 meters ahead… With some help from a local farmer and A LOT of patience we finally made it back on the road again. Phew…
The most challenging part of driving – except for the narrow roads – is probably the many many motorbikes everywhere. But if you ask Søren he thought it was fun being able to drive like a local 🙂
So having the car gave us the freedom to see a lot of places within relatively few days. This was our itinerary:
But before we went on the island trip, and before we went to Lombok and Gili (which you can read about here if you didn’t see it yet) we stayed in Kuta and Sanur.
Kuta was meant as a trip down memory lane, since we both stayed there before. Honestly, I didn’t remember much from the first time I was there. But to my defense it was also 18 years ago. Nonetheless, and despite what most others will say (to people our age…?), we found Kuta as a nice spot. The beach was not necessarily nice, but there were so many great places to eat and drink, and after a few days we were well stocked on coffee, snacks and a couple of new toys and clothes (for the kids).
Next stop was Sanur which was somewhat disappointing. We had heard good things about it, but never really understood the buzz. However, we stayed in a really well-run hotel with some nice cafes around, and just had a lot of pool time. And we managed to store a lot of luggage on this hotel while we went exploring for three weeks. So all in all we got what we wanted from Sanur – just not exactly what we expected.
Everywhere on Bali you can buy tickets to fast boats that go to the Gili islands and Lombok. We read that you should be careful with some of the companies since their safety is not that good and it would take at least 4 hours from where we were to the Southeast Gilis which would be our first stop. So when going to Lombok we chose to fly – it was 20 minutes in the air, and all very smooth. When we were going back to Bali we were on Gili Trawangan, and this time we chose the boat. Somehow I had not connected the dots; that safety issues could have a relation to bad sailing conditions. But it did! Apparently, sailing between Bali and Lombok is like sailing on open sea despite the two islands being relatively close. It was a pretty crazy trip! Like really crazy, with the boat almost lying down sideways when hitting big waves. It took about 1,5 hours, and I don’t know how they did it, but the kids were sleeping through all the rough sea. They did not notice anything, and only woke up when one of the engines broke down (luckily very close to the Bali coast). They really are amazing kids! And I was just so happy to be on safe ground again afterwards. It was one of those trip where nobody really says anything until it is all over!
After one night in Pandang Bai, the port town where the boat came in, we got the car and drove to Sidemen. I do not think I will ever stay in a more scenic place!
This is the most amazing place I have ever seen in my entire life.
Right in front of us there were rice fields and the great Mt. Agung volcano. The place we stayed only had two villas, so it was very intimate. And in addition to the killer view, there was the most beautiful infinity pool ever.
We got up to watch the perfect sunrise, and the moment will stay with me forever. It was truly amazing!
Mt. Agung has been active since last year, and almost caused us not being able to go to Bali last October. Luckily nothing happened while we were there last, as well as this time around. But right after both of our visits to Bali it has erupted, and as I’m writing this it is erupting again. A little crazy to think about looking back at these pictures.
Since nothing can beat the view we had from our front porch that morning, it was tough to move on, but Bali did a great job and kept on surprising us. And the drive to the coast with a visit to the most important temple on Bali – Besakih – was really amazing as well. We heard many horror stories about the temple and how awful the touts are. But I guess since our expectations were very low it could only be better than what we expected. (And maybe also because we are pretty experienced in saying no to self made tour guides and post card sellers). Besakih was fine for a short visit, but it was the drive that was most spectacular.
After rice fields and volcanoes we went to the north east coast, to Amed. It was a black sand beach with an amazing amount of diving places along a long coastal road. The vibe was pretty cool, being very low key and having nice dining spots somewhat hidden between local places and cheap tourist restaurants.
We spend a few days relaxing in Amed and then moved on to more volcano watching. This time on Mt. Batur with several volcanoes around lake Batur. Again Bali surprised me in its diversity. There are so many amazing views to be had on Bali, and a drive for just an hour or two takes you from the coast through small villages to grand volcanos. We stayed for just one night in a room with a pretty great view 😉 Many people hike up Mt. Batur for the sunrise, however we didn’t do this. With the kids being so small we don’t go on nearly as many hikes as we will probably do when they get older. So in a few years we will get (back) yet another dimension of traveling. But traveling with small kids like Carla and Gustav is definitely great. They really enjoy traveling and not least all the attention they are getting. Everywhere we go, they find friends in either other kids or, like here, the hotel staff. Carla stayed and played a while with the staff who completely adored her. And Gustav has learned a few English words (among only a few in total). So whenever he gets the chance he waives to people and says ‘bye bye’ – to great amusement for everyone.
Every once in a while we come across places that are just not for us. It happened once in Thailand on Koh Mak, and it also happened on Bali in Pemunteran. This place was (is?) a beach ‘resort’ on the north coast, and we chose it over the more touristic Lovina area. Hmmmm… we had lunch in Lovina and were happy to move on, but when we arrived in Pemunteran we just wanted to leave the place as soon as possible. We had booked two nights in a hotel and spent a few hours searching for a better option. It just did not happen. So we stayed in our booked hotel and got out as soon as possible the next morning.
This place gave me a really creepy feeling. It was like an old spooky resort town. Maybe it had it’s time many years ago, maybe we were just unlucky and hit it on a bad day. But one thing’s for sure; we were happy to see it in the rear mirror of our car 🙂
After our pitstop in Pemunteran we drove to Munduk, a really small village surrounded by rice fields and even more nice views. Munduk is also close to three lakes that we unfortunately could not enjoy since it was raining and extremely foggy. But it didn’t really matter because we had so many great views already.
On the drive back to the south of Bali we went through the Jatiluwih rice terraces. However, this part felt a bit more touristic and not as beautiful than what we saw around Sidemen. There was even a ‘fee’ to drive around and just look at the rice fields.
Our last days on Bali were spent in Seminyak as well as one splashing night in Nusa Dua. Everyone say that if you want to experience Bali, do not go to Nusa Dua. Well, I guess that is true, but on the other hand, I think Nusa Dua is everything people connect with Bali – at least in the architecture. But we didn’t go to Nusa Dua to explore. We went because the Grand Hyatt where we stayed is a great hotel, with a huge swimming pool area, a playground and fun water slides for the kids.
In Seminyak we mostly enjoyed play and pool time for our last Bali days. Having this much traveling time on our hands make us able to just enjoy doing nothing for a few days. It’s a perfect balance though, because after a day or two (max) we all go a little nuts, and need to get out and feel the real world again 🙂
My favorite place in Seminyak that we visited is a cafe called Revolver. If you ever go there check it out!
After these weeks on Bali we have seen so many sides of the island, but as I started out by saying, even though Bali is so many different things, there is something quite unique for Bali. It is difficult to point exactly at what makes Bali Bali, but the people and their religion definitely unites this amazing island. I am so happy that we got to see so much of this place, and extremely happy that we did it with our own car and without any planning. Just like we like it the most.
Now, when we entered Indonesia we bought a visa which could be extended. This would give us 30 days + 30 days more. But when we were about to extend the visa we realized that it would be rather complicated. And if we chose the not-so-complicated way through an agent, it would be expensive. So instead of moving on to Java overland, we chose to get out of the country for some days and visit Singapore before going back to explore the most populated island in Indonesia (actually the most populated island in the world).
And the visa for Australia…? Still waiting – but hopefully we will get it before our next 30 days in Indonesia run out.
GoCargus 