Indonesia: Bali

Date: 15th March - April 28th, 2025

Bali is a fantastic destination offering diverse experiences for all types of tourists. Beach enthusiasts can explore Kuta, Seminyak, Canggu, and more, while surfers will enjoy Canggu. Dolphin watchers should head to Lovina Beach, and snorkelers can visit Amed and Menjangan. For a spiritual experience, Ubud is ideal, and to immerse in traditions and customs, smaller villages are perfect. Hiking enthusiasts can conquer Mount Batur and Mount Agung. Unlike other articles where I highlight major tourist spots and attractions, this piece will focus on key elements such as culture, food, and safety, with links to other tourist destinations you can explore.

Safety is a notable feature of this place, making it one of the safest destinations I've visited during my travels. For instance, you can leave your bike parked without taking the keys, helmet, or bag and return at midnight to find everything untouched and secure. I've experienced this a couple of times, forgetting my belongings and being pleasantly surprised to see them still there. In contrast, in India, things would be stolen in an instant. Kudos to Bali.

Internet data is also quite affordable; you can purchase 6GB for 30K IDR (200 INR) for 30 days, including a SIM card. However, it's important to buy it from a Telkomsel official branch because small shops typically offer only more expensive plans with higher costs.

The traditions, culture, and religion in Bali are primarily rooted in Hinduism, where people primarily worship Hindu deities such as Shiva, Vishnu, and Brahma. They pray at least twice daily and dress modestly. As part of their rituals, they offer food items and flowers. They rise early, around 5 AM, to visit local markets and gather necessary items for daily use.

The people are genuinely kind and strive to assist as much as they can. They possess strong morals, as they have been taught about ethics weekly from the 2nd grade through to undergraduate studies. That explains why cities are cleaner, safer and helping nature people. The men have a brown skin tone similar to Indians, while the women have a fairer complexion. Balinese women are more attractive than Indonesian women according to me and are often seen as more appealing than the average Vietnamese, Thai, or Indian women. Their traditional attire enhances their appeal even further.

The food is straightforward with fewer variations compared to Indian cuisine, making it easy to choose from the limited options. I noticed that vegetables are somewhat expensive compared to prices in India, but meat is reasonably priced. Fruits are decent, bananas, snake fruit, pineapple, jack fruit, mangostein, popaya and rambostien are the best. Avocados are the best deal, being three times cheaper than in India; I took 6 kg of avocados back to India because my mother loves them. Some special dishes that are worth trying include Babi guling (roasted pork), Satey ayam (grilled chicken), Tum babi/ayam, jaje uli, cachak, and Bali salad, which are worth enjoying multiple times.

Among all these, I found the Tum and Bali salad to be the best. Tum consists of boiled pork or chicken combined with spices and banana shoot, ground together and then steamed. Bali salad is made from boiled beans mixed with spinach, sprouts, and coconut. These two dishes were my favorites.

Stay is pretty reasonable price and cheaper to that of Indian prices. At 1000 to 1500 INR you can get a decent bedroom with private bath room which in India is impossible to get. Also if you stay longer you can negotiate further 15%-20% discount. I found service to be top notch at all my stays and hosts are friendly, helpful and accomodative. I generally choose guest houses or homestays over hotels as I could cook my great meals and also talk to the host families.

Traveling is quite convenient if you rent a bike, which typically costs around 80K IDR (approximately 450 INR) per day for a standard bike. However, for longer rentals, such as a month, you can negotiate a rate of about 1000K IDR (6500 INR). Ferries are available to several islands, and you can bring your bike along.The northern part is less touristy, offering a fantastic ride through villages, while the southern part is more congested. Nonetheless, traveling from south to north is also incredible, as it takes you through paddy fields and villages, which is an experience not to be missed.

Make sure that you wear helmet at all times, get a good rain coat and dont wear shoes as it rains often. Genereally they dont ask for international license however, if any cops asks they will ask for it. Unfortunately on my last day i was not wearing helmet so they gave me a huge ticket, so sick of them.

My initial location was in Undisan, northeast of Ubud, a small village abundant in culture and tradition. I selected this spot because it is removed from the crowds, offering a peaceful village atmosphere. Trust me, it is one of the best places to stay. You can find more details in this Undisan blog post.

After that, I traveled to Amed, which had pleasant, winding roads. However, it was raining heavily when I arrived. Amed is a small town known primarily for turtle snorkeling and deep diving. It was during this time that I experienced my first hemorrhoids. I was scared of it as I am worried that my hiking schedule in May in Uttarakhand gets ruined because of this. However, thanks to herbal medicine of Bali, I could recover a lot.

Following this, I traveled to Lovina Beach to watch dolphins along the coastline. The traffic was minimal, surrounded by lush greenery in a completely rural setting, untouched by the villagers. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to spot any dolphins there.

Two days later, I traveled to Banguvedang for a short overnight stay to prepare for hiking Mount Ijen. The route was once again excellent, with minimal traffic. Subsequently, I boarded the ferry with my motorcycle to reach Mount Ijen. Below are additional details about the Mount Ijen hike.

After completing the Mount Ijen hike, I headed to Negara for an overnight stay before reaching Canggu. From this point, the traffic becomes rough, with poor driving by the cars. Vehicles often cross into the opposite lane and don't even acknowledge that they are on the wrong side.

After that, I traveled to Ubud to engage in cultural activities; you can find more details here.

Afterward, I visited Nusa Penida to explore the small island. This destination is also renowned for hiking and snorkeling, check out here.

After that, I traveled to Lombok to climb Mount Rinjani, the third highest volcanic mountain in Indonesia, with a height of 3,675 meters. It's definitely worth visiting, more here.

After that, I returned to Pejeng to celebrate the Galungan festival for two days. In fact, I also celebrated the Niepy festival in this small town. More details on this here.

Finally, I spent 10 days relaxing in Canggu before departing for India. Canggu is a charming beach town filled with digital nomads, beach enthusiasts, surfers, vibrant nightlife, restaurants, tattoo shops, and more. For further details, please visit this blog.

Ulawattu is one of tourists spots to explore however I was more interested in relaxing and enjoying the sunsets than doing touristy things at the end.

Finally, be sure to explore all the fascinating people I met and the dishes I prepared during this vacation.

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