This post is called “How to make the most of one week on Bali”, when in fact we stayed there 10 days. The reason is simple, we basically “killed” 2 days with our wedding and preparation.
Here is the second part of our itinerary:
DAY 7 – Nusa Lembongan
On the 7th day of our family vacation I have planned a day trip to Nusa Lembongan, one of the three small islands set between the main island Bali and Lombok – Nusa Lembongan, Nusa Ceningan and Nusa Penida (nusa means island in Indonesian). The easiest way to get there is by boat from small eastern town Sanur. It is generally recommended to spend at least a night or two to explore the island (more if you want to see all three) but because of our tight schedule, we could not manage more than a day.
I booked the first boat transfer for the day, which was leaving at 8 am from Sanur. Once again, from our villa to Sanur it took us around 2 hours, but lucky for us, the villa staff was so nice to prepare the breakfast at 5 am.
The boat ride from Sanur to Nusa Lembongan was adventure itself. I am still surprised that no one got sea sick. Firstly, the boat was not close to the shore, we had walk to it in the sea… with waves… which means we were half wet when we got on board. The boat did not have any air conditioning and because it was fast boat on the rocky sea, we had to close the windows if we did not want to get splashed in the face. I probably wouldn’t recommend this trip to anyone suffering from motion sickness. It was really crazy hour of bumps and shaking.
There is plenty to see and do on Nusa Lembongan. There’s the famous yellow bridge that will take you to Nusa Ceningan, rock formation Angel’s Billabong, the blow hole Devil’s drop, you can hire a bike or scooter and just drive around and much more. If you haven’t booked anything in advance, there are many local “tour operators” that will jump on you immediately when you get off the boat. Our trip was all booked so our tour guides were waiting for us by the beach.
The east of Bali is blessed with coral coast which makes it a snorkeling paradise. Nusa Lembongan is not an exception. After bumpy boat ride, there was a van waiting for us to take us to another bumpy ride, this time along the island. I would say it was worth it, because the sea was crystal clear with plenty of fish and colorful corals. After our snorkeling session we went to visit one the most famous beaches of Bali – the Dream Beach, where we spent our afternoon in the sun, drinking fresh coconuts and swimming in the two level infinity pool in the beach club.
One day on Nusa Lembongan is surely not enough. We had to catch the last boat transfer at 4:30 pm so we did not even get a chance to glimpse a sunset by the beach. All three little islands are very different from the main island, they are more rural and traditional. This article gives an example of itinerary for one week on Bali, more general information is in my next article – coming soon.
DAY 8 – Sacred Monkey Forest, Ubud
On the eighth day we said goodbye to our beautiful villa and moved to Ubud, where we stayed two nights.
If I was not amazed enough by the beauty of Bali by now, Ubud changed everything and I fell in love even more. Lots of people visit Ubud only as a day tour from Seminiyak, but in my opinion it is definitely worth it to stay there much longer. I would stay for a week if I could.
Ubud, in the uplands of Bali, is known as a center of traditional arts, crafts and dances. It’s surrounded by rain-forest, rice fields, Hindu temples and shrines. First day in Ubud we, obviously, hit the famous Sacred Monkey Forest Sanctuary. I was surprised how close to the city center it is! It took us no longer than 10 minute walk from our hotel to get there. We found it quite easy because you can see the monkeys hanging from the electricity columns from far away.
Monkey forest is a nature reserve and Hindu temple complex. After paying an entrance fee of 20,000 IDR, you will find yourself in the jungle surrounded by thousands of years old trees, macaque monkeys and traditional Balinese statues of different animals. There are guides around, offering you bananas (for a fee) to feed the monkeys and take pictures with them.
I have seen many beautiful photos from The Monkey Forest on Instagram and in the brochures. Little monkeys, with their innocent eyes, willingly posing for pictures and humbly eating their fruit on the shoulders of happy travelers. Yeah, sure! 😀 The first thing you’ll read on the informational boards along the pavement is not to look in the monkeys’ eyes and not to show your teeth because they will attack you. Showing your teeth, even when smiling, is considered as a sign of aggression. Second, even if you are not holding a piece of fruit, they just jump on you and take anything they can grab to exchange it for a banana. It was a little bit terrifying at first, but in the end, everyone in our group was leaving with a funny monkey selfie and with all our belongings.
My favorite part from that day was watching little baby macaques having a bath in nearby fountain. They ran and they jumped into the water just like Disney’s Pocahontas jumping from the rock into the river. You could see they were enjoying themselves and it was so funny just watching them messing around with each other.
Apart from the macaques, the forest is hiding three majestic Hindu temples from the 14th century. They play an important role in the spiritual life and mythology of the local community, therefore they are closed to public, but still beautiful to see from behind the fence.
The main road in Ubud is lined with cool little shops and cafes. After having a late lunch in one of the restaurants, we went to the Ubud Art Markets for some local souvenirs and crafts. Ubud markets are a must when visiting this area. It is open daily and you can really spend the whole day in this (kind of) organized chaos. I wish we had more time to look around, because we got there just before closing. At least we still got a glimpse of the patchwork of colors created by the variety of product sold on the market, but we had to do our shopping on the main road (luckily the shops are open till late evening).
DAY 9. – Mt. Batur and Tegallalang
Memories from this day belong to my favorite memories ever!
It was my mum’s birthday and we decided (okay, I decided) that we will do sunrise Mt. Batur hike. It was one of the most amazing and also one of the hardest things I’ve done in my life and I am very proud of my parents and my auntie that they climbed up with us! Because it has got a special place in my heart, I dedicated it the whole article here.
After the climb we had breakfast with an amazing view at Mount Agung and Mount Batur.
Our next stop was Tegalalang rice terraces. I was personally very excited to see these beautiful rice fields, because of all the shades of green and the unique atmosphere. Tegalalang fields is a large area near Ubud and yes, it is very touristy, but if you walk bit further, you will see less and less people around. You have to pay an entrance fee to get to the rice fields (I would like to tell you the exact amount but the fee was included in our tour so I don’t know how much it was). And here it gets a little bit tricky. As you are walking around you will notice stands with people charging you extra to go further. It is a voluntary amount but not optional. If you want to give them 10,000 IDR or 100,000 IDR it is up to you but they will not let you in without paying. After few of these stops with ran out of cash and were forced to turn around. I did not mind giving money to these people. This is their way of life and too many tourists may ruin still functioning rice fields.
Tegalalang is using suvak – traditional Balinese cooperative irritation system that was passed from generations to generations since 8th century. Rice terraces are offering to visitors a scenic outlook that spreads down before you and away to the rice paddies on the slopes across the valley.
After Tegalalang we were already quite tired from waking up before 2am, but we managed to check out one more stop – Tegenungan waterfall. The waterfall is really strong, set in the jungle and it offers scenic shallow bathing area. There are cafes, changing rooms and toilets nearby to spend a day there. That day was extraordinary hot and sunny, so it was no surprise there were lots of people around in desperate need to escape the hot sun in the cool waters. Because our hotel had really beautiful infinity pool with the view into the jungle, we decided to ditch swimming in the waterfall and head back to the hotel, where we spent our evening just chilling and drinking with our family, because this was our last night on Bali. Even though the start of our holiday was a “bit rainy”, everything else was perfect and I am looking forward to explore more of this magical island in the future.
What are your favorite places on Bali? Have you visited any of the spots listed above? Would you visit Bali based on this article? Please let me know in comment section below!
You can find more general information about Bali – currency, language, weather etc. – in my other article here.
Cheers,
Hana