To be honest I never really gave much consideration to my honeymoon destination - Bali came about simply because my old friends bought a luxury boutique hotel in Bali and I booked a trip for October 2020, which was delayed and turned into our honeymoon in June 2022.
Bali only just reopened to tourists 3 weeks before we landed after 2.5 years, so it was no surprise that all our flights were full. 18 hours from Madrid to Bali with one change in Doha, but it was worth it!!
I had zero expectations about Bali. My husband and I did some research before we left and had a pretty packed itinerary for our 9 days of adventure. We were planning on hiring a car and driving ourselves to all of the tourist hotspots, so we made sure to take my husband’s International Driving Licence (you will need that to hire a vehicle there.)
Once we landed in Denpasar after the gruelling trip, I was surprised how long it took us to get through the airport.
We had to get on a transit bus to the terminal, then queue for the entry tourist visa (€30 each.) Then we had to queue to show our vaccination status (you must have min 2 doses to enter without quarantining.) Then we had to get through passport control and they seem quite relaxed and not in any hurry. Finally our luggage took at least 30 minutes.
We planned on changing our money at the airport as that was what we had read in blogs, but we weren’t aware that the money changers only accept cash and we had cards. So the maximum we could withdraw was 2,500,000 IDR which sounds like a lot, but only equates to around €150. In Bali you need cash for everything, and you can easily spend 500,000- 1,000,000 IDR so you need plenty of cash. Next time we will take €1000 and change it at the airport so that we don’t need to keep going to local ATMs (which, by the way, you need to make sure are safe. Only go to the machines in tourist busy areas, but local only areas and defiantly not local ‘money changers.’)
KEY POINT #1 - make sure you have cash to change into IDR at the airport.
We had a local driver waiting for us to drive us to the hotel. Ubud is around 60 minutes from the airport, depending on the traffic. Ubud is one of the more popular tourist hotspots, well known for its local markets but also nice restaurants and tourist attractions such as the sacred monkey forest and waterfalls.
If you prefer staying in a luxury resort and not venturing out much, Seminyak is the place for you. If you are looking for the surf, beach, bar, nightclub type trip then Canggu is better for you.
First thing noticeable was the crazy amount of scooters and bikes on the roads, and also how they are driven by the local and tourists alike. Barely anyone wearing a helmet. Usually small children on bikes with adults, sometimes 3,4,5 people on one bike. Also entire businesses on the back of the bikes! Crazy weaving in and out of the cars, no indication - at that point I decided not to hire a bike ora car and use a private driver I just didn’t want to take the risk (although hiring a bike at around £10 a day is the cheapest way to get around the island for sure.)
Made our driver was telling us a bit about Bali on the trip to the hotel. He told us to text him our itinerary and he could shuttle us around each day to make sure we saw everything.
We reached our hotel, 11 on Kajeng, and were shown to our deluxe private villa which was beautiful. Very expensive, but worth it with a private pool, outside seating area, huge 4 poster queen bed, laundry service, outside shower and bath, breakfast brought to you each morning and they threw in a couples Balinese massage by the pool. I can’t post many pics on this blog but they are all up on my instagram @vanessaphoenix____.
We had a bottle of red and white wine in the mini bar and we were so excited to arrive on our honeymoon that we opened and drank both of them alongside ordering a takeaway from the local Warung (Indonesian restaurant.) Only a few days later did we realise how expensive wine is in Bali! Those bottles were 475,000 IDR each, which equates to €30!!! Decided it best to stick to Bintang beer when in Bali! You can actually buy local Balinese wine far cheaper - they have a brand called 2 islands, which I didn’t like, but they have other brands which are a combination of local and South African, for example, so the grape comes from South Africa but the wine is made in Bali, and these wines are half the price. We found a local wine shop and paid 285,000 for bottles of this combination white wine. Far more affordable.
KEY POINT #2 - watch out for the price of wine in Bali!
Day 1
We were tired from travelling so we decided to stay local and low key. We ventured down JL Monkey Forest Road and got an idea of the local shops and what they sell, the cafes and restaurants and had a cold fresh coconut which was super refreshing and was the start of my hubby’s love of coconuts!! You have to be prepared for lots of noise, traffic, people and offerings for a taxi and other small souvenirs such as bracelets wherever you go in Bali. They don’t sell aggressively but they will get in your face and I found the best way to deal with them is to smile, put your hands together in a prayer position and say ‘shuksma’ which is thank you. They seem to appreciate hearing their language spoken.
If you want to eat good local food then find the good quality warungs. Do not eat where you don’t see any tourists, because they will cook with local water and it may not be the most hygienic. You can easily suffer ‘Bali belly’ if you drink the local water rather than boiled water and even worse get food poisoning eating at the wrong warungs. Expect to pay anywhere between €5 and €50 for a meal, depending on the quality of the place. The cheapest meal we had was 3 courses for around €15 and the most expensive was 3 courses for €100.
We ventured down to the Campuhan Hill Ridge Walk which is a 3.9 KM out-and-back trail. Quite an easy hike and make sure you wear trainers or at least supportive flip flops. Here you have rainforest views as well as rice fields, really gorgeous scenery. At the top we stopped for water and a coffee at a really cute little coffee shop called ‘Warung Widi Coffee’ owned by a local guy with whom we had a really nice chat.
On the way down we stopped at the 5 star ‘Pita Maha Resort and Spa’ for lunch which had delicious food, amazing service and a beautiful view of the rainforest from the infinity pool. Well worth booking a night or 2 there if you want to escape into luxury.
After the walk we decided to visit the infamous Sacred Monkey Forest. Even though I was a bit anxious as I had heard a lot about the monkeys jumping on people and stealing things, hubby was keen to check it out. We hired a local taxi driver who was looking for business at the end of the walk and got a ride there, its not too far away, around a 15 minute drive.
The monkey forest was fine - it’s around a 30 minute walk through the forest, and you are not supposed to touch the monkeys unless accompanied by a warden. I’m not really an animal or monkey person so I could have skipped it.
After the monkey forest we went back to our villa to change and dress up for a fancy dinner. Little did we know this was the only time we would bother to dress up for dinner! Bali is so humid and laid back that after a few days I didn’t even bother blow drying my hair before going out in the evening!!!
Dinner that first evening was a beautiful hotel called Sayan House. The food and service was fantastic, although one of the most expensive places to eat in Ubud, so reserve it for a special occasion!
KEY POINT #3 - make sure to only eat in warungs where you see other tourists so to avoid ‘Bali belly.’
Day 2
We hired the driver from Day 1 to take us around this day. He was nice enough but his English wasn’t great. A big mistake would have been booking him for our entire stay and not testing other drivers, as we were to discover that the competency of your driver makes ALL the difference in what you get out of your stay!
First we visited the Tegallang Rice Terrace. Best to go in the morning early as possible because it gets busy! It is still a very much live rice terrace so you get to see some locals collecting their rice. INTERESTING FACT - all Balinese people are given a rice terrace by the government so they never go hungry! All along this main road you have the infamous Bali Swings, now very popular due to instagram. The best one, Aloha swing, is very commercialised and they even hire the long floaty dresses for the perfect swing picture. But they charge around €20 each for access and a picture which I thought was ridiculous. So instead we drove 5 minutes down the road and stopped at a quieter one within a coffee plantation, where we paid much less for my picture and got a round of free tea and coffee thrown in!
After the rice terrace and the swing, we stopped for lunch at a beautiful Warung in a rice field called Pankong Warung. Whilst eating here we saw our first tropical downpour. Bali Is so lush and green because of all the rain, but we had planned to visit a temple but went back to he hotel instead after lunch to avoid the rain.
That afternoon we had our couples balinese massage by the pool in our villa which was absolute bliss!!!
KEY POINT #4 - The locals sure know how to make money from tourists. The entry costs for car parks and tourists attractions are fixed but make sure you haggle A LOT in the shops and markets. They WILL rip you off!
Day 3
After using this driver for 2 days I felt guilty for promising work to our original driver Made and not following through, so we text him to take us out on Day 3. He confirmed, and then in the morning said that his brother would take us as he was busy. We met his brother Wayan Pastika in the morning in his Daihatsu Xenia and he tried out to be an amazing tour guide as well as driver. He transformed our experience by telling us so much about Bali, the people, the culture, the traditions, the rituals and designing a ‘real Bali’ immersive experience for us over the next week.
First we went to Leke Leke waterfall, which is a lovely experience because you get to trek down to it through the rainforest and we came across a local guy collecting coconuts. The waterfalls are just for taking a quick picture, nobody really swims there and especially this one as the water was really dirty. It was very impressive though.
Next we visited a couple of temples. Another interesting fact is that every family has their own temple, which they are expected to maintain. The government give each family land for their ‘compound’ where they all live together, and they have their own temple in the compound. So the Balinese people may not have much money, but they are far richer than us in that they have their compounds and their rice fields !!
All the temples are nice but not very memorable. Although an amazing, huge temple is Bratan Temple. It was busy with locals in their traditional dress & some young lads even asked for a picture with me! We ate at a local restaurant opposite the temple called Danau restaurant which was fine, with a nice view of the temple and lake. Then we went to Handara Gate where I wanted a picture, but the driver said we could get a much better one at Heavens Gate so don’t bother as there was an entry fee.
That’s the thing about Bali, there is an entry fee for everywhere even the car parks. So you may pay 5,000 IDR to park the car but the main entrance fee may be anything from 20,000 to 200,000 per person. The main reason you need a lot of cash with you. If you visit 5 places in one day, for 2 people you can easily spend 1,000,000 IDR. The locals sure know how to milk the tourists for what they’re worth!!!
That night we went and met with my old friends Tom and Bina in their new bar / nightclub, The Blue Door. The nightlife in Ubud is quite good - loads of restaurants and a few karaoke bars and nightclubs. We didn’t really bother as we were waking up early everyday and didn’t want to spend money on booze but a few places, including the CP Lounge (salsa) and The Blue Door were good fun. Tom & Bina have done amazingly well, managing to keep 11 on Kajeng open all through COVID without tourists, and now opening a bar / nightclub!!
Day 4
Day 4 was a Sunday and we decided to have a chilled rest day and stay local. Being driven around was making us tired! We started off with gift shopping for our friends and family in the local markets. We bought some beautiful wood carvings which we saw being made by locals right on the street. We bought some funky Bali style shirts for my brothers in law. I bought some local style dresses and robes for my sisters. But I got ripped off by the lady on those which afterwards I was a bit annoyed about. She took the absolute piss, and first of all tried to charge me 1,000,000 IDR for 4 locally made items! (€150!) I got it down to 600,000 but afterwards realised I should have paid maximum 100,000. That’s the thing to be aware of - because its so difficult to figure out the currency conversion, most people get ripped off in Bali. So be very careful and offer a much lower amount than what they start with. We ended up spending around €100 on gifts which was probably far too much. Wouldn’t make that mistake again!!
We went for a walk in the afternoon to see the local rice fields in the Kajeng area, and came across our driver Wayan at his rice field! He explained how the rice takes 4 months to grow, and because there is no irrigation systems that’s why the rice fields are slanted downwards do that the water runs down from the top to the bottom. He told us that during COVID a lot of locals sold their rice fields to private companies as they needed cash, so in the next few years many more hotels will be built on the rice fields, which is sad.
That evening we decided to skip on the Indonesian food and went to a really yummy Italian restaurant and had pizza and pasta :).
Day 5
Monday was our excursion to the islands!!! There are 3 islands close to Bali that you can visit in just one day, but if you want to visit more than one, or the Gili islands, you need to stay overnight.
We booked the trip through a private company and it cost us €50 each which was definitely one of the cheaper options. This included driver to the ferry, the boat tickets, a private driver on Nusa Penida and lunch.
We were picked up by ‘Paris’ our driver at 6.30am and driven to Sanur port. Sanur port is super busy, so if you can go on a weekday rather than weekend, and in the off-peak season. Paris bought us our ferry tickets and waited with about an hour until it was time to get on. We all boarded via the beach, so it was hilarious because you had to run out on the sand barefoot when the tide went out and jump onto the boat at the right time, otherwise you would get soaked!! Lots of people had luggage they were dragging on the sand, and then the locals would throw it on their shoulder to take it onto the boat!!
The boat had probably 100 people on, and it was very rocky. A good few people were sick including a little girl sat behind me, who splashed my feet with her vomit!
The ride to Nusa Penida was about one hour, and it was fine after the initial rockiness.
We arrived and met our next driver, also called Made. We had 4 ‘hotspots’ to visit in about 6 hours, and again they are so far apart on the island that most of the day is spent being driven around. The island is beautiful though. More remote and quiet that main Bali. They don’t even have rice fields on the island, only coconuts and other fruit like bananas.
All the cars from the port seemed to be driving in the same direction - it was a convey of about 20 4x4’s driving through the island! When we reached broken beach and Angel’s Billabong it was packed with tourists all trying to get that perfect pic and video for social media. To be honest, angels billabong wasn’t all that impressive - I’ve seen more impressive natural scenery in Spain and Madeira. We stopped for a cold coconut before leaving for our next destination which was Klingking beach. This was far more impressive, but we only had time to look at the view from above, not to go down and swim on the beach, which was a shame because the beach was beautiful.
The last stop was diamond beach where we had a couple of hours and our first swim in the Indian Ocean which was amazing, apart from all the coral cutting up our ankles! The waves were huge and strong so you do need to be careful, and the coral is thrown against you with the waves! But the beach was beautiful, far more exotic than our local Spanish beaches!!
Then it was the end of the day and back to the port to catch the ferry, and then meet Paris again for our drive back to the hotel. By the time we reached the hotel it was 7.30pm, so more than a 12 hour day, but it was worth it.
KEY POINT #5 - Only hire a scooter or bike if you are a confident driver already. The way the locals drive and the sheer weight of traffic, plus the windy steep roads and unsafe drops either side mean it’s far safer not to risk it unless you are proficient already. Especially if you are trying to follow a map or google maps at the same time!!
Day 6
This day was my FAVOURITE DAY of the whole trip!!!
I had been having really bad dreams since we arrived in Bali, and when I mentioned this to our driver Wayan he suggested that we take part in a Holy spring water purification ceremony at the holy water Temple, Tirta Empul. We saved this for this day as it was a full moon and the Balinese believe that this means you get more blessings from the Gods.
One of the busiest water temples in Indonesia, Tirta Empul is a temple considered sacred by Balinese Hindu community. The temple has several holy springs which are said to have been created by The God Indra and believed to be blessed water that could purify those who bathe there. Tirta Empul is dedicated to Vishnu, the Hindu God of water. In the Balinese language, Tirta Empul loosely translated means water gushing from the earth, which for this reason Tirta Empul is regarded as a holy spring. The Tirta Empul Temple includes shrines to Shiva, Vishnu, Brahma, as well as one for Indra and Mount Batur. It is considered one of the five most holy temples in all of Bali and is considered one of the holiest water sources in Bali.
Upon entering the temples, you always need to put on a sarong, unless you are wearing an ankle length dress. Outside a lot of the temples the locals will try to sell you a sarong, telling you that you need one to enter - but you don’t need to buy one you are given for free!
KEY POINT #6- You don’t need to buy a sarong outside the temples you will be given one with the price of entry!!
Wayan helped us with everything and explained how to perform the purification properly.
We were to pray in front of each fountain apart from 3 - pray to apologise for our sins and bad karma, pray to say thank you for our blessing and pray for what we wanted in the future. Then we would wash our fish 3x and our head 3x.
We waited about 5 minutes in the water, as it was a full moon, and the temple was very busy with local people taking part in purification.
When we started the purification, I started by apologising for bad energy I had put into the world, consciously or not, and it was odd because a lot of memories popped into my mind of things that were bad karma but I didn’t realise were bad karma at the time. I got quite emotional as I felt it all being washed away and shed a few tears. Miguel also found it very emotional but he wasn’t able to be as emotionally open as me.
I did feel different after the purification, and since that day I haven’t had one bad dream.
Also on this day we visited the Tegganungang waterfall which is beautiful and the elephant temple Goa Gajah where we were lucky to see the local priest and locals praying. This is actually the oldest temple in Bali but nobody knows exactly how old it is. A tip if you go here - there are a few locals inside who will offer to give you a tour (which of curse you pay for) but its not worth it because nobody actually knows the real history of the temple.
We drive to Mount Batur which is one of the 2 magnificent active volcanoes on the island. We stopped for coffee and cake at the most amazing coffee shop with a view. We drove down to Lake Batur and Wayan told us the story of the locals around there. You have to catch a boat to visit the locals on the other side of the lake who have interesting customs, such as leaving dead bodies under trees to decompose, but be careful with catching boats across the lake here because they are run by the mafia. There are horror stories of them charging tourists before they start the journey, and ten turning off the engine in the middle of the lake and demanding more money!
We had the most amazing lunch at a hotel called Lakeview, where we ate a local fish called Mujair fish from the lake!
Day 7
We wanted a chilled beach day, unfortunately there aren’t any beaches in Ubud, so if you are planning on lots of beach time make sure you stay in Canggu (surfers paradise) or Seminyak!
We asked Wayan to take us to Bias Tugel beach, a small lesser known beach about one hour from Ubud. It was a nice beach, but there had been heavy rainfall the night before so there was a LOT of debris and plastics being washed up on the shore. The tide is high early in the day, so the locals there try to sell you sunbeds as you can’t lay on the beach. Be aware they will try to charge you 100,000 IDR per sunbed which is daylight robbery, but you can get them for 10,000 each. We lay on the sand in front of one of the warungs and the lady tried to charge us 25,000 for that!!!!! Wayan had a word with her and she relaxed.
She did however prepare us a lovely Barracuda lunch with cold coconut! The secret to the fish is the ‘sambal sauce’ - onion, chilli, garlic, coconut oil, lime and / or lemon, sliced very thin.
Driving through lots of villages this day we saw places with zero tourism, and even naked locals washing in the river because they don’t even have running water.
We learnt that every compound has at least one dog, to protect their compound, but they let their dogs run wild. They don’t take them on walks with a lead, they are free to roam wherever they like outside in the street and come back for their food. They feed their dogs the same as they eat - rice with meat, fish or vegetables. Our driver was telling us that he thinks its very cruel to put dogs on a lead, and he believes that dogs only bark because they are unhappy with being kept inside rather than outside and free!
KEY POINT #7- Don’t touch the local dogs as a lot of them don’t have any injections so you could catch something.
Day 8
Was our last day with Wayan!! Wayan had been busy telling us about their Hindu religion and beliefs, and we wanted to go to the local market and pick up a few symbolic souvenirs, not the usual tourist things, and try some more local food. First stop was a material market to buy some thread, because Wayan wore a bracelet which was red, white and black, representing balance - black = protection, white = recycling, red = creation. He said he would make us one, so he bought some thread to make it.
He bought us some local traditional snacks too, called Pisang Goring, which is both jack fruit and banana fried, which is so yummy. He taught us about the God’s representations, and the flags and ceremonies and bought us a flag to bring back to Spain.
We drove to virgin beach and had a quick swim - an absolutely gorgeous beach which, to be honest, we should have spent the whole day at the day before!! Would definitely go back to that beach and spend longer.
Then we drove to the Taman Jung Palace which overlooks Lombok Island - again an absolutely breathtaking palace with gorgeous grounds which has to be seen to be believed.
We had lunch in a local Warung before driving to Heavens Gate and the 7 temples for the infamous picture. These 7 temples are on Mount Agung which is the second live volcano on Bali. You can hike up the mountain and visit all 7 temples, but most people stop at the first which is ‘Heavens gate’ because you need to hire a guide for 400,000 IDR to take you safely to the other 6.
We got there and paid 100,000 IDR each to be given a ticket, number 274 and told that was our place in the queue for the picture. I thought it would be quite good to get the professional pic - little did I know that it was so crowded that when we arrived they were only on ticket 215!! One man told us they had waited 2 hours for their picture!!
I did want the picture so we waited about an hour but lost patience watching everyone else take photos. It was ridiculous. Next time I would go much earlier, literally first thing in the morning before the queue gets backed up!!! It is an amazing picture but not worth waiting 2 hours.
It is a shame because tourists visiting Bali care more about instagram pictures nowadays, than about the magic of the island.
Day 9
Our final full day before flying back overnight. We watched a funeral procession through the village - the Balinese believe in cremating the dead so that the soul is free to move onto a better place. They have these huge ornate structures which the family buy, and the men from the village carry the body through the village, shouting and dancing with the whole village following down the street. The police close the streets for it. It is a celebration of that persons life.
They carry the structure and body to the cemetery, where they transfer the body using sheaths of material very carefully into a big wooden horse. They clean the body, to cleanse any bad karma, and then they set the fire from underneath so the whole horse and structure is burnt with the body.
There were a few tourists at the procession, and also watching the cremation, and some filming. I asked Wayan if the Balinese people mind that they are gawked at by tourists and he said no, they believe that as long as someone isn’t doing any harm to others they can do as they wish and the Balinese won’t pay any attention. This is something amazing that I noticed - unless they are trying to sell you something, they don't look at you or stare at you or pay any attention. They really do mind their own business.
It was a super hot and sweaty day (that’s one thing you’ll have to be prepared for -
Sweating more than you ever have before in life!) so we Stopped for an ice Coffee & water at The Sweet Orange Warung amongst the Kajeng rice fields. It is the most stunning little warung and If you are in the area you must visit - next time we will definitely try the food there !
We had a lovely lunch at The Melting Pot Warung, and headed back to pack up all our things and wait for our transfer that evening.
In conclusion, Bali is incredible and has A LOT more to offer than just nice content for social media. Be careful with how you get around, and how much money you spend, and where you eat. Other than that the island is very safe and the people very friendly and helpful.
The good thing is, the temperature is the same all year round - between 25-30 degree Celsius. And yes there is the dry and wet season, but we went in dry season and it rained almost everyday and Wayan said that wet season is the same.
So if we go again we will go in the quiet season, Jan - April to miss all the crowds. We would definitely stay in a ‘homestay’ with a local person, as it is far cheaper than staying in a hotel. You can find these homesteads, which are inside the compounds, on AIR BNB.
