Bali has become a very popular destination among a lot of Indian travelers. But all I see is people going for their honeymoons to Bali. It definitely is a good place for honeymooners, but it has so much more to offer than just that. That is why in this Blog I made things very crisp and clear especially for the Indian traveler.
Getting there and Visa
So let’s start with the basics. Depending on the time of the year and how early you book your flights, the cost of the flight can vary from 30k – 50k Rs. If you want to learn more about how to book cheap flight tickets online, you can check out my other blog here.
The best part about Bali is that it is in Indonesia and Indian passport holders do not require any kind of paper work before boarding a flight to Bali. You can literally book your flight and directly reach there without any hassle. It comes under the list of visa-less countries for Indian travelers. The only catch is that you can only stay for a maximum of 30 days per visit, so make sure you return back within 30 days. There are ways to extend this 30 day period but more on that later. If you want to know more about how to upgrade your Indian passport, you can check out my other blog here
Geography and getting around
The main island of Bali is pretty big. It can seem like small distances, but the narrow and curvy roads increase the travel time. So if you plan on covering a lot of the island, keep at least 45-60 mins travel time one way to reach all the major attractions. Getting around Bali is pretty easy. There is no public transport as such, but with so many taxis and drivers available, transportation will not be in an issue. The best part is that it very cheap to travel from one place to another. Renting a scooter is also a practical and an economical option.
The must have apps before you go to Bali are Grab and Go-Jek. Go-Jek is the most popular taxi service provider in Bali and works far better than Grab/Uber. It is a combination of Uber, Ola, Swiggy and Zomato. An all in one app for everything you need.
You can have food delivered from the most trending restaurants right to your door step. Google Maps can also be handy for finding offbeat location. Honestly more than google I am turning to Instagram for searching awesome places in Bali. That is why I suggest just search Bali on Instagram and I am sure you will find some crazy off beat places that usually everyone misses out on.
Accommodation
Bali has something for everyone. staying in Bali can be as cheap as 250 Rs per night and as expensive as 50K per night. There is a wide range of places that you can stay in. People usually only think of hotels when they think of accommodation, but there are so many options. If you want to know more about the different accommodation options especially for Indian travelers, you can check out my blog here.
But I think the best places to stay in Bali are villas. Balinese villas are known for their traditional beauty and how nicely they incorporate an open to air concept with the swimming pool into the entire house. During my 2 weeks in Bali, I only stayed in Villas and it was the best thing ever. Check out my video on best Villas in and around Bali
Now that you have a idea about the basics of how to travel Bali, lets get in to some real stuff.
Bali is a multicultural country with a mix of Hindus and Muslims who live in peace and harmony. They we are very polite and welcoming people and you will not have to worry about safety ans security issues. As tourism is one of the main industry on the island of Bali, they respect the tourists as their livelihood depends on it. You can literally ask anyone to arrange anything for you on the entire island of Bali. Your maid can arrange a volcano trek for you, your taxi driver can arrange ferry tickets for you and your grocer can arrange Scuba Diving for you . Everyone and everything is interconnected on this beautiful island and that is why it is so charming.
Things to do / Itinerary
I will try and divide this into a 2 Week Itinerary, so depending on the days you have, and the things that appeal to you the most, you can make your own itinerary.
I like to divide the Island of Bali in to 4 areas and we’ll be travelling to all these places accordingly
1.Central and South Bali
2. Ubud and North Bali
3. Nusa Islands
4. Gili Islands
Although i would love to explore the other areas of Lombok and Java, but for this blog lets just keep it around the around the Bali
For the ease of transport we went around these places in a circuit over a period of 2 weeks.
Day 1 -4: Once you land in Bali, you will probably be living in Kuta or Denpasar. I highly recommend that you ditch those crowded and common neighborhoods and head directly to the most trending area called as Seminyak.
Seminyak is extremely hip and trendy, it has some amazing cafes, bars and eateries. Seminyak can be your hub for exploring areas around central and south Bali.
During your stay here here are you must explore the local food scene and just randomly walk into eateries that are appealing to you. Rent a scooter and just roam around the streets. The streets of Bali are filled with color and flavor. Check out nearby beaches like the double sixt beach and kuta beach. There are many beach side shacks where you can grab a nice cold Bintang (Must try local beer). Do not forget to go this day club called as Potato head in Seminyak. It is really happening, but there is on more club that beats all.
Also when you are here, you must check out the Tanah Lot temple which sits on a rocky beach. To look a the waves crashing into the temple is definitely an amazing sight.
Later you must spend an entire day in south Bali. You could either ride your scooter all the way or just hire a taxi with a driver for 2000 Rs for the entire day. I recommend you hire a taxi as you will be doing some drinking at one of best day clubs in Bali – Omnia
Start your day by visiting the Uluwatu, There is a nice temple there called the Uluwatu temple and some crazy, out of this world cliffs like the Karang Boma cliff. This cliff is also good for witnessing one of the best sunsets in Bali. Next to this cliff is the best day club in Bali. It is called as the Omnia Day club and this place is nothing like you have ever seen.
If you like shopping there are so many places where you can spend the entire day shopping. My favorite street is called Jalan Raya. You can find some amazing clothes, souvenirs to take back home
After Spending 3-4 Days here most of the people go to Ubud and call it a day. We made a circuit out of the itinerary and headed to Nusa islands for day 4-7.
Day 4-7: After spending 4 days in urban areas, it is time to head to the islands. Ask a Taxi or like a said before to arrange tickets from Sanur Pier to Nusa Lembonghan. it takes around 40 minutes to reach the island from Bali mainland. These are a group of 3 islands and the largest being Nusa Penida. so we decided to stay at Nusa Lembonghan as it has more natural wonders and honestly it does not make much of a difference as all of them are pretty close. In fact Nusa Lemonbonghan and Nusa Ceningan are connected via a nice Yellow bridge.
Just Spend a day or to recuperating after hectic days on Bali mainland. In the remaining days one day you must spend exploring the island of Nusa Lembonghan and Nusa Ceningan. This can be done by hiring a scooter and driving around . The best places to visit on these islands are Blue Lagoon, Mahana’s Point ( Cliff diving) , Devil’s Tear, Secret Beach and Dream beach . All of these places are marked and can be found on Google Maps. All these places are crazy natural wonders, so do not forget to bring your camera. Also during the evenings you could hang out at one of many beach sides bars and cafes for experiencing the relaxed life on the island
One day you will need to keep aside for a day trip to Nusa Penida. There are a lot of places so take a lot of water, change of clothes and food on the way as there are some grueling walks on this day.
Grab a boat to Nusa Penida, then the first place that you must go to is a hidden gem called as Peguyangan Waterfall. Hire a taxi from the pier for the entire day for around 3000 Rs. Peguyangan waterfall is this crazy waterfall which is actually on a cliff. It takes 45 minutes to go down and 60 minutes to come up to this waterfall. The walk is very difficult as the stairs are very steep. You must have a considerable amount of fitness to complete this. But once you reach this place, it is nothing like you have ever seen before , water is falling off a platform into the see. Is that crazy or what !
Similar to this waterfall is the Seganing waterfall but with far worse steps and hardly any safety, but the view is priceless. Honestly if you are on a tight schedule and only have a day go only for Peguyuangan waterfall.
Once you are exhausted from this, as it will take a lot out of you you must head on to Kelingking beach which has the best natural T-Rex in the world ;). Beautiful landscape. If you want to go an extra mile, walk down to the beach. It is very difficult to walk down and it will take 90-120 minutes to go up and down depending on your fitness and plus the time you spend on the beach it self. This takes time as the view of the beach is from a cliff. So that is why it takes time.
I’m sure you will be tired by the end of all this but there still one more places remaining on this beautiful island. You have to head to Broken beach and Angel’s Billabong, which are pretty close to each other. And with that you can end this hectic day filled some amazing memories
The next Day you can rest and recover from this hectic day and plan to leave for the next set of islands
Day 7-11: Like all places you can ask anyone to arrange transfer to Gili Islands.
Gili are a very unique group of islands just off the the coast of Lombok. There are no vehicles on this island and everything is relatively more expensive than rest of Bali. There of three Gili Islands – Gili.T, Gili Air, Gili Meno. All of them are very close by and can reach each other within 10 minutes by boat.
One day you could just relax and laze around on this laid back island where everything is so relaxed. Be aware of narcotic and drug activities do take place here and is not uncommon for people to come up to you and ask if want to buy hallucinogens or weed.
One day you must go for a snorkeling tour with one of many operators on the island. It is the best place to watch sea turtles and a wide array of marine life. When on Gili islands, do not miss out on the sunsets.
This is also kind of like a party island and can be perfect if you just want party through the entire night. Perfect for groups and bachelor parties.
Day 11-14: After you are completely relaxed, arrange your transfer from the island back to Bali mainland. You will have to get down at Padang Bai pier from where you will get loads of taxis pr can pre-book taxis with the boat company that will take you to your accommodation in Ubud.
Ubud is the perfect place for you explore north and and the more natural part of Bali mainland. We kept this for last as it would be easier for us to catch a flight back home from mainland, rather than coming from an island on the day of the flight.
One day you should hire a taxi/scooter to drive around waterfalls. My favorite picks are Tegunagun, Aling Aling, Nung Nung and Sekumpul waterfalls. These are very under rated and I found all of them on Instagram. These are very secluded and you will not have to compete with the crowds to get your privacy.
Coming to the best part of the trip. There is a trek that starts at 2.30 in the morning . You can get it arranged from literally anywhere. They pick you up at 2.30 AM and you reach the starting point of the trek at 3.30 AM. The point of all this is to reach the top of the volcano just in time for the sunset. It as an active volcano and really reminds you of Lord of the Rings. Once you reach the top and the colors of the sky start to change. from dark blue to pink to red and then the sun comes up. One of the best experiences of my life so far. Spend some time at the top and start walking back to sleep the rest of the day. You must not miss out on this experience.
Ubud also has some nice rice fields and swings for the classical Instagram Bali photo.
And just like that you have come to the end of a memorable trip.
Costs – Average Meal – 300 – 500 Rs per person per meal
Bottle of water – 15 Rs
Beer – 50-100 Rs ( depending on the place )
These are just rough figures to give you a brief idea.
If you want a more visual experience on how to travel Bali, you can check out my Video below.
Doctourer - Doctor by Profession, Wanderlust by Heart 