Bali is a fabulous island of mystery and magic. While you’ll need to plan for the standard tropical island adventure, here are some specific tips we can share from our experience that will make your Bali trip that much more epic. We’ve also included links to some of our favorite restaurants, hotels, homestays and other things we liked.
Horse carts sure don’t take Amex! Cash is king.
Mosquito repellent (Autan or even better, something with deet!) Bali has mosquitoes- mosquitoes who especially love “sweet blood” folks like Tiffany. To help prevent this from happening, we HIGHLY recommend you bring some insect repellent with deet from home. Its hard to find deet based insect repellent in Bali so pack accordingly.
Use Gojek for getting around Seminyak and getting food Gojek is kinda like Uber combined with Grubhub. It makes getting around Seminyak a breeze and they’ll deliver tasty food to you too. It’s also CRAZY cheap with most car rides costing 1-4 US dollars. Unfortunately this app doesn’t work well in Ubud because the local Taxi drivers have beaten up and threatened all Gojek drivers to stay out of their turf. Not a very enlightened and spiritual approach if you ask us but….
Prepare for some Bali Belly (travelers diarrhea 🙁 ) Ya, I think it happened to all of us here. Have your doc prescribe some medication to make it go away quick
Get money from ATMs before visiting small islands The Gilis are beautiful but run totally on cash. If you’re visiting, bring as much cash as possible because if you don’t, you could seriously get stuck. We almost did but managed to BARELY scrape enough together to buy our ferry ride tickets back
Dry your ears out AFTER diving I didn’t and got some mean ear infections 🙁
Be ready to haggle for taxis and horse rides In Ubud, Taxi drivers will happily try to gouge you with inflated prices. Always stick to half of what they say and walk away if they won’t budge. They’ll change their tune fast when you do that.
Traffic is CRAZY- don’t trust google maps (add extra time) Traffic all over the islands is insane. Add at least 2 to 3x the time google maps comes up with.
Ahhh Ubud. This magical little town is what draws countless people from all corners of the globe is what most people think of when the word “Bali” is uttered. Ubud is the cultural, spiritual and musical heart of Bali where you can hear the sounds of Gamelan wafting through the air, competing with the buzz of scooters darting through its narrow streets. Here you can find picturesque rice fields, temples, curious monkeys, waterfalls and yes- even attempt to find your own version of “eat pray love”. Ubud can also be one big contradiction with one foot squarely in Balinese culture and the other in an expat spiritual dreamland
An altar at one of the many retreat facilities in Bali
That air of mystical spirituality is clearly a big draw for tourists from all over. Ubud has what appears to be the largest expat community we’ve seen in Southeast Asia – all drawn here to explore some new aspect of themselves from consciousness to yoga to reiki healing. One way to think about it is Ubud is it’s the spiritual equivalent of the Bellagio Buffet- it seems like all the worlds spiritual practices can be found in classes and retreats that highlight and integrate belief systems from all over the world. Hinduism, Buddhism, shamanism, tantra- even Navajo dream catchers- they’re all here in every combination you can imagine. For our trip, we focused more on exploring the countryside with its many temples along with taking a few yoga classes and of course- the much recommended ecstatic dance at the Yoga Barn.
We were super lucky to have several friends in town. Our friend Kate gave us a lay of the land and introduced us to her Ubud. Kate introduced us to smiling drivers, laughing yoga masters and the ins and outs of making sure we can try to jam as much fun and chill time in as possible.
A mother monkey nursing her baby
I was able to check out the Sacred Monkey Forest which was a total trip. The forest is in the middle of Ubud and houses countless Macaque monkeys which are pretty cute little guys and gals, but you gotta watch out because they’re pretty fast and super smart. When I was there they were non stop cute- eating fruits, grooming each other and having mommas take care of their little baby monkeys. This being said, i’ve also heard they love stealing people water bottles and other shiny things. There’s a number of temples in the forest along with a cool waterfall that you can explore- allowing you to indulge your errant Indiana Jones Impulses. I think it’s totally worth checking out.
If you’re in Ubud, you also HAVE to check out the rice paddies. In particular, check out the Tegallang Rice Terraces. They look to be something straight out of a fantasy movie with stone terraces clinging to the steep hillsides. While you’ll definitely do your share of climbing muddy stairs, it’s totally worth it to take in the views and even to get a chance to thresh and beat some rice yourself. You can easily book a driver to take you here as well as the many, many temples that dot the hills around Ubud.
The rice paddies that surround Ubud
Our temple exploration crew at the Elephant Water Temple
Hard at work 😛
One of the things we love doing wherever we travel is taking a cooking class. By experiencing how people cook their favorite local foods, it gives you a unique perspective into their lives. Tiff and I took this great class where they whisked us away to this little house surrounded by rice paddies. As the rain poured down outside and the Egrets stalked their way through the flooded rice paddies searching for their next meal, we learned how to make several Balinese classic Dishes. Fish cooked in banana leaves, marinated pork satay, sauteed chicken soup, fish meatballs and a sweet crepe for desert. The chef walked us through every step ranging from making the hilariously named “basic sauce” (which made up the base of three of the dishes) to the tamale-like banana wrapped fish. It was truly a fun experience and we got to meet a few new friends along the way!
The finished meal
Tiffany showing off her basic sauce
Tim working on grinding spices
Shifting gears, we also took in a number of Yoga classes and events around town. Of the many studios and and retreat spaces, we liked the Yoga Barn most for the quality of the teachers and the facilities. The place is very much a community center with a cafe, inn and many cool class areas. One of the coolest events they had was their Friday Night Ecstatic Dance. A bunch of our friends told us to get there early because it sold out (!) Having a “sold out” weekly dance party in a place as chill as Ubud seemed kinda crazy but we quickly found out why that was the case- it seemed like the _entire_ expat community comes every week! In order to get a place into the party you have to first line up to get a number at 4:30 pm. The line hit capacity i’m guessing around 4:50. If you’re lucky enough to get a number, you can come back at 7:30 to go to the party. The actual dance party takes place in this big upstairs veranda that lit up only by lamps inside this big, leaf chandelier (super Burning Man style). The dance begins with a meditative chill instrumentalists playing anything from a sitar to a Tibetan crystal bowl. This transitions into a DJ who drops some serious beats. The end result is something that looks a lot like the scene from the Matrix 2 where everyone is dancing their faces off. What super interesting is that its totally sober so when people are letting loose, they’re doing it completely from within and DAMN CAN THEY DANCE! After the dance ends, the DJ and instrumentalists bring everything down to a chill meditative level and everyone lies down for a quiet, guided meditation. The whole thing is totally rad and if you’re going to Ubud, you should check it out.
And with that, our week and a half in Ubud was over! Off we went to Saigon Vietnam! Expect that blog post soon!
Ahhh chilled out Ubud Bali. Center of culture, music…..and an insane amount of expats trying to live out their own version of “Eat, Pray, Love”. But that’s not this blog post!
Sunset over Gili M
Some of our closest friends, Jade, Yana and a bunch of our Burning Man Campmates from Ashram Galactica flew out to meet us and so our adventure to these two remote islands of Gili Tarawangan and Gili Meno began. These are two small islands out of a 3 island group called…you guessed it…the Gilis. In order to get there you’ve got to take a ferry and so we all crammed into a tiny mini bus and bounced along the winding, no traffic law rules of Bali to make it to the ferry in time. Little did we know we’d star in our own personal adventure film-“Escape from Pringle Island”!
The Ashram Galactica crew at Scallyways
All posted departure and tour times here in Bali seem to be extremely hand-wavey suggestions, but the ferry was next level hand waveyness. The “fast boat” ferry is basically a longer, wider version of a long boat with a roof which they use to stow luggage under a big tarp. We were told the boat departure time was 12:30- that ferry while it was on the pier, did not leave till 2:30- ample time for the local entrepreneurs to descend on all the tourists, exposed and undefended on the pier.
Baskets filled to the brim with Doritos knockoffs (“Happy-To’s”), Bin Tang beer and a near endless supply of Pringle’s. Pringles flavors I’ve never even dreamed were possible like “beef rendang” and “satay” flavor. So as the fake delays piled up, I became more and more convinced that the delays were actually sponsored by Pringle’s so we all would buy more Pringle’s. This non stop gauntlet of Pringle’s sellers continued to the last possible second when the boat was leaving the dock and sellers were still grabbing people by the arm to buy more Pringle’s. Finally the boat kicked into gear and we were able to escape Pringle island.
When we finally made it to Gili Tarawangan, we dropped our bags in the sand and looked for a taxi. To preserve the picturesque air in the Gilis, cars are banned and the taxis are colorfully decorated horse drawn carriages with little bells that sounded like sleigh bells (appropriate since it was Christmas!)
Our main form of transport on the Gilis
Gili Tarawangan is the largest of the three islands in the Gills and has a party-forward reputation. Beachside restaurants turn out tasty seafood dishes while the soft sounds of “Despacito” play on the sound system. Everyone was super nice and laid back. A couple of the restaurants have multiple side businesses like “Scallywags” which was a restaurant, hotel, dive shop and adventure outfitter. We ended up choosing them for our scuba dives and they were great!
Tiffany’s Gili T Take:
We stayed at an amazing hotel “Villa Ombak Hotel” with a super awesome pool area. We spent Christmas morning relaxing and listening to DJ “Crazy Jungle”’s set by the pool while sipping on iced coffee with Baileys. This is truly a chilax time but to top it off one must really try the spa. Yana and I decided to treat ourselves for Christmas at Ombak Spa. We had the royal ritual treatment aka Lulur. Lulur is a well known and very popular beauty secret in Indonesia. Formerly the Lulur treatment was only offer to the royal family or offer to brides on the day of the wedding. When in Bali treat yourself like royalty and enjoy the Lulur treatment. Yana and I enjoyed a 60 minute Balinese massage followed by coconut body scrub then our entire body was painted in a Balinese body paste. We ended the treatment with a relaxing hot milk bath. I highly recommend trying this at least once when you are in Bali. You will have tons of memories and stories to tell with good friends.
At zeee pool
Tim continues this meandering post:
The waters surrounding the Gilis is filled with colorful fish, all kinds of coral, sting rays, tons of sea turtles and sharks! I’ve never seen so many sea turtles in my life! The dive company was super legit and each dive we saw amazing things. I even made progress towards my advanced open water certification with a deep dive. If you like any of the above things when diving, check out the Gilis! We also saw a MASSIVE sea cucumber- the thing looked as big as a cat and was just on the ocean floor…doing what sea cucumbers do (I guess).
At night, Gili T definitely came alive with drunk aussies in their early 20s partying hard. Every time we hit a club the place would (almost) have as many shirtless guys as you’d expect at a party in the Castro district of SF!
Tiffany’s take:
Also you can get Thai Red Bulls at any Circle K in Gili T. Who needs sleep when you can party all night and get Jiggy with Jade 🙂 Caution– drink at your own risk (Red Bulls original formula was not FDA approved) so please don’t blame me the next morning. We had a silly fun night with our crew and have stories to tell for years to come.
The local vendors sell their version of Eloté!
Tim:
After 2 days on Gili T, we went to the much chiller Gili Meno. Fortunately for us it took just 10 minutes on a quick boat. Our hotel the Mahamaya was super nice and also, one of the few places on the island to eat. These islands are really, really small- like 5 KM in circumference so it doesn’t take much to see the whole place. Gili M is known more as the honeymooners island since it is so, so chill. It was a nice change of pace from Gili T and we were able to get some solid beach “do nothing” time in. Unfortunately, both me and Tiff got a case of “Bali Belly” and spent more time in our room than we would have liked.
Tiffany:
The hotel staff was super nice and gave us an endless supply of plain rice and ginger tea. I found a new appreciation for tasty food and endless energy.
Taking in the view between dives
Tim:
Ya, between the Bali belly and my diving related ear infections (more on that next post), we’ve definitely seen our share of travel related ailments. It’s all part of the adventure of travel! :p
That being said, spending the days chilling with friends and watching some of the most amazing sunsets i’ve ever seen felt pretty damn amazing. It was a surreal spectacle -the sun set with the tower Volcanoes of Bali in the distance, all while the call to prayer from Gili T’s mosque filtered across the water. It was a perfect moment that we will never forget.
Rollin’ deep with the locals on Gili M
After 2 days of this it was time to brave the phalanx of Pringle sellers of Pringle island again and return to Ubud. The Gilis were gorgeous, not too developed and were worth the experience- especially if you love diving and relaxing on the beach. As always, if you need any more suggestions or tips on our travels, please let us know!
And just like that, our trip begins! Honestly when were planning this big adventure, the day we were going to leave was this abstract thing that was far off in the future. Well, the day came and after all sorts of last minute packing and planning, we were whisked off to SFO thanks to Linda and Andrew. But no matter how many times you take a pan-pacific flight, that sucker is LONG, and our flight to Bali took only 26 hours! 🙁
We took the Hello Kitty Plane to Bali!
And wouldn’t ya know it, but Tiff caught a really nasty fever that showed up halfway through our flight. Making our connection in Taipei was a true adventure but we were able to make it to Bali safely and our first stop- the city of Seminyak.
What do you think of Bali? You might think of beaches, maybe jungles filled with temples and errant monkeys right? Seminyak is your typical bustling south east Asian city that just happens to be right on the beach. You’ve got billions of scooters sharing two lanes of road (that are actually really 5 lanes) with cars, pedestrians and the errant cow. The people are SUPER friendly and they always wanted to talk. Most people know English and they love to share their experiences with you. They’re easily one of the most smiley groups of people I’ve ever met.
The architecture of the houses is really cool with a style that totally Balinese. Each house has their own temple to ensure the right spirits protect the house and its inhabitants. Little altars seems to be hidden everywhere and little offerings are burnt each morning.
An altar in front of a store
The food is delicious and super cheap (at least compared to San Francisco, but that’s probably not saying much). Our neighbors ran a small Warung (restaurant) and showed me how to make their fried rice dishes like Nasi Goreng. Nasi Campur is like an epic mix platter of Balinese treats ranging from wok fired tofu to stewed pork. Most of the meals here seem to be either rice or noodle based so its definitely all the carby goodness here 🙂 One of the cool things that really made a difference was this service called Go-Jek. Its like a combination of Uber, a food delivery service and Instacart. We used it a ton to deliver food to Tiffany when she was sick. It also made taking cabs super easy and we had a flat rate every time. I also got a pizza delivered that definitely would rival a lot of pizza in SF.
Nasi Goreng being prepped…
…and Nasi Goreng ready to be eaten!
In terms of restaurants, beyond just local Warungs, we wen’t to a delicious French restaurant for date night called Rev bistro who made one of the best French onion soups I’ve ever had. Sisterfields is a Aussie joint that made an amazing burger (I totally broke down and needed one) and even made deconstructed avocado toast for Tiffany (her tummy was hurting). Across the board we’ve loved almost every meal we’ve had here.
In the city itself, there’s not a ton to do outside of chill at your place, maybe take some yoga classes or stop at the fancy beach clubs like Potato Head. It’s definitely pretty scene-y (which I wasn’t expecting) but the drinks were damn good. It’s kinda like Miami- with a ton more Aussies strutting around. Oh! Drinks are comparatively really expensive because Indonesia being a Muslim country, alcohol imports and taxed heavily. That being said, there’s still places to party. We went out to La Favela which is a…well….favela themed club that’s 3 levels big with AC, cracking DJ’s and candelabras that flash to the beat (its apparently a thing). If you’re looking to shake your ass, we highly recommend it.
Speaking of yoga and self care, Tiff loved her yoga class at Yoga Shala and together we got a couples massage and salt scrub at The Care spa for roughly 55 dollars total which is a complete steal. They even put rose petals and candles every (so romantical).
While Tiff recovered from her cold in the Villa, I got my scuba certification! After so many years of punting it off, I finally was able to stay long enough in one place to get it. The dive crew of adventure scuba diving Bali rocked and they took us to dive at the wreck of the USAT Liberty which is now home to a teeming world of corals, colorful fish and a few sea turtles. To be able to swim up to a wreck like that in real life was mind-blowing and it definitely has given me the scuba bug.
Now that Tiff is back at full strength, we’re off to Ubud- the spiritual center of Bali that we hear so much about. I can’t wait to see what’s in store for us!
