Okay, little harsh but that’s the feeling I got from visiting Bali. Does it mean that Bali doesn’t deserve a visit? Absolutely not! Personally, I prefer cities and countries with a good balance of tourists and locals. With Bali, I felt like the province is overrun with tourists with barely any locals in sight. From restaurants to night clubs, seems like a foreigner owns everything.
The Journey….
After leaving Edmonton, Canada on December 29, 2018, I met up with my friend on December 31, 2018, in Taipei – yes, we skipped an entire day. After the quick hugs and catch up, we went to our terminal excitedly awaiting our boarding call. We boarded the hello kitty flight (I am not kidding) and flew to Denpasar.
Around 5:30pm local time, we arrived at the Denpasar Airport, excited to get to our hostel to change and head out for the New Year’s Eve festivities. After a hard fought battle with many taxi drivers, we found one who was willing to take us to our hostel. Google said 20 minutes (without traffic), but it only took us 2 hours to get to our hostel, super quick! Finally, we arrived, got changed, went out to get some food (lets not talk about that nightmare). So with no food in our system, we rang in the New Years at Finn’s Night Club with Martin Solveig and couple of shots of tequila (seriously, who is counting).
New Year, New Me!
Woke up bright and early on January 1, 2019, at roughly 10:30 am (come on, we did good). Head to a vegan café – got to get that summer bod – and ordered some yummy goodness. Walked around a bit, explored the city, the beach and head back to the hostel for day 2 of the music festival – KHALID!!!!
Day 3 – two inexperienced people rent a scooter and goes on a road trip.
Yes, you read that right, we decided to go on a Road trip from Canggu to Ubud because according to Maps.me it was 20 minutes, it wasn’t….
Ended up in Ubud after an hour on the road, roamed around the city, visited a beautiful waterfall, and headed to back to our hostel; WE DIDN’T DIE! We weaved through the crazy Ubud traffic, narrow roads and survived.
Cities
Canggu:
I spend a majority of the time here, riding scooters, volunteering, eating some Mie Goreng and staying away from the sun (My Canadian body is used to -25). Canggu is a beautiful city. Overrun by tourists, but still little bit of everything for everyone. Beaches, night clubs, restaurants, this place was a great adventure. I recommend hitting up Finn’s Beach Club for really nice vibe – but watch out for the prices. The Tanah lot temple is 20 minutes away on a scooter (if you are brave), from Canggu city center.
Ubud:
Because heading to Ubud once wasn’t enough, my friend and I went there the second time but this time with two big backpacks because the first time wasn’t risky enough. Ubud was a lot calmer than Canggu, with lot of monkeys. The sacred monkey forest is a must if you visit Ubud, but be careful as although we got out with no scratches, I have heard horror stories from people regarding monkey bites. Goa Gajah temple was alright (one of the recommended tourist attraction) but definitely visit the Tegenungan Waterfall, and the Tegallalang Rice Terrace. Visit the rice terrace at sunrise, you won’t be disappointed.
Tegallalang Rice Terrace – Ubud
Nusa Islands
Favourite part about my trip to Bali, was heading to these islands. They were beautiful and the people were amazing. Read more about the island here: https://soulfullofdetours.com/nusa-islands-lembongan-ceningan-penida/
Final thoughts:
Personally, I think the true feelings for Bali depends on each individual. I wasn’t a fan because of the huge sea of tourist and expensive prices (for a 3rd world country). Read more about the Bali expenses and tips here:
https://soulfullofdetours.com/bali-part-1-expensesandtips/
I think being one of the biggest tourist destination, it is worth a visit to check out the hype – the province does have its charms. But talking to some locals, they all recommended heading further east to the other provinces, where the lands are still more natural with less tourist exposure.
Happy traveling! Cheers 🙂