Buzz
“Everyone who goes to Bali finds a love story” – and everyone should have a marvelous Bali trip like that in their lifetime.
Pack your bags for Bali now! It's not just about the beaches, Bali has many fascinating things beyond that.
In the famous book 'Eat, Pray, Love', author Elizabeth Gilbert wrote “Everyone who goes to Bali finds a love story”. Inspired by just that sentence, Thanh Huy (27 years old, office worker) embarked on a 3-day trip to Bali in the blazing end days of summer. Who says Bali is only about the beaches? It's much more than that! Check out Thanh Huy's travel review here.
Getting Around
– You can opt for the budget airline Air Asia with layovers via Kuala Lumpur or take Tiger Airway via Singapore, then fly directly to Bali (Denpasar airport) from Singapore.
– Getting around in Bali is quite straightforward. Due to Bali's vastness and narrow roads, instead of renting a motorbike, Huy opted for a car rental with a driver. Prices range around $50 (over 1.1 million VND) for a 5-7 seater car, for a day (10 hours).
– Seminyak: Renowned for its beautiful and tranquil beaches, Seminyak is the upscale area of Bali, with 5-star hotels, private villas, and long stretches of beaches lined with main streets. However, traffic here is extremely congested (especially during peak months from June to December).
– Ubud: The central highlands of Bali. Ubud is a quaint village steeped in cultural essence with traditional art venues and sprawling rice fields.
– Kuta: Bali's most famous beach area. It's packed with tourists flocking to numerous eateries, clubs, and is a surfing haven.
– Legian Beach: Situated between Seminyak and Kuta, Legian is the perfect choice between budget resorts and bustling streets.
– Nusa Dua: With its stretches of white sandy beaches and the most luxurious resorts in Bali, Nusa Dua is considered the epitome of Bali's luxury.
– Jimbaran: The most beautiful spot to watch sunset in Bali, most hotels here are renowned 5-star chains. However, the highlight here is Muaya Beach, known as Bali's beachside seafood haven.
– Sanur: Being one of Bali's pioneering tourist development areas, Sanur offers a serene and gentle ambiance, unlike the hustle and bustle of Kuta or Seminyak.
What to Do?
Many think Bali is all about the beaches. But beyond the stunning coastline, Bali impresses travelers with its volcanoes, terraced rice fields, sea temples, ancient islands, waterfalls, and lakes offering ample opportunities for adventurous exploration. Specifically, in Bali, you can visit the following places:
– Tirta Empul Temple: One of Bali's most significant temples, over 1,000 years old. Visitors come here for the famous holy water believed to cleanse sins, evil spirits, and bad souls, purifying the mind, enhancing wisdom, and bringing prosperity.
– Ulun Danu – Bratan Lake: Situated at 1,300m altitude, surrounded by lush green mountains, Bratan Lake is famous in Bali not only for its high-altitude beauty but also for the Ulun Danu Temple (about 55km from Ubud). Due to its mountainous location, the journey here is quite challenging, but in return, you'll be rewarded with stunning landscapes and fresh air.
– Uluwatu Temple: One of Bali's oldest ancient temples, Uluwatu is carved from black coral stone, perched on a 76-meter cliff, overlooking the Java Sea.
– Taman Ayun: Taman Ayun Temple is a beautiful and unique Hindu temple, surrounded by lakes resembling floating on water. This temple is characterized by unique shapes like dried pine trees with Bali-style decorations. Taman Ayun Temple also means a temple in a beautiful park like a dream.
– Tanah Lot: Built atop a giant rock surrounded by the sea, this place has been part of Balinese mythology for centuries and is the main attraction of Bali.
– Padang Padang Beach: If you've seen the movie 'Eat, Pray, Love', you can't forget this beautiful beach nestled among these cliffs. The path to the beach passes through narrow rock crevices, but its tranquility and beauty are totally worth the effort.
– Mount Batur Volcano: This is one of Bali's seven active volcanoes. It will give you the feeling of climbing on a 'hot-blooded body' and enjoying a unique wild dinner experience at an altitude of over 1,000m above sea level while admiring the drifting clouds over the volcano crater.
– Ubud: The heart of Bali, where sprawling rice fields, serene atmosphere, slow-paced life, and the best organic food in Bali are found.
– Gitgit Waterfall: One of the most popular attractions in Bali. The waterfall hides amidst the beautiful tropical forest landscape, at a height of about 98 feet (300 meters) above sea level.
– Roasted Suckling Pig: Despite being a predominantly Muslim country, in Bali, the Babi Guling roasted suckling pig is a signature dish of the island.
– Bebek Goreng/ Bebek Betutu (Fried/Smoked Duck): For Beked Goreng, the duck is seasoned and steamed/boiled before deep frying. As for Bebek Betutu, the duck is marinated in local spices and smoked for 24 hours. You can try this dish at Bebek Tepi Sawah Restaurant, Beach walk Kuta.
– Balinese Coffee: Coffee grown in Bali has a distinctive flavor due to the fertile land nourished by volcanoes and perfect climate.
– Seafood BBQ: What's better than a dinner by the sea with seafood BBQ? Jimbaran will offer you that. The taste here mainly lies in the sauces and spices ranging from sweet and sour to spicy. Therefore, seafood on this beach is often called 'Jimbaran-style sambal'.
– Sate Lembat: Sate Lembat skewered grilled meat is a dish that can be easily found all over Bali. The meat is finely chopped or minced with grated coconut, herb mix, tamarind… then wrapped around small bamboo skewers and grilled over charcoal.
– Pepes and Tum: These are dishes that use banana leaves as outer wraps. Pepes are small parcels tightly wrapped and secured at both ends with small pieces of bamboo, similar to toothpicks, then steamed or grilled. Meanwhile, Tum is similar but the dish is not tightly wrapped and left partially open, and the food inside is cooked by steaming.
Let's take a look at some more beautiful pictures of Thanh Huy in Bali!
– You should only exchange a small amount of money at the airport because the exchange rate is not high. If you want to exchange money, look for Central Kuta Money Exchange with a green signboard.
– Avoid buying a SIM card at the airport, it will be very expensive (350,000 IDR – over 500,000 VND), instead, ask the driver to take you to a regular SIM card store to buy one, the price will range from 80,000 – 100,000 IDR (less than 200,000 VND) for 2GB of internet.
– Villa Rental: If you're traveling with a group of 5-6 people, the most reasonable option would be to rent a villa with a private pool. These villas are usually located in Seminyak and Kuta areas. Prices range from 100-150$/night for a 3-bedroom villa. However, this also has its inconvenience compared to hotels as there's no service, and on the last day when you check out, you can't leave your luggage but have to carry it all day.
– When visiting Bali, you shouldn't go on tours as most tourism workers in Bali speak English very well.
– When visiting temples in Bali, you must dress appropriately. If you're not dressed appropriately, you can rent a sarong at the entrance.
From Young Intellectuals
***
Source: Travel Handbook from Mytour
MytourSeptember 14, 2016
