My Bali Itinerary

In July 2015, I went to Bali, Indonesia. It was my first time in Indonesia and I must say I really fell in love with Bali.

How do you know if Bali is the next place you should visit? In my opinion, Bali is for you if:

1. You are willing to have a feel of the country life

2. You love having healthy and organic food

3. You crave for a little laid back, nature appreciation trip mixed with a lot of history and culture

Bali is very open to their tourism activities that you can hire a car with driver for affordable prices, approximately 600,000 Indonesian Rupiah (IDR) per day. This is a huge plus considering that driving is the best way to go around Bali. You can have your own bikes or drive the car yourself, but you need to check your driver's license with Bali authorities first to avoid being apprehended. In our case, it was our kind of laid back trip so we really wanted a hassle-free, relaxing tour.

My Bali Trip, to give you the brief rundown:

Day 1: Tanah Lot Sunset Tour 

Day 2: Volcano, Ubud, Spa Tour

Day 3: Snorkel Tour

Because my friend and I were in a hurry, we just booked tours for days 2 and 3. Day 1 was the only trip that we customized.

Now for the deets!

Day 1

4AM Flight from Manila to Ngurah Rai International Airport

9-11 AM Breakfast at Airport: BangiKopitiam Cafe Bandara Ngurah Rai.

11.00 AM Pick up from Airport through our hired car with driver named Pak, arranged by my friend since previous tours around Bali.

15.00 Arrive at Taman Ayun Temple

16.00 Arrive at Bedugul Danau Bratan

17.30 Arrive at Tanah Lot before sunset. This is a must see!!!

1930 Dinner outside Tanah Lot area

Just walk outside Tanah Lot and you will see lots of restaurants. We had Nasi Campur, the best Chicken Satay, and Soto Ayam 

I had an early flight to Bali, and was sleepy after dinner, so we decided to just sleep as soon as we arrived at our place in Villa Kuta. I have a separate blog on where we stayed which you can click HERE.

Day 2:
Early morning, we were picked up from our hotel. I think it was around 6am and here below is our Day 2 itinerary....

Traditional Market - we had a quick shopping for purses, shirts, and fridge magnets for 30 minutes here.

Coffee plantation - Santi Agro Wisata to be exact. I got a lot of flack for posting a photo of me tasting kopi luwak for the first time. Some people find offensive as if I supported animal cruelty which I did not get at first because Santi Agro Wisata assured us that the civets are free roaming and they have designated harvesters for the coffee beans after the civets excrete the coffee beans.

You get to taste all the coffee variants which is inclusive in the tour, but you pay extra for testing the luwak coffee, 50 IDR per cup. This coffee tasting event was a real treat for a coffee lover like me! So if you are one, make sure to include this in your own itinerary!!

I bought coffee beans and chocolates from the plantation, but to be honest, I still love the Kopi Bali brand which you can buy at any Circle K convenience stores all around Bali. The chocolates are just okay, I did not find it too fantastic, but they do take pride in using coconut milk instead of dairy milk.

We then went to Kintamani Village for great views of the volcano and Lake Batur - guys, the photos will never ever do this place any justice. You have to see this for yourself!

It's even colder up here so bring at least a hoodie!!

On the way to our lunch destination, we passed by this orange and marigold plantation. It is very common in Ubud and it is such a nice view so I asked our tour guide to pull over so we can take photos!

We had lunch at Boni Bali Restaurant in Ubud, again, no need to pay because the lunch is part of the tour.

After our hearty lunch (burp!!!!), we proceeded to Pura Tirtha Empul Holy Water Temple which is in Tampaksiring, Bali, Indonesia

Phone +971 50 797 9328

Now back to Ubud to have some Spa!!

OMG I super love the end part of this tour. It is such the cherry on top! Ubud Traditional Spa (UTS) was only 4 months old then when we visited and it is soooooooooo nice. I was very impressed because in Manila, you will pay so much to have this kind of spa. The space is huge! The amenities are not limited. And they make their own essential oils which I bought for gifting. Prior to your massage of choice, UTS will make you choose which oil you prefer. All these come in different ingredients and scents, it was truly a nice experience!

This tour was made for us by Bali Traditional Tours (BTT, I linked their website on the name which you may hover ad click). Our tour guide and driver was not only very knowledgeable, he is also very nice and accommodating. The only problem we had was that the car smells of gasoline so we opted to not use airconditioning since Ubud has a lovely warm weather.

The total price including pick up from our hotel in Kuta was $140 US Dollars (USD) - for 2 people. The price is 900 IDR per person. This included a private return air-conditioned Avanza Toyota car (just for the two of us), all admission fees, a la carte lunch with a soft drink, and a one-hour massage treatment! BTT accepts IDR and USD. So when my friend was paying in IDR and I in USD, it was not a problem with them. Way to go! BTT also responds promptly to all your emails so this site gets my thumbs up!!

As usual, we were so tired  so we opted to just buy some microwave food at Circle K convenience store and eat at our room in Villa Kuta.

Day 3: Snorkeling!

Our half day snorkel tour was arranged with Blue Season Bali (BSB).

Details from their site for the Blue Lagoon tour which we chose state: 

Typical pick up time 6.30 – 7.00 am, returning to the Sanur dive school at 3.30pm. Travelling time by bus is around 50 minutes each way before taking a local boat or Jukung.

Price: USD 59 per person

All of  BSB's trips include:

Hotel pickup/drop off service (Sanur, Kuta/Legian, Seminyak, Jimbaran and Nusa Dua/Tanjung Benoa)

Full snorkeling equipment

Lunch & Bottled water

Towels

Guide​

Insurance

BSB provided me with swimming fins for my feet and it was particularly useful! In the Philippines, the snorkeling spots I have been to do not have strong waves so I can snorkel without fins. But in Blue Lagoon Bali, oh no. Suggest you bring your own or accept the fins they will lend you which is part of the tour. The water is cold for the likes of me, around 26-27 Celsius, so the wetsuit they lent me was extremely helpful.

Too bad I did not have a camera for underwater. Schools of fish may be found just near the shore and they were very friendly! They also come in a myriad of colors per fish. I think when I counted, I even saw a fish with 7 different colors in its body!

After our snorkel trip, we had late lunch at around 1PM in the restaurant called  Manggala Warung, near the shore. We were given our own food choices, and a drink, which were part of the paid tour. I paid for extra beer and dessert.

I liked the tour but we did wait for more than an hour in the morning before we can drive towards Blue Lagoon. We were on time but BSB had late comer guests so.... yeah, that was a bit annoying.

That night, I prepared for a trip to Beach Walk Mall. The owner of the place where we stayed was gracious enough to bring me there and even toured me around the mall!

The following day, I left for the airport at around 5AM the next day. The owner of the villa offered to bring me there. Mr. Abraham is such a kind man!

I enjoyed my Bali trip and would recommend you to try it. It is such an endearing place that is full of history, culture, nice people and the tourism projects and activities are truly in place. You will never run out of things to do! Truth be told, you would have done more if you stayed a little longer than I did. It is such a highly recommended place to rest and unwind and free yourself from the noise of the city life.