Day 1: Ubud: Monkey Forest, Goa Gajah temple, Kopi Luwak places
Our first stop in Ubud was a coffee shop kind of place which had Kopi Luwak on its menu. You can see civet cats in cages and excreted coffee beans that are used to make this expensive coffee. There is a tasting menu for various other kinds of coffee
We also stopped at a gems and jewelry exhibition which might be a tourist trap. We did not purchase anything here
Ubud monkey forest is a pristine forest with hundreds, probably thousands of monkeys all around. Some are friendly and tamed, open to clicking photos with you. Stay at some distance from the others and be careful about your belongings. It was time well spent there amidst nature, trees and monkey kings of the forest
Goa Gajah temple is a stop over to see typical Bali temples that are a part of each village and city
Day 2: Barong dance, Ulun Danu Beratan, Tanah Lot, Jatiluwih rice terrace
We witnessed the ornate Barong dance at Batubulan first thing in the morning around 10 AM. The dance was entertaining with use of colorful masks, costumes and live local musical instruments
Jatiluwih rice terraces are out of the world! The rice grown is a little different with long grass reaching almost half to three fourth of your height. As you walk between the terraces, you can see the cute local cows that help agriculture here
Ulun Danu Beratan is a picturesque temple beside lake shore. It gives a calm feeling to be here and spend time around the temple. The mountains, clouds and water give a beautiful background to the temple. You can see birds like eagles and owls behind the temple, more for photo ops. Many locals come here for religious functions
Tanah Lot temple is in the middle of the sea. During high tide, the access can be cut off. As foreigners are not allowed inside core temple premises, you can see one layer from the outside. On the way, there are people trying to see different things from the famous Bali flower clips to photos with pythons
Day 3: Garuda Wisnu Kencena, Uluwatu temple
Half a day was spent travelling back from Yogyakarta. We then headed to south bali
Garuda Wisnu Kencena has huge statues of Vishnu, Garuda in the cultural park. There are performances at specified times which you can witness if interested. Bali airport is visible from the hilltop
Uluwatu temple is another temple by the shore on a hill. You can walk along the hill beside the coast. The trees there are home to monkeys which can snatch your bags if you are not vigilant. You can see Kecak monkey dance during sunset at 6 PM
Day 4 East: Candidasa, Celcuk village, Goa Lawah temple, Tenganan village
half a day was spent arriving from Labuan Bajo
We visited Celcuk village which is famous for silverware. On the way, we also entered Goa Lawah temple which has a large bat colony inside
Tenganan village, also known as Bali Aga is the oldest traditional village that preserves old ways of living like houses, cloth making, weaving, handicrafts and tools/ weapons
Staying at Candidasa was more as a stop during the round tour of island. You can choose to skip if you are not headed to North Bali
Day 5 North east: Lempuyang, Besakih, Mt. Batur
Lempuyang is an Instagram spot with Mt. Agung as the backdrop. You have to get a queue ticket number and wait for your turn to take a photo. It was cloudy that day with no visibility of the mountain. We did not wait for our turn and headed to our next stop
Besakih was our most favorite temple across Bali. It has steps and layers of temples like no other temple there. There are a total of 20+ main temples and 80+ other temple like structures
Mt. Batur was elusive under clouds, we couldn’t not get even a glimpse of it
Day 6 North: Lovina beach for Dolphin watching, Git git waterfall, Banyumala waterfall, Wanagiri hill, Handara gate
North Bali was a good inclusion, different from temples of the south
Lovina beach is home to dolphins which you can see during sunrise. The way all boats run towards the dolphins was not good though. We got to see 20+ dolphins jumping around here
Brahma Vihara Arama Buddhist Monastery, also known as mini Borobudur is a temple complex built with the Borobudur temple of Yogyakarta as an inspiration. The structure is not of that scale, it is the small domes that resemble Borobudur ones
We then visited Git Git and Banyumala waterfalls. Both of them are about 30-45 minute walk from car parking. They are a good way to bring nature between the temples. Both falls are pretty small compared to what we have seen elsewhere
We passed by Handara gate and Wanagiri hill. They all felt the same with photo ops as main agenda
Where we stayed
- Ubud- Element Bali Ubud: Redemption booking. Very good décor and food;
- Kuta- Fairfield Legion: Redemption booking. One of the lowest Bonvoy redemption rates in the world
- Candidasa- Crystal beach Bali. Large, spacious rooms beside the sea. Had patchy wifi and hot water
- Lovina- Rini Hotel: Independent room buildings inside a large garden complex