Live with no excuses and travel with no regrets

Oscar Wilde

If there is one word I could describe Bali – it would be vibrant. My first trip to Bali was for a music festival – Ultra Bali. I didn’t know what to expect and that trip was really focused on the music festival rather than actually exploring Bali itself.

Indonesia has a total of some 17,500 islands making it the largest island country in the world. Bali island is one of the widely visited islands of Indonesia. You may have come across that Bali is also known as “Little Australia” and it’s obvious with the number of ‘Australian Inspired’ cafes booming in the streets…. As a country with the largest Muslim population in the world, Bali stands unique with Hinduism as the dominant religion practiced in this island.

Experience

Bali is really the place for you to get away from it all. Many go there for their stunning resorts at affordable prices. It’s the place for your beach parties and bachelorette’s. I would say in general, the people are friendly but it’s always good to keep your guard up when you’re partying all night.

Our hotel provided bicycle rental and so we hop on one and cycled along the coast – travelling between Kuta & Seminyak. There is a slight noticeable vibe difference between Kuta & Seminyak. Seminyak is a little bit upscale where you can find cute restaurants / cafes with colourful motifs. It’s the place where can easily get your acai bowl fix and not to mention a great cup of coffee. While not exactly the Indonesian experience you’d expect, it’s a great place to be if you really just want a great getaway. I personally enjoyed my visit to the likes of Motel Mexicola and Sea Circus where I had delicious tacos and coconut coffee.

If you’re looking for something a little bit more rugged, you might want to stay around Kuta. Kuta is a little bit loud and rough. Aside from the very famous Warung Babi Guling Pak Malen, I found the best one actually to be in Kuta called .Warung Babi Guling Men Gede. It’s slightly cheaper and tastier. “Babi Guling” translated to pig roast is one of the must-haves when visiting Bali. Different parts of the pork, cooked differently and with different spices all combined into one dish served with rice is what typically makes a babi guling. There are variations to this combination but most of them would at least have a piece of “satay”, a piece of pork crackling and a portion of spiced pork dish.

If you’re coming from a place where coconut water is sold in tetra paks, please do yourself a favour and grab a fresh one here while you’re in Bali. You can find plenty of them everywhere. The taste is just not the same. The coconut water makes a perfect thirst quencher under the hot weather of Bali.

If you want to do something a bit more meaningful, you could visit the Bali Sea Turtle Society and assist some baby turtles back into the sea. They are a non-profit organisation for the conservation of turtles. When I was there 7 years ago, I thought it was done very tastefully. No doubt it is a tourist trap but I remember clearly upon releasing my baby turtle, people were kept behind accordingly to allow the baby turtles the space to walk themselves to the sea. That way, there won’t be a chance for an accidental trampling over the turtles.

The beaches near Kuta are usually packed with people and there is a minimum spend to sit on those comfy couches under the umbrella. You can easily avoid that buy bringing your own beach mat with a bottle Bintang beer you can easily buy from a mart nearby. The beach view isn’t that great and usually are filled with surfers so not exactly safe for swimming. If you don’t know it already, Bali is also known as a surfer’s paradise. There are many spots great for surfing and Kuta happens to be one of them.

A bit up north where there is less noise, you can visit Tanah Lot. It is where some people come to watch the sunset. Another area for sun watching is also at Jimbaran which is at the other end (south of Tanah Lot). After the sun has set, the two main cities (Seminyak & Kuta) turns into an unexpected nightlife. It’s full of energy and there are plenty of bars open for you to have a good time. Alcohol is affordable and there is music everywhere. It is loud and vibrant and sometimes can get a bit rowdy so be sure to watch out when partying.

To be honest, I really enjoyed my time in Bali just doing nothing. A few beach clubs you can go to just to have a fantastic time in the pool with good food and drinks. Don’t skip the opportunity to try the “warungs” for authentic Balinese food.