While traveling in SE Asia, Bali was definitely in my must visit list. I have spent nearly two weeks in this region traveling to different parts of Bali like the regular places of Kuta, Seminyak, Denpasar, Ubud, Lovina and also to some interior place which are least touristy.

The best experience my memory recalls when in Bali is Mount Batur Volcano.

The early morning surise and you are standing over looking mount Agung with clouds below you was definitely a sight to cherish for a very long time. That was my first experience on a volcano and could see the smoke fuming out at places. Earlier that morning we were scammed by a local driver and that’s part of the travel have to take it.

I visited Pura Luhur Batukaru Temple near Mount Batukaru, Bali’s second-highest volcano mountain first being Agung. It’s kind of offbeat and not many tourist here. It’s serene, you can observe the local rituals taking place. Loved the peaceful ambiance of this place. Learnt lot about the local culture and their daily way of life from people whom we met.

Then visited the famous Ulan Dhanu Temple. It was raining and once the rain stopped it looked magical. Worth visiting and it’s beautiful indeed with the back drop of mountain.

Tanah Lot temple was something nice to visit during the evening. The view was surreal with temple on the rocks and waves hitting against it. It was one of its kind.

Uluwatu temple is also something that shouldn’t be missed. Although it gets crowded these days, the rocks and the beaches near by make it so beautiful during sunset and the sight is just amazing.

We also went to the Ramayana play and it was a highlight to watch against the back drop of the mountains and ocean during sunset. Definitely a nice place to spend time in the evening, it gets a bit crowded though.

If you are interested in night life then Kuta is your place. It’s very busy and some streets go sleepless in the night. Lot of cafes to choose from in the evenings. We spent a couple of nights in Kuta but then for people who like nature and calmness you need move north and we did so. The next few days we spent in Lovina and Ubud.

Ubud has more of greenery, streams and rice terraces, so you can spend some time driving around these lanes enjoying the views. It’s definitely worth hiring a motor cycle here so you can enjoy this area to the fullest. We spent about 3-4 days moving around Ubud and driving on the mountain roads. Many restaurants we stopped by had a very beautiful view of green mountains,rice terrace or forest around.

Not to forget warung food, it was just amazing… Nasi Campur, Soto Ayam and many more…. We got lot of souvenirs in a village inbetween Ubud and Lovina…. It was half the rate than the ones in the main town. People were very friendly too.

Lovina beaches are just opposite to what Kuta beaches are. It is less touristy compared to all other places and it’s more beautiful than the beaches in south Bali. We stayed at a property name “The Hamsa” run by an Australian. It’s on the top of a small mountain. View from the property was just mesmerizing specially from the balcony were we stayed. You see boats as tiny dots and uninterrupted view of the ocean was definitely worth a stay here. We could see the corals just as we got on the boat near the jetty and ofcourse dolphin watching is something very famous around this area and we did see some lovely dolphins.

Then we decided move slightly from the Island of Bali to Lembongan, which is a wonderful island to visit and you get more of an island feel here than in Bali. It’s small and beautiful with turquoise blue water and nice waves bring in lot of surffers to this island. You can ride around on the motor cycle, we rode on to the near by island(Nusa Ceningan) via a small connecting bridge.

In the evening we booked a table in a restaurant where you can get a 360 degree view of the Island. It was a very nice experience.

Driving on a motor bike was really nice. There are a lot of cafes around Lembongan. It’s very well known for Surfing and also diving. We had a fresh crab meat for the breakfast along with seaweeds.

We didn’t dive or snorkel here thinking will do it Gilis. We took a small tour in the mangrove forests. This should definitely be in your must visit places.

 

Scam:

We started very early in the morning around 2am from Kuta and reached the base to hike mount Batur. Although it costed 100 USD for the group, we were scammed and made to pay 100 USD per person. The driver stopped the vehicle in the middle of nowhere and asked us to pay this amount and few of his friends so called guides also came there. Only after getting the money he drove us to the base and there we could see lot of guides waiting to take people. He didn’t allow us to talk to anyone and another guy joined along who was the official guide. Even he said it’s USD 100 per person. Only towards end of the trek we knew it was a scam.