Althea's Adventures

The first time I visited Bali was in 2015, and our focus of going there was to surf. You may read the blog here Surfing in Bali. My second visit in November 2018, didn’t surf. Instead, I enjoyed every bit of what Bali can offer. It was even more exciting because we went to Bali as a group! This was my first out of the country with a group and it’s triple the fun!

Regular flights in Bali can be quite expensive and can range from Php 15,000 – Php 25,000 round trip. We got our flights through a Cebu Pacific seat sale (not piso fare) at around Php 6,000 round trip per person. If you’re fortunate with piso fare, you can even book it for as low as Php 2,400 round trip. For tips on how to score a seat sale, you may read Airfare Seat Sale Tips.

With hotels, I always book our accommodation through Agoda. I got our room for Php 1,150 per night. It’s a deluxe room that comes with daily breakfast and swimming pool. They also offer a standard room for Php 800. How cool is that? Here are some photos of our hotel.

I’ll be sharing with you our daily itinerary in Bali. Note that you can explore more if you want to, as for us, we don’t want to squeeze everything in one day so we just enjoyed every moment of it. There’s also a vlog per day so you can visually experience it like how we did. 🙂

Day 1 – Seminyak & Kuta

Welcome to Bali!

Upon arrival at the airport, we had to exchange our US Dollars to to Indonesian Rupiah because we didn’t have any Rupiah. Please note that the airport exchange rate is always lower as compared to money exchange in the city. We were millionaires in Bali! 🙂

We arrived at our hotel at around 9 AM, and since we can’t check in our luggage yet, we decided to leave it at the front desk and rent a motorcycle so we can explore Bali. Time is precious, that’s why we don’t want to waste any second of it while we’re on vacation. We drove from Kuta to Seminyak, it’s about 30 minutes with traffic.

First stop, KYND Community, it is a plant-based cafe in Seminyak, Bali Indonesia. They built the KYND Community to show people how good plant-based food really tastes. This is our most expensive meal here in Bali, we spent about IDR 300,000 or Php 1,100 for two people. Price is reasonable because food is good, the ambiance, and every corner is Instagrammable! 🙂

Sea Circus is another restaurant to add to your list when visiting Bali. It’s also located in Seminyak, near the Kynd Community. We didn’t dine there, but took photos outside. The place is so colorful and full of life. Note that it’s literally beside the road so you have to cross the street to get this nice photo.

La Plancha Beach is an absolute colorful beach shack, La Plancha is a beachfront restaurant and bar nestled on the shore of the famous Seminyak’s surf break & the best sunset point. Did you say colors? They have it all for you!

Swimming at Pondok Anyar Inn – After traveling to Seminyak, we went back to Kuta to check in to our hotel. Since we weren’t able to swim at Seminyak beach, we decided to take a dip in the pool. Our hotel is so cozy and the pool is inviting.

Kuta Beach – I’ve been here before and I told Kaeser he needs to experience the sunset in Bali. It didn’t disappoint! Bali still has one of the nicest sunsets in Asia (of course Philippines too!)

Check out the vlog to see our actual experience there:

Day 2 – The EDGE

The Edge Bali is a luxury spa & upscale villas in a clifftop setting, featuring plush interiors and private pools. This is definitely a must see place in Bali!!! See photos for yourself.

The view is AMAZING!!!

Life at The Edge

It’s more fun with friends!

I wrote a more detailed blog about The Edge Bali, click here.

Check out the vlog to see our actual experience there:

Day 3 – Bedugul Tour

Taman Ayun Royal Temple – also called as Pura Taman Ayun, is a compound of Balinese temple and garden with water features located in the Mengwi subdistrict in Badung Regency, Bali, Indonesia. Henk Schulte Nordholt wrote in his book Negara Mengwi that Taman Ayun was renovated in 1750.

Bali Handara Gate –  We went there but didn’t take photos as it requires you to pay IDR 50,000. Our driver said Lempuyang Temple is better in photos, so we just passed by. Although if you look at these photos I got from Google, it’s nice too!

Wanagiri Hidden Hill – This is the place where we have the most photos, I think. Every corner is Instagrammable! To add to that, the view is AMAZING!!! The Indonesian there will help you take awesome photos and they will even teach you the best pose. We loved it there!

Pod Bali – A must visit attraction in Bali! See chocolate being made from bean to bar at Pod Chocolate Factory & Cafe. All from locally grown cocoa pods, Pod Chocolate supports local farmers to grow organic while producing incredible chocolate.

Kuta Square – Our go-to place every after a whole day of the tour. You can dine, stroll, shop and drink there. There’s a lot of restaurants and bars to choose from.

Check out the vlog to see our actual experience there:

Day 4 – Lempuyang Temple & Ubud

Lempuyang Temple – locally referred to as Pura Lempuyang Luhur, is one of Bali’s oldest and most highly regarded temples, on par with Besakih (aka the ‘mother temple’ of Bali). It is also believed to predate the majority of Hindu temples on the island. Definitely a highlight on any travel itinerary for the fit and adventurous, the main temple lies at 1,175m above sea level, up on the peak of the namesake Mount Lempuyang in East Bali.

It took three hours travel time and one hour in line to get this shot. Some people say expectation vs. reality. Yes, this is a mirror trick that they will do using your smartphone and there’s no real water. But I think the shots were AWESOME! Kudos to the Indonesians who take amazing photos at Lempuyang Temple!

Bebek Joni – On the way to Ubud, we were so hungry, so we asked our driver to bring us to a good restaurant in Ubud. He brought us here and we’re so thankful because the food was super delicious!

Monkey Forest – Mandala Suci Wenara Wana or well known as Monkey Forest Ubud is the sanctuary or natural habitat of Balinese long tailed Monkey, in scientific called Macaca fascicularis. It is located in Padangtegal Ubud, Bali. There are around 700 monkeys live in this sanctuary.

I’ve been there in 2015, and I can say that the monkeys are more tamed now. They used to jump over and chase you, especially if you have food (see my 2015 photos)

Here are the present photos

Ubud Market Shopping – The Ubud Art Market, locally referred to as ‘Pasar Seni Ubud’ is located opposite the the Puri Saren Royal Ubud Palace and is open daily. Here you can find beautiful silk scarves, lightweight shirts, handmade woven bags, baskets or hats; statues, kites and many other hand-crafted goods.

Check out the vlog to see our actual experience there:

Uma Pakel – A coffee plantation at Ubud with a twist. Uma Pakel offers seven flavors of tea and coffee, it comes with a bowl of sweet potato. You may also try their famous Kopi Luwak or Civet cat poop.

Besides the coffee and tea sampling, the compound has 4 tall Bali swings, birds’ nest, look out point and a retail shop. It cost IDR 200,000 per person to experience the Bali swing. Back in 2015, they didn’t have Bali swings yet. At this time, this is the most popular attraction in Bali.

It’s free to take photos anywhere in the area.

Check out the vlog to see my CRAZY experience there:

Day 5 – Time to go home

We had an early flight back to Manila. Our friends have an evening flight, lucky them! On your fifth day, you may also visit Nusa Penida.

Chilling at the airport while waiting for boarding

Shopping Tips:

• They usually offer Bali bags for IDR 350,000, but with our awesome haggling skills, we got it for as low as IDR 120,000 or PHP 440. Yep, I bought two! (Imagine how much they sell this in the Philippines)
• Refrigerator magnet can be as low as IDR 10,000 or PHP 75
• We shopped at the bazaars in Kuta Square

Here’s our Detailed Itinerary and Expenses: PHP 1 = IDR 273

This is the itinerary that I planned for our 5-day trip. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to go to all locations due to time constraint. I suggest to leave your hotel as early as 6 AM if you want to follow this itinerary. (Note – we always wake up around 8AM LOL)

Our expenses, especially for tours are less expensive because there’s six of us. We share with transportation and our food is good for a group too. If you’ll be going as a couple, it’s a different computation. Please note that the Php10,000 budget is for accommodation, daily tours, and food only. I did not include the airfare here as the flights vary depending on how much you were able to book it.

That’s it for my Bali blog! We will definitely come back there with my boys! Please note that this is a Do-It-Yourself budget travel and may not be convenient for everyone. I always say this because as a budget traveler, I want to showcase traveling on a budget, but not sacrificing the experience and beauty of the place.

I hope you enjoyed reading this blog. For more of my travel tips and adventures, follow me on Facebook and Instagram. Happy travels!