Guide / Photos

When: September

where we stayed, where we ate and what we did…

I originally planned to explore Bali alone and then meet my best friend in Vietnam but things changed and I was so happy we were going to be reunited sooner than planned. We were only here for eight days so tried to squeeze in some main areas.. we started in Kuta, travelled up to Ubud and then all the way down to Uluwatu. The weather was beautiful, the oceans were clear blue and the food was delicious. I’d love to go back and explore more of Indonesia that’s for sure.

Kuta/Canguu:

Stay - Cara Cara Inn

The nicest hostel i’ve ever stayed in, we stayed here for two nights and obviously it wasn’t the cheapest of the hostels but it was a nice one to start off our backpacking trip. The dorms were spacious and had an extra area to sit in/hang washing in which was good if people were sleeping and you wanted to chat to other travellers. The pool area was my favourite, especially when the sun was shining and casting cool shadows. Cara Cara host BBQ nights and they also give out free breakfast in the mornings, I had a scrambled egg and chorizo sandwich.

Stay - H-ostel

After Uluwatu we had to come back to Kuta on the last night in Bali as it was closer to the airport and we had an early flight. After the two hostels before this, H-ostel felt like luxury, the showers were great and the bunks were cabin bunks which always make a better nights sleep. The rooftop bar had such good views over Kuta and the beach was really close which meant we could watch one last Bali sunset from the sea.

Eat - Luigis Hot Pizza

I had eyed up this place on Instagram before the trip, if you haven’t seen their gram have a look because it’s so pleasing. The pizza tasted insane and the bar staff were extremely nice, we had two lemonchellos each for afters!

Drink - Black Cat Mini Mart

A ‘secret’ speakeasy bar hidden behind a fridge door in a mini mart, such a cool concept. You will see people filming their friend entering the hidden bar… yeah we did it too.

Drink - Pretty Poison

Heaven is a half pipe… I am obsessed with watching skateboarders (years of playing Tony Hawk and years of never being able to skateboard myself), drinking beers and watching these guys was so much fun, everyone was so chilled out and I could have sat here for hours.

Drink - The Lawn

My ‘Lawn and Stormy’ was delicious and worth every penny! A very chilled out atmosphere and a nice place to let your dinner go down before dancing at Oldmans.

Eat - Burgerz

Got some tasty fries here after Oldmans as it was on the walk to find our taxi! Very popular for late night eats.

Eat - Fat Chow

Our last night in Bali warranted for some real tasty food and well we wasn’t let down. One of the best menus I’ve ever seen and it look me so long to decide what I wanted… in the end I went for the beef rendang (8 hours stewed beef, yellow rice, crackers and green sambal on egg) one of my favourite meals! and the interiors of the restaurant had like a homely/green house feel to it.

Do - Kuta Beach

We spent our last afternoon in Bali watching this amazing sunset, the skies in Bali go from a light blue colour to purple and then to an insane orange and then to pinky purply again. It’s fascinating!

Ubud:

Stay - Wanderlust Hostel

I didn’t manage to get any photos of this hostel, except for Harry on a swan inflatable in the pool. It has a pool, a few dorm rooms and an open space reception area. We stayed here for two nights and was on a mission to squeeze quite a lot into three days.

Eat - Watercress

Something fresh and healthy to eat in Ubud! With a sweet iced tea before doing some exploring.

Eat - Happy Falafel

A pitta filled with a bunch of goodness and spices!

Do - Water Palace

What a pretty little water temple, with a surrounding pond filled with lily pads.

Do - Campuhan Ridge Walk

We took the scooter, parked up on a bridge and set off to find the route of the ridge walk. It was so nice and scenic. When at the top we stopped for a drink overlooking some rice terraces, it was very tranquil! We got to see the pink sky and made it back to the scooter just as it got dark.

Do - Nungnung Waterfall

We filled up the scooter boot with some snacks and rode the scooter over an hour to this waterfall. There was over a thousand steps down but it was worth it, it’s always worth it! So beautiful. Then of course the walk back up the steps…

Do - Pageg Gelang Coofee

At the waterfall there was a sign for ‘cat poo coffee’ that Harry was eager to try so we stopped in to this place and was greeted by a friendly dude who worked there. We ordered our coffees (I went for coconut.. always and it was delicious and sweet) afterwards the guy set up a coffee and tea tasting for us, it was such a nice experience. He then showed us to a ‘Bali Swing’ that was on the edge of the hill and overlooking trees so we of course had a little photoshoot here. Honestly couldn’t recommend this place enough, it’s in a perfect location because walking up those steps you certainly need a break after!

Do - Tirta Empul Holy Temple

We hopped on the scooter from the monkey sanctuary (that I’m not recommending because I wasn’t a big fan of the place at all) and headed for this beautiful temple, the journey was an hour and a half so quite a while but it was worth it. You have to wear one of these wrapped around you if you plan on getting into the water to be blessed. There are 12 holy water taps where you pray, wash the water over your head 3 times then take 3 sips of the water and then pray again. It was a refreshing experience to say the least, the water is freezing and filled with pretty petals and big Koi fish.

Do - Tegallalang Rice Terraces

From the temple we then scootered straight to the rice terraces, we had very little time here as we had to leave Ubud. We decided to get a good view of the fields instead of walking through them, we people watched and listened to tourists screeching from the ‘Bali swings’ from a hill top cafe. I could look at rice fields for ages, why are they so pretty!

Uluwatu:

Stay - Uluwatu Backpackers

Despite the no water on arrival, this place was an okay place to sleep for a few nights. They were social dorms, overlooking a pool with loungers. Just outside of the hostel was a sweet pizzeria and a 24 hour shop that came in handy. The location was okay too but we rent a scooter for our time here.

Eat - Batu Bali

Just up the road from our hostel was this cute cafe, we had passed it a few times and knew it would be the perfect place to go with a hangover. £1.98 avocado toast!

Eat - Outdoor Corners

There were flyers up in our hostel about this place, games and 241 cocktails and mains… had to be done and didn’t disappoint. I went for a fish curry and it was perfect.

Eat - Nalu Bowls

On our last morning in Uluwatu we wanted fruit so headed to Nalu, this is a chain in Bali but we had only seen this one. It was also pretty close to our hostel which was handy.

Do - Beaches

In Uluwatu there is more than beaches to see and we did want to visit the temple but because of budget and steep prices to walk around them we opted out. So we basically beached hopped on the few days we were here. We went to Dreamland Beach, Nyang-Nyang Beach and Padang-Padang. Dreamland was probably my favourite, it had bars and there were no monkeys. We also watched the most beautiful sunset here, I think about it often. Padang we had to pay a small entry fee, it was a little quieter than Dreamland but I wanted to leave once the monkeys joined us. Nyang we enjoyed from a viewpoint although there was a man standing demanding we paid him money just to look down at a beach… this wound us up about Bali.