12 Things You Must Do In Bali

In 2011, I went to Bali for two weeks and absolutely loved it. The people are amazing, the beaches are beautiful, the food is delicious and it's all super cheap. Here are some tips for the things we loved. All the photos are mine unless noted underneath. For the full photo album from Bali, click here. 


Tanah Lot Temple at Sunset 

A gorgeous temple that is located in the ocean, close enough so you can walk there when the tide is low. When tide is high, it is surrounded by water. We visited at sunset and it was just beaitiful. There are quite a few tourist shops around so you can buy snacks, drinks, etc. More info: Tanah Lot Wiki Site

Monkey Forest

You can find Monkey Forest in Ubud. This area of Bali is far from any beaches and home to lush forests and rice fields. It is a spiritual place and was where she stayed in "Eat, Pray, Love". Monkey Forest is free to visit and you can walk around see tons of monkeys. Just be careful, they do like to grab things! More info: Monkey Forest Website

Seafood Dinner on the Beach in Jimbaran Bay

There are tons of restaurants located along the sand that are set up for dinner at sunset. You will be so close to the ocean, that you will have the water sweeping over your feet at you eat. We did this twice and paid waaaay too much the first time. Then we learned the best spot was Menega Cafe which offered amazing seafood and was really cheap. You can actually see the seafood all lined up and pick what you want! Full seafood meal for 2 people (incl Lobster) was about $20 USD. Unreal. More info: Jimbaran Wiki Site

Surf

Photos from: http://biyo2011.wordpress.com/category/about-bali/

There are TONS of beaches for surfing in Bali and they offer everything from beginner waves to ridiculous pro surfing quality waves. You can either walk to the waves, rent a scooter for the day or hire a driver. All the options are very cheap.

Visit the Rice Fields

We actually tried to find these rice fields for an entire day. We probably should have stopped to ask someone.... but we didn't. We want to find something that looked like the photo on the front of our guide book for Bali (we are dorks!). We rented a scooter in Ubud and finally found them at the end of the day. There was even a local man there who charged $1 for photos with him... it was worth it. More info: Trip Advisor Rice Terraces

Echo Beach Sunday Night

Every Sunday at Echo Beach they have a live band and a seafood BBQ. This means you can walk up a huge layout of fresh-caught seafood and pick what you want them to grill for you. Then you get to devour this fresh seafood with amazing cocktails (try the ) and listen to a great band as the sunsets. Not much is better than that. More info: Echo Beach Website 

Rent a Scooter

We were VERY apprehensive to do this at first because of the craziness of the Bali streets. It is very scary. But after a few days we decided it would be the best bet to get around. They change less than $5 USD/day for the rental. Just remember to always get a good helmet and be VERY careful.

Rock Bar at Sunset

I celebrated my birthday in Bali and we decided to try out The Rock Bar for birthday drinks and apps. It is situated on the edge of a cliff with ocean views all around it. The only thing to remember for this place is that it isn't cheap. The drinks and food is pricey but definitely worth it to splurge on this one. Call ahead to see if you can reserve a table and make sure to stay for an unbelievable sunset. More info: Rock Bar Website

Try the Local Cuisine 

I absolutely LOVED the food in Bali. Here are some of my favourites: Nasi Goreng (pictured above) - Fried Rice topped with an egg, Chicken Satay - marinated chicken on a stick with peanut sauce, TONS of fresh seafood, pancakes - more like crepes with bananas or mangos, Fruit drinks - fresh fruit mixed with ice and some sugar (my favs were watermelon and pineapple) and of course fresh coconuts with a straw!

Temple at Uluwatu 

This temple is located on the edge of a cliff and offers amazing views. You have to wear a traditional sarong when entering the temple, so it's a bit more traditional than some of the other tourists spots. Watch out for the monkey's here! They like to steal your cold drinks and cameras if you aren't careful. Close by you will find Padang-Padang Beach which is gorgeous white sand and clear water, a must do as well! More info: Trip Advisor Uluwatu

Get A Beach Massage

I am a sucker for a good massage. In Bali they are unbelievably cheap. In town, you can get a full hour massage for $5 USD. We did that a few times! Also, on the beach, they come right up to your beach chair and offer you massages. (you don't even need to move!) These ones run about $5 for 20 minutes but you can always barter with them. Oh man, I miss this SO much :)

Drinks at Ku De Ta

Photos from http://indonesia.travel/forum/

One of my biggest regrets is that we didn't get to check out this beach front restaurant. We were headed there one night but were too tired and didn't make it. We will definitely have to check it out next time we are in Bali! More info: Ku De Ta Website

My Birthday at the Rock Bar in Bali

The Rock Bar at Ayana Resort

When I was planning my trip to Bali, I noticed that my birthday was going to fall in the middle of my trip. I hesitated when I thought of how much I love my birthday at home... friends, drinks, bar, etc. Then I realized how amazing it would be celebrate in Bali and experience something different for just one year. So I booked my trip and started looking forward to this night.

I saw a blog post on the Rock Bar at the Ayana Resort and we decided that we should go there for sunset drinks and to celebrate my birthday. According to their website, Rock Bar is located along the 1.3 kilometer coastline of AYANA Resort and Spa Bali, a 77-hectare property that features 78 private luxury villas and a 290-room hotel. Taking the concept of "on the rocks" to a whole new level, this innovative open-top bar is perched 14 meters above Jimbaran Bay on a rocky outcrop at the base of towering cliffs.

The walk to the Rock Bar

I posted on Twitter (@Kattte_) that I would be going and was happy to get a response from the Rock Bar asking me what time I would be getting there.  We took a cab from Legian and it didn't cost too much. The resort is beautiful and we did a quick walk through and headed to the Rock Bar. When we arrived, we realized that the top deck is reserved for hotel guests only. This was very disappointing until we asked and realized they had saved a table for me since I tweeted about coming for my birthday. Very nice of them!

Very cool menu at the Rock Bar

It was extremely hot from 5pm-6pm before the sun went down, we were sweating like crazy! We ordered cold rolls and maki and a few martinis. The martinis were amazing and the food was pretty good too. The menu there is a cylinder that sits on the table and lights up at night time. I love how they took an item like the menu and made it unique and memorable. Not enough restaurants these days come up with anything original.

Delicious Martinis


Cold Rolls and Maki

Sunset views


Reflection of the sunset to our table

I heart sunsets

The sunset was beautiful and we took a TON of photos. Then it became bright pink and orange and I pretty much couldn't stop smiling. We picked a great night to be there! After it got dark, the staff came out with a cake for me and sang happy birthday. Not even an hour later, guy sitting behind us, got down on one knee and proposed to his girlfriend. She said yes and the champagne started flowing. It was a very memorable night!

Thanks again Rock Bar staff!

For my full Bali photo album on Flickr click here.

Tanah Lot Temple at Sunset

First off, if you just like browsing photos, check them out here: Flickr Album.

Before my 12 day trip to Bali, I did some research online to see where I wanted to visit. I love photography, so I really wanted to check out some interesting spots so I could get some really cool shots. The one place that kept coming up in blogs and travel books was Tanah Lot Temple. The biggest tip was to not visit the temple at sunset. This is due to the face that bus loads of tourist descend on the temple each day at sunset to capture the incredible sight. I didn't take that advice and VERY happy with the results.

According to Wikipedia, Tanah Lot means "Land in the Sea". It also says that Tanah Lot is claimed to be the work of the 15th century priest Nirartha. During his travels along the south coast he saw the rock-island's beautiful setting and rested there. Some fishermen saw him, and bought him gifts. Nirartha then spent the night on the little island. Later he spoke to the fishermen and told them to build a shrine on the rock for he felt it to be a holy place to worship the Balinese sea gods. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tanah_Lot)

Motorbike adventure to Tanah Lot


We decided to skip the tourist bus and rent a motorbike for the night and drive there. We were staying in Legian which is about 10 minutes from Kuta. The rental was about 40,000R which works out to about $5 US. Not a bad deal! We were concerned about getting there before sunset and getting lost. It turns out there are tons of signs along the way so it was easy to find.

Sunset Terrace


When you arrive at Tanah Lot, you park in a huge parking lot and walk past tons of little market stalls before you get to the great temple. You can choose to take a view up high and sip a Bintang while you watch the sunset below. You can also choose to stay below (low tide nights only) and watch the sunset as you stand by the ocean and watch the waves crash in front of you. We chose to watch from above and then walk down for some closer shots. I am so glad I put up with the tourists and came at sunset. It was absolutely beautiful and something I will never forget.

Walk up to the watch from above


Amazing sunset views


Tourists getting front row as waves crash


The pink sky was unreal


For full Bali photo album on Flickr CLICK HERE