We arrived in Denpasar Airport at 8AM and promptly exchanged our US dollars to Indonesian Rupiah. For basis of conversion of the values I put in here, the exchange rate at that time was 1PhP = 238 Indonesian Rupiah.
We then walked out of the airport, originally thinking of commuting to Singaraja via bemo (their version of our jeepney). But there would have been about three transfers (4 bemo rides) and when we saw what the bemo looked like in person, we decided to hire a van instead. It was easy to get a van, since there were many shuttles for hire in front of the airport. We negotiated for a total rate of 100,000 rupiah each person for the ride from the airport to our hotel in Singaraja. It was the more comfortable option and our driver even stopped along the way at certain scenic spots.
I also bought some strawberries for about 25,000 rupiah at a store we passed by.
We arrived in Lovina Beach after lunch and checked into Bayu
Mantra Hotel, which I booked via Hostel World. We got two Twin Private Ensuite
Rooms, which cost only P311 per person. For such a steal, I was surprised that
the rooms were so big. We were also fascinated with the bathroom, which was
outdoors. Doing the deed never felt so relaxing, haha!
Lovina Beach is actually known for dolphin watching, so
before heading out for the afternoon, I arranged for this activity, plus a bit
of snorkeling, for the next morning with the hotel staff. It cost us 150,000 rupiah
per person, which includes the boat ride and snorkeling gear. I also arranged
for our van to our next destination the next day as well. The private shuttle
from Lovina Beach in Singaraja to Tirta Gangga in Amlapura was at 125,000
rupiah per person.
We changed into our swimsuits and had lunch at the
restaurant next to our hotel, which was right across the beach.
After our taste of Balinese fare, we found a cozy corner on the beach and claimed our spot. We were not impressed at all by the beach for it was not well-maintained and the sand was dark and rough. It reminded me of Matabungkay beach in Batangas. But we spent the rest of the afternoon there anyway, drinking Bintang beer (10,000 rupiah) and getting massages (40,000 rupiah).
We stayed till sunset and then returned to the hotel to
shower and change. We then had dinner at the rasta place near the beach, where
there were local bands playing songs in English and Bahasa. The style is similar
to those here in the Philippines, where they would take requests from the
audience and even ask jammers to sing with them. Of course, being the Filipinos
that we are, we were game to jam with them.
The next morning we woke up at 5AM for our dolphin watching.
We sleepily staggered in our swimsuits to the shore where our boat was waiting. We were
surprised to see other boats being prepared also, since we didn’t see any other
groups checked into our hotel. Apparently, there were other guests checked in
at the other hotels nearby. It was still dark when we set out into the sea; the
sun creeping up from the horizon slowly. A little later and the boats found the
area where the dolphins would appear. Every time the dolphins jumped, it came
as a surprise to us and we couldn’t click on our cameras fast enough. It became
like a hunt soon, with the dolphins trying to elude the boats, and jumping in
other areas.
When the sun had fully risen, the boatman advised that the dolphins were done with the show. He brought us to the other side of the sea for our snorkeling. There was actually not much to see in that area, just a few fish and a small patch of coral reef, which was fine since we didn’t have underwater cameras anyway. We still had fun swimming in the cool water and just laughing about not being able to hoist ourselves into the boats gracefully.
We headed back to the shore, and ate the free breakfast at the
hotel. We then changed and got ready to check-out. Our van arrived shortly and
off we went to our next destination in Bali.
It took about four hours to get to Tirta Gangga. We checked
into Puri Sawah Bungalows, this charming bed & breakfast tucked into the mountains,
surrounded by rice terraces. I booked us two bungalows worth 250,000 rupiah
each, costing us about P525 per person.
Looking back, this is my most favorite place in Bali. The atmosphere was so refreshing I honestly felt my stress ebbing away from the moment we sat down at the restaurant, overlooking the terraces.
This is also where I tasted the
best salad in the world! Avocado, pineapple, peanuts, raisin, apple, rice dressed with curry oil...yum yum yum!
After our hearty lunch, we walked next door towards the
water palace. It is a unique temple, where you can actually swim in the holy
waters, very picturesque, too with the fountains and bridges. We paid 10,000
rupiah for the entrance fee plus bathing in the pool.
We walked back to the B&B and rented their in-house van for
50,000 rupiah to bring the four of us to Pantai Pasir Putih (literally, White
Sand Beach) at Karangasem. It was a much better beach than Lovina but not
entirely swimmable since the waves were so strong. The sand was whitish and
fine so we were happy enough to just stroll along the beach, frolic in the waves,
and basically just lounge around. The entrance fee to the beach was 3,000
rupiah.
The beach closed by 6PM so the van took us back to the
B&B. We got changed and had dinner at the restaurant again. We noticed that
we were the only ones booked there, so the service was awesome. We again
ordered the delicious avocado salad and simply savored the stress-free atmosphere.
That night felt very peaceful with the fields surrounding us
lit up with fireflies. It was then that I vowed to go back with a loved one, as
it was one of the most romantic places I’d ever been in.
The next day their in-house van took us to Ubud for 100,000
rupiah each, with a stopover at Tirta Empul in Tampaksiring. This was another
water temple, with an entrance fee of 15,000 rupiah. We decided to just tour
the grounds and no longer dipped in the pool. We had to borrow sarongs to cover
our legs as we went inside the temple.
After our quick tour of Tirta Empul, we continued on with
our journey to Ubud. We arrived in Puri Alam Dewata hostel after lunch. We paid
about P710 per person for our two double bed ensuite rooms.
The hostel staff served as our tour guide and driver for the
day at 200,000 rupiah. He brought us to the Bali Zoo, where we went on an elephant
ride. The entrance to the zoo, plus the elephant ride was 500,000 rupiah per
person. It was worth it since the trail was long and took about 45 minutes. We
divided ourselves into pairs and exchanged cameras so we could take photos of
each other. We could also give the cameras to the staff along the trail to take
our pictures.
After the ride, we were allowed to pet our elephants and feed them.
We then spent the rest of the day at Monkey Forest Street,
which had lots of restaurants, coffee shops, and boutiques.
The next day we hired the hostel driver again to bring us to
Ketut Liyer’s house, the famous fortune-teller from the movie Eat, Pray, Love.
When we got there, there was already a line, and we had to take numbers. Half of us really wanted to get our fortunes told and since we were already there, we all decided to have a go for it. Tourists flocked to his house and the scene was like this everyday. Some left after taking photos with him, while some, like us, patiently waited.
I can’t say the 250,000 rupiah we paid each was worth it
exactly, for when we regrouped, we found out that Ketut said similar things to
all of us! We wasted the whole morning there to be told we were pretty and were
each going to be successful, which we already knew anyway. Hahahaha!
We had a late lunch at a restaurant nearby and were on our
way again to our next destination – Kuta. This was our last day in Bali, and we
were disappointed that the travel to Kuta took the rest of the afternoon. We
arrived in Kayun Hostel at 3PM and immediately checked in. This was the most
modern hostel in Bali we stayed at, with a pool in the center and
industrially-designed rooms. The bathroom was outdoors, which was one of the
aspects of the Balinese design they kept. We got the deluxe 4-bed private room
for 760,000 rupiah total, amounting to about P800 per person.
It was already late afternoon so we headed to the beach to
catch what little sun we could. It was actually a beach for surfing, not for
swimming, so we basically just checked out the scene, since it was too late to
go surfing. We went back to the hostel and swam in the pool there instead.
All over Kuta were Western establishments and even malls. We
wandered until Legian Road, stopping by shops to purchase souvenirs and
pasalubong, all the while ignoring the calls of dealers selling magic mushrooms.
They were everywhere, and though we wanted to actually try them, we were flying
home the next day and we didn’t want any mishaps before then. We had a more
wholesome night of barhopping instead, trying out their local spirit called “arak”
and Bali Hai beer, among others.
Our hostel arranged for a taxi to pick us up at 5:30 in the
morning and bring us to the airport. We paid 50,000 rupiah in total. We
just bought breakfast in the airport while waiting for our flight.
In total, we spent about P11,000 for the expenses in Bali.
Add the P1,820 for the terminal fee and airport tax in NAIA 3, and the P7,254 round-trip
flight, total spend per person for our barkada trip in Bali was just a little
more than P20,000.
