Beautiful Bali

Because so many of the islands are geographically distant from each other, their culture has developed in different ways, so every island in Indonesia has a wide variety of different things to offer. Bali is a popular holiday destination, but as well as the typical vacation places, there are some quieter villages and locations on the island, so if you’re looking for more than beaches and bars, Bali has a great deal to offer.

Indonesia is predominantly a Muslim country, but Bali is 90% Hindu. Here it’s a unique version, incorporating local animism, ancestor worship, and a reverence for Buddhist saints too. I found it particularly interesting and moving that it’s so much a part of daily life. Wherever we were on the island, every morning we would see locals placing little woven baskets of offerings of flowers and incense outside shops and homes.

To help us in our planning for Bali, we used Travelfish which we found a tremendous resource for all our travels in SE Asia.

A word of warning: Bali is hugely popular, and infrastructure is getting pushed to capacity and beyond. Queues at the airport can be long, traffic getting from the airport to anywhere can take much longer than anticipated, and the popular beach areas are pulsing with people. Rubbish pollution, particularly in the wet season, can be sadly horrific. But the people are still friendly and welcoming, the food is varied and delicious, and the island is well worth spending time exploring a few off the beaten path places, as well as relaxing at the beach.

Before going to Bali, we’d spent a couple of weeks diving out of Semporna in Malaysia, and had a long day’s travel from there, with a long layover in Kuala Lumpur to Bali. After landing at Denpasar, we headed straight out to Ubud. We planned to spend a few days relaxing, and exploring cultural sights and the beautiful paddy fields around the town. From Ubud, we continued north-east to quiet Sidemen, and really began to see the rural side of Bali, and enjoyed a colourful festival at a night market. Next we went to the north-eastern coastal area of Amed, for a week’s diving (of course we did!) After doing some great diving, we drove north-west along the coast, then inland to the quiet mountain village of Munduk. Finally, at the end of our stay in Bali, we stayed at the beach in Sanur, so we would more easily be able to get to the airport for our next Indonesian island of Flores. On the way to Sanur, we visited the beautiful temple of Pura Ulun Danau Bratan.

Getting around Bali is very easy, every other person seems to be a driver! In Ubud we got chatting with Ketat, who was friendly and outgoing, and made some good suggestions about places to visit, so we made arrangements for a day trip to several places we were interested in. To get from one town to the next, we just asked at our hotel if they could arrange for a driver, and agreed on a rate. We found that worked very well for us.

Bali is a stunning island, with so much to offer off the beaten path. As well as beautiful beaches and bottomless beers, there are peaceful green vistas, mist-shrouded valleys, many temples to soothe your spirit, and some fabulous diving to thrill your senses. Beautiful Bali is well worth spending at least two or three weeks exploring its different aspects.

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