A fun guide for a short trip to Bali!

Ticket Planning

If you are new to the blog, I am a student currently studying abroad in Taiwan. Since that was my beginning destination, flights might vary depending on your country of origin.

I started planning this trip almost as soon as I got to Taiwan. I knew that I would have quite a few weekends to go to different places so the best tool for my situation was google maps. There are several different features to help you choose when/ where you want to go. For Bali specifically- I knew the exact weekend I wanted to go because of my school’s spring break. I just put into google flights the dates and airport that I was leaving from and google flights shows you several nearby destinations and their prices for your dates. If the prices for a destination are cheaper than usual for your dates google flights puts them at the top of the list.

Denpasar happened to be one of these destinations for my dates. I didn’t know what Denpasar was, so I looked it up and it turned out to be Bali! At this point I was sold because I’d already seen so many amazing pictures of Bali and people are always talking about how it’s “goals” and on their bucket lists. I’m pretty sure I’d said this myself at some point, so after about a week of research for flights and exacting my dates I decided to use google flights and book my round-trip flight with Scoot.

I can’t stress this enough! Scoot and google flights have a partnership so that some tickets are cheaper if you use google flights to find them rather than going straight onto the Scoot website. Make sure to click the link on google flights so you can get the best price.

My flight was $8,601 TWD which is about $287 USD. I was provided 10kg (~22 lbs) of combined carry-on baggage (a big bag and a personal bag). Scoot is a budget airline, so any more carry-on weight, any check-in bags, seat selection, and food are all extra. I departed on a Thursday and would be returning on a Tuesday (cheapest days to fly) This is a little expensive compared to some other destinations in SE Asia, but both the price and the time of this flight were amazing when compared to America, so I was content. Both of my flights included layovers in Singapore. There first was a 2.5 layover (10 hr trip in total.) For my trip back to Taiwan I paid a little extra to have a 11 hr layover in Singapore from noon-midnight. This gave me a chance to use my layover time to explore Singapore and enjoy the city! I arrived back in Taipei at 6 am on Tuesday which gave me plenty of time to get back to campus, shower, and nap before my 1 pm Tuesday class.

Picking a Place to Stay in Bali

I did not enjoy my experience at all with my hotel. It was actually an Airbnb. A lot of hotels and hostels are beginning to do this- list their rooms on Airbnb. I chose to stay at Bisma Suites in Legian. Here were my biggest problems on the Airbnb side of things: 1. The suite is actually listed as a guesthouse. This isn’t true. It was what you would expect in a regular hotel room- minus and mini-fridge and microwave. 2. The pictures are not at all what was actually provided, and Airbnb should be more on top of this 3. The suite is listed to be in Kuta in Airbnb’s website, but it is actually in Legian which is about 4 km (2 mi) away, making it hard to enjoy any of the Kuta food or nightlife unless you’d like to pay for transportation. In total I paid $89.5 for 5 nights, 4 of which I split with a friend. There were plenty of other, more specific problems that I had with this accommodation, but those will be detailed in my Week 7/ Bali post.

I am not recommending completely passing over Airbnb. There are plenty of properties that are worth the money. Here are some tips on finding a good place on Airbnb:

1. Only choose properties with a good cancellation policy! You can reserve far in advance for security but cancel if you find somewhere you like better.
2. Read the reviews (especially the most recent ones very carefully.) If the same problem is mention in numerous reviews, you can assume that it’ll be your problem too. Also, if it’s bad enough for them to mention in the review, it’s probably something that’s also going to bother you while you’re there.
3. Do not rely on ratings. Of course, you’re going to want to only look at properties with a larger amount of higher ratings, but some people just put 5 stars to get it over with. The ratings are definitely skewed.
4. Be prepared for mediocre or even bad English. Hotels and resorts purposefully hire people who can speak English because they are in the international business and have more at stake compared regarding customer service and experience. Many Airbnb accommodations are family owned or are very small businesses. It’s a little easier to get away with things for them, and they don’t usual hire outside of family or friends even if the people working can’t speak English. There’s definitely going to be lots of talking with your hands.
5. Try to find a property with a super host or Airbnb plus status. These are the most reliable accommodations as they have been thoroughly vetted by Airbnb.

If you’re going to Bali alone the sad truth that no backpacker ever wants to hear is that: there aren’t that many hostels. Bali is a huge tourist destination and is jam packed with hotels and resorts. Like my Airbnb, many of these places are $25-40 USD a night. You can go anywhere from these low budget (but still good quality) inns to the luxury resorts. There really is one thing for everybody in Bali. My tip is to at least have your own room (even if you stay in a hostel.) Days in Bali are long and tiring so you’re going to want to have air conditioning, a personal bathroom, and a nice bed with privacy at the very least.

My preferences when looking for a place to stay in general:

1. A pool- There are several beach clubs in Bali where you can pay to spend the day there, but if you’re already paying for accommodations, why not kill two birds with one stone?
2. A bar- This is actually a tricky one in Bali. For some reason real alcohol in Bali is outrageously expensive and hard to get your hands on. Many bars and restaurants use fake alcohol in their drink specials. If a bar is usually a criterion for your accommodation, I would think about forgoing it this time and just buying something at Duty Free so you can have your own party without spending too much.
3. Housekeeping- My suite was supposed to be cleaned everyday with fresh towels (as listed on the Airbnb description) but this wasn’t the case at all. My towels were actually stained, and they didn’t even have enough towels to change ours out until two days after we asked for new ones. This is a primary reason I’d recommend a private suite in a larger hotel. There’s going to be sand and dirt everywhere (and you’ll probably smell like cigarette smoke) from being out all day. You’re going to want to be in a clean environment when you get back to your room. If you stay somewhere smaller take a close look at the reviews and even, ask the management about the cleanliness of the accommodation.
4. Location- I don’t mind walking and I don’t like paying for transportation, so I usually try to find accommodations close enough to the beach/ city center where I’m comfortable getting there alone any time of day but far enough out so that the buzz of it all doesn’t disturb me. While Legian was decent in this aspect, all the food that was close by was touristy and expensive compared to the traditional Indonesian restaurants that are more common in Kuta. Before you book or at least are no longer able to cancel, I’d ask the management of your accommodation how long it takes to get to popular beaches/restaurants/venues by foot and how much it’d be for transportation.
5. Air conditioning- I mentioned this before, and it seems like a given, but you’d be surprised at how many places don’t have it! You’re not going to want to suffer in that Bali heat without some help.
6. Laundry- If you plan on staying in Bali for longer than a week but plan to only bring carry-on luggage, you’re probably going to need to do laundry at some point. At some accommodations it’s self-service, and at other places they’ll do it for you. Either way, make sure they at least have a washer machine and you’ll be fine. If they don’t have a dryer, they’ll have a drying rack/ hanging lines. This method is more common among the local Balinese anyways.

Where in Bali should you stay? What should you do?

• That’s a great question. There are so many options. The answer really depends on how long you’re going to be in Bali. I’d say a good way to split it up is two different locations for every week you’re there. The most popular destinations are Kuta, Ubud, Seminyak, Legian, Uluwatu, Nusa Dua, and the Gili islands. Of course. there’s a bunch of other places too but these are where everything is happening.
• You should choose your place to stay depending on what your activities are going to be. Bali is very hectic, and everything starts super early in the morning, so it’s best to plan all of your excursions before you get there. This helps because 1. You avoid getting scammed which is a prevalent pattern in Bali 2. It’s easy to avoid transport fees if your accommodation is near your excursion. I highly recommend Airbnb experiences for this. It is very easy, organized, and you can pay with USD to avoid nasty bank fees and using up all the money you got from the ATM when leaving the airport. You can also use TripAdvisor to find some notable companies with good reviews. Sometimes you can book on their website, sometimes you just give them your details, show up, and pay upon arrival. It depends on the company. However planning in advance is always better in Bali because the prices are set online (no bargaining with a local that’s trying to rip you off), you can do currency conversions and budgeting before you even book, you can your whole day rather than walking around trying to google what to do next.
• For a short trip (1 week) I recommend staying in Kuta and Ubud. For my trip I went surfing in Kuta, did a Nusa Penida snorkeling tour, batik class, Temple tour, and finally a wood carving class. While I did plan all of my experiences in advance, I didn’t plan my transport, nor did I change the location of my accommodation. This caused a lot of grief and if I’d known what I’m telling you all my life would’ve been much easier. A sample itinerary of what I should’ve done (with the activities and accommodations I actually had booked.
• Wednesday Morning arrival in Bali
  • Local Taxi to Legian-10:30 am ($80,000 IDR) -MAKE SURE that you have change i.e. bills smaller than 50,000 IDR because drivers notoriously never have change!
  • Bag drop off at hotel- 11 am- Check-in wasn’t until 2 so I booked my surf lesson for 11:30
  • Surf lesson– 11:30-2- I went to U2PU Surf School (Airbnb) for my 2 hr surf lesson. It was only $11, and the instructors are awesome. Water and free pictures are provided
  • Lunch- 2-3 pm- There’s of course a bunch of restaurants near the beach. Most of them have western food with almost western prices. They had a buy one get one specialty drink happy hour but that’s when I learned that the alcohol was bad.
  • Check-in & Chill out- 3:15 until the end of the day- I was super tired because I had literally finished 12 hrs of traveling then went straight to a surf lesson so I took a nap by the pool, but I also could’ve gone back to the beach to chill there. After my nap I decided to walk on the beach for awhile. There aren’t many Warungs (local restaurants) in Legian, but once you get to the edge of Kuta (about 1 mi. away) you’ll start getting to the cheaper food. Many of these restaurants have live music as well.
• Thursday
  • Nusa Penida Trip– $107 All day- This was also booked on Airbnb. It included an optional breakfast, free sea sickness pills, boat trip to manta bay, crystal bay, and a coral reef for snorkeling, land trip to Kelingking beach, and lunch. We finished around 5 pm and were returned to our respective accommodations. Since I was staying in Legian, transportation was included, but there’s an extra charge for those staying in northern Bali such as Ubud.
  • Shower & Comfort- 6pm- I got cozy! All I was gonna do was eat dinner and sleep, so I made sure I was clean then I walked to dinner, back home, and slept!
• Friday- This is where I am changing from what I did to what I should’ve done
  • Morning- Taken a Kura Kura bus to Ubud. The ride on the bus from Kuta to Bali is about 2 hrs. (1-way trip is 80,000 but I recommend a 3-day pass which is 150,000) You have to buy these tickets online before you get to the bus. I recommend screenshotting you ticket, or day pass so that if you don’t have internet, you won’t have a problem getting on the bus.
  • Drop my bags off at my chosen hotel/hostel. Depending on how far it was I’d probably walk. If it’s too far, try your best to hassle an ojek (street motorbike) down to a reasonable price. Don’t be afraid to walk away if they’re trying to scam you. There’s always another one.  It’d be a little early for me to check-in, but most accommodations let you store your bags so that you can still be out and about without your luggage holding you back.
  • Afternoon- Grab another ojek to take me to my Balinese Batik class. The location of this class is actually outside of central Ubud so there’s no way to casually catch a taxi or ojek. Ask your rider to come back for you about 30 mins. after the scheduled ending time of your class.
  • Go back to your hotel & check-in. If it’s in central Ubud then you can walk around and check out the temples and even the Monkey Forest (80,000 IDR) or the Tegenungan Waterfall (15.000 IDR)
  • Eat Dinner! Chill out! Have a good time for your first night in Ubud.
• Saturday
  • Culture Walk! – This will be a 13 hr tour with pickup at 6:30 am. You wander all around Bali’s most picturesque landscapes. A lunch buffet is included in the price. There are lots of tours like this all throughout Bali, but this tour has consistently great reviews for all of the guides and a great value.
  • Dinner- Try something you haven’t had before! Listen to the abundance of live music that is offered all around Ubud and Bali itself.
• Sunday
  • Morning/Early afternoon- Grab a taxi or Ojek to get to the Art Studio. The ride is a little over 15 min and anything over $140,000 IDR roundtrip (because you have to ask them to come back) is a scam. Again, tell the driver to come back about 30 mins after your scheduled ending time so you have some wiggle room.
  • Wood Carving– Make your own personal wood carving. You can choose from a turtle, different types of masks, or different types of flowers. It’s a lot of work in the first place, but for this class specifically, the teacher does a lot of carving for you. If you like to be independent (even if your work is trash) I’d recommend looking into other classes but if you know you’ll be worn out because chopping at wood is intense, then this is the class for you!
  • Make sure your driver came back! If they didn’t, the studio is actually right outside of Ubud so you can call a gojek. The only problem with this is that some drivers are afraid to go into the city (since it’s not allowed.) You might have to have them take you as far as they can and either grab an ojek or taxi to take you to your next destination.
  • Spa day– Book this as far in advance as you can because it fills up quickly. If you interested in a flower bath but don’t need anything too fancy, Karsa spa is the place to go! Everyone says that a massage followed by a flower bath is amazing. Karsa has several spa packages that manicure/pedicure, different kinds of massages, body scrubs, facials, hair treatments, healing practices, and more! The Saraswati package includes either a manicure or pedicure, a 75 min intuitive heart massage, followed by a body scrub & bath combination, and the either a facial or hair treatment. This package lasts 4 hours and is $850,000 IDR. (~$60 USD)
  • Whoever dropped you off, make sure you tell them to come back again! Karsa is a little bit in the cut so you’re not going to easily find someone to take you back to central Ubud. The trip is only about 10 mins though so don’t pay more than $50,000 IDR.
  • It’s dinner time! You know what to do. Walk and eat. Just walk then eat. Take a dip in the pool when you get back to your accommodation if it has one!
• Monday
  • Go home. That’s it. That’s the whole bullet.
    • Jkjk, for my social media aficionados, I hope you got that. If not, it’s not the end of the world but just know it’s a thing.
  • Anyways, it’s time to get back to the airport! Depending on what time your flight is there are a few different options.
  • Leaving before 2 pm–
    • Check out about 3 hours before you flight leaves. I don’t recommend getting a super early morning flight (Before 10) because the prices to get to the airport are going to be outrageous.
    • If you have a 10 am flight, be packed up and ready to go by 7. You’ll have time for a quick breakfast and should be leaving Ubud by 7:30. It takes an hour to get to the airport by ojek, maybe allot 15 extra minutes for taxi. You should be at the airport no later than 8:45.
    • The drop-off is actually somewhat far from the airport, but there are lots of signs in English that will tell you where to go from there, or just follow the other people that are walking there. After that, you’re on your way home!
  • Leaving after 2 pm– Leaving after 2 pm allows for a little more flexibility with getting to the airport.
    • 1. The easiest way is by Kura Kura bus. If you bought the 3-day pass and are still within 72 hrs of when you first used it, you should be fine. If you’re not within the 72 hrs you can either buy a new one-way ticket for $80,000 IDR or use a different method. If you are taking the Kura Kura bus, you should be on the bus 4 hours before your flight leaves. Check the timetable on their website because there’s only 4 buses from Ubud to Kuta a day. From the DFS bus bay, just take a gojek, or a taxi (bluebird if your bargaining skills are weak) to get to the airport. Another 20 min ride. Dropoff rules are the same as the leaving Before 2 pm.
    • 2. Another method is the easiest but also most expensive method. You can pre-arrange transportation which will usually run you about $200,000+ IDR if you book with your accommodation. You could also just get a taxi/ojek on the street which would be about the same or a little let that the cheapest private transport. If you’re doing this, you should leave about 3 hrs before your flight leaves.
    • 3. The most difficult but also the cheapest option to get to the airport is for stubborn and frugal people like me who like to scam the scammers. For this option you should be travelling alone and travelling light. From your accommodation take an ojek to the Bali zoo. From the zoo just call a gojek to the airport. It’s not too difficult but may take up a bit of time since you have to haggle down the ojek driver, then wait for the gojek driver to arrive once you get to the zoo. By doing this, you can get to the airport for as low as $80,000 IDR. The zoo is only about 15 mins outside of Ubud so it’s close but gojeks are allowed there. If you’re doing this leave about 3.5 hrs before your flight leaves. There’s a good chance you’d get to the airport early, but you want to allot time in case something doesn’t go to plan. You’ll go straight to the airport, and again, drop-off is the same.

There are lots of other things to do in Bali that weren’t included in my itinerary! Feel free to search both Airbnb, Tripadvisor, and other blogs for excursions if you just want to get a feel of what Bali has to offer, or if you’d prefer booking them online. If you like to go with the flow, you can always book in person when you get to Bali or just wait until last minute because some activities online don’t actually fill up. Other than the activities that I name, other popular Bali activities include: spending a few days in the Gili islands, cooking classes, Mount Batur hike, white water rafting, waterfall tours, ATV rides, pretty much any water sport, and so much more!

Budgeting and Money exchange

If you ain’t talkin money I don’t wanna talk.

-Young Dolph

• Roundtrip flight from Taiwan- $287 USD
• 5 nights at shared Airbnb- $85.5 USD
• Excursions- If you do everything, I included from the sample itinerary, it should set you back about $290 USD
• Spending money- For 6 days a 5 nights in Bali, I’d recommend bring about $250-$300 USD in spending money. In all actuality I only spent about $200, but my itinerary was different, I am very good at haggling, I didn’t buy too things while I was there, and I tried to not spend that much on food!

I was being conscientious of money because I only withdrew $200 USD worth of IDR at the airport and wanted it to last me the entire time I was there. I did a lot of walking instead of transport and was very selective with the things I spent money on. If you want a genuine vacation where you don’t want to have to worry about funds, I recommend just bringing the $300 (if travelling alone, less if you’re travelling with others.) You’ll probably have some left over anyways if you’re not frivolous.

All in all, for a low-budget, but action-packed Bali trip (from Taiwan), plan to spend about $965 USD.

Best Way to Get/ Exchange Money in Bali– is in the airport!

If you’re coming from the country where your debit card was issued, I’d suggest taking your money out at an ATM before you leave. Then exchanging your currency at the airport. There are a ton of money changers in Bali but they’re all trying to scam you. The best rates are in the airport and this is probably where it’s easiest so you can just change your money right after you get out of customs.

If you’re coming from a different country than where your debit card was issued, like me, I’d recommend bring a bit of cash with you to use in the airports. Then, when you arrive in Bali, withdraw your desired ($300) from an ATM over there. Yes, there are fees, but you already knew that. Everything in SE Asia is cash based so it’s necessary. If you’re going to be abroad for a long period of time, try to find a bank that will reimburse your international ATM fees. With PNC’s student account, I am charged $5 every time I make an international withdrawal, but I am refunded for two of those fees at the end of my period. So, I always withdraw big amounts at the ATM, so I only have to use it twice a month and don’t incur any extra fees.

There’s also ATMs all over Bali. If you go this route, just make sure to always pull on the card reader to prevent credit-card theft. It’s a thing no matter where you go.

All in all, this is the meat of what you need to know while planning your Bali trip! What to expect when you actually get there, and the chronicles of my individual adventure are going to be in two separate posts that are coming in the near future.

If you have any questions, think I missed anything, or enjoyed this post, feel free to comment on this post or send me a message using the toolbar. I love hearing from you all!