Bali is expensive if you’re alone.

If I’d rank my most favorite Southeast Asian countries (except the Philippines, and I’ve been to 7/11), I’d always chose Indonesia as the top. The country has this home-y vibe, giving me the Panay Island longing with the addition of temples and other historical landmarks. Yogyakarta will always top my list of most favorite places in Indonesia, and second, comes Bali.

I booked this trip when I was down, which happens frequently nowadays. I wasn’t supposed to push through but I badly needed an escape last December. So I went, without an itinerary, only a phone number of a guide/driver who will tour me around Ubud. He’s very reliable, and he speaks English well.

Day 1: Arrival in Bali

Flight:
Cebu Pacific 5J 279 – 03:35 AM NAIA Terminal 3
Arrival: 07:50 AM Ngurah Rai International Airport
Php

Since I was tired from the Bali Swing Adventure, I asked Benny to just drive me to my Villa instead, and I swear, this Villa is magnificent. It abruptly calmed my mind in chaos.

I stayed in YANA Villas for a night at just $20 with free breakfast, own cottage with private bath, and pool view.
Stay: 10/10. I even had the pool to myself the whole night and the next morning.

Day 2: Going around Bali

I asked Benny to pick me up in my Villa at 11AM. He was early but he patiently waited for me. I spent my whole morning swimming in the pool. For day two, we went to:

Monkey Forest: IDR 80,000 entrance fee

We went to eat lunch at a local warung after.

Tegallalang Rice Terraces: IDR 10,000 entrance fee, 10,000 Parking Fee

If you are from the Philippines, you might want to escape this trip. Banaue Rice Terraces look better, and the place is so steep with too much mud. It is also very hot. But if you want cheap Bali bags, you can buy it in the stalls in Tegallalang.

After the tour, I went straight to Awan Bali House in Ubud City Center where I stayed in bed until sunset to rest.

Stay: 8/10. Quiet temple house in the heart of Ubud City Centre. So Cheap for a one-night stay for IDR 248,161 (Php 925 / USD 19). The bed is comfortable and big, but no TV or any electronics inside.

I went around Ubud Market and the food halls at night. I found this coffee shop that sells the best mocha vanilla coffee I ever tasted. The facade is a big oak tree beside a temple. The restaurant boasts of traditional painting with modern decors.

Day 3: Ubud Market Shopping and impulsive bus ride to Kuta

There is not much thing to do in Ubud Centre if you are not a part person. Trust me. But I still woke up early to eat my breakfast, and went out to check Ubud market. I was able to haggle other Bali bags for my family.

The very backpacker thing I did was to ditch an expensive private car ride from Ubud (from a whooping IDR 750000 down to IDR 60000, woot).

I came upon Perama Tours last minute. Without any bus reservation, I went to Perama Bus Ubud for the Bali Lombok Daily Shuttle Bus. Lucky enough, there are still one available ticket for the time slot that I needed. The bus ride from Ubud to Kuta is roughly two (2) hours away.

Since Kuta has this City vibe, I opt to just walk from the market to my hostel. It was relatively far but the colorful stalls along the way made the heat more bearable. I checked in at H-ostel Bali.

Stay: 7/10. This is the kind of hostels that I like. Bullet type female dormitories with very comfortable bedding, enough storage, and privacy. The staff in the receiving area had a little bit of hard time communicating in English, and when I got very sick because of something I ate, they did not help me. They told me to walk to the nearest pharmacy which was 1.5km away. The breakfast is served late. I went to the rooftop at 7AM, but they haven’t even started preparing the meals yet. I ended up not being able to use my breakfast coupons for two days.

Next on the blog is Bali Belly and how to prevent them.

After check-in, I immediately took a bath and waited for my scheduled Uluwatu Temple Sunset and Kecak Fire Dance.

The only nice thing in this activity is the walk around the temple and meeting a new solo traveler friend from Vietnam. We were also able to try this famous coffee-tasting activity.

If you don’t want to mingle with many people (and I mean A LOT of other people), DO NOT TAKE THIS TRIP. If you’re okay with people blocking your view of sunset, this one’s for you. The Kecak Fire Dance would’ve been better without these tourists coming in and out the stage disrupting the performance.

Day 4: East Bali and Lempuyang Temple Trip

Booked via Klook. This whole day tour is exciting, but Bali was so hot I did not enjoy the afternoon tours. Also, Lempuyang Temple is Instagram-worthy, but it is where all the lies lie. You have to wait in line for at most three (3) hours, and the reflection is not from a lake but a mirror improvised by the locals. Thank me layer.

The trip was until 4PM and I had enough time to try the friend-recommended pop-out Point Coffee inside a convenience store. What they say was true, Starbucks can close down in Bali. Their coffee tastes so good!

I was also able to hoard Bali Bags for a more expensive prices but still cheap compared to the ones they sell in the Philippines nonetheless.

Bali is beautiful but please find people or a person whom you can take with you– not just to split the costs but because you need more snaps of Bali. It was hard to ask for people’s help because they won’t and it is better to have someone you personally know do it for you.

I will go back, but with other people then. But yes, Bali is beautiful.