My Detailed Bali Tour — Itinerary, Tips and Experience

This could be a long post. If you wish to jump to the Tips/Observations, scroll down to the last section.

Pre-Tour

Whenever we think of a budget international trip, Thailand and Bali come first (Obviously we don’t consider Nepal/Bhutan here). Well, even I got a thought of an international trip in March 2019. Without thinking much I booked flight tickets on Goibibo which cost me around 30,000 INR for 2 people.

Our flight was on July 13th From Bangalore to Kochin followed by Kualalumpur and Bali (all Air Asia). And the return ticket was on 18th July (all Malindo Air).

I had 3 months of time to plan my trip further. I went through a lot of blogs, vlogs, quora answers. But still, I felt a lack of information. I was more worried about 10 hours layover at Kualalumpur Airport. I thought of exploring the city but there wasn’t much information about Transit Visa. Some were calling it eNTRI Visa some people suggested me to get a normal visa which needed a hotel booking.

I decided to buy some books and spend my time at the Airport. Considering all the fear of “how things work abroad” and my 1st international trip I thought of booking an agency for my tour to Bali.

I contacted a startup named flynote. But never heard from them.

Meanwhile, I applied for Niyo Card. They claimed that I can just put money it the card and use it anywhere in the world for free. No markup charges or commission at all. And it really worked like a charm! I swiped it in many places and even used it at ATM. There was a negligible (2–10 Rupees) charge though from Visa’s end. But I was completely fine with it.

I also took Paytm Rupay ATM Card for free lounge access in India.

I was also actively commenting or posting my doubts in Tourist Helpline Group on Facebook. Someone approached me asking if I’m visiting Bali. She had her own tour agency in Bali. I asked for prices and I was shocked! She was charging only 5–6k for whereas Flynote was charging Rs. 18,000 + GST for the same places. After verifying about her company and reviews (Especially from Indians). I made my mind to use her services.

In July I booked a hotel from Agoda as I found awesome offers and deals. I got a hotel for Rs. 6700 Rupees for 4 Nights for 2 people. I was okay with the pricing as it was in the Main Kuta just 5–10 mins away from the Airport. But you can easily get cheaper hotels in Seminayak or Ubud.

D-Day

It was 13th of July. My flight was at 9:05PM from Bangalore — Kochin. I took Airport Bus at 5:30PM and reached Airport 5 mins before counter closing due to the traffic in Bangalore. I had a plan of having heavy dinner in Bangalore lounge but I couldn’t as my flight gates were open. Hungry we, boarded the flight.

We reached Kochin Airport and the flight was delayed by 20 mins. I again had a very less time to have dinner at the lounge. We had to walk around 15 mins to Terminal 3 (International Airport). However, check-in and immigration didn’t take time at all. We rushed to the lounge. Had our dinner for free!

We rushed to the gate and boarded the flight. We were all set for our 1st International Trip. We reached Kuala Lumpur Airport around 7AM in the morning. (Kuala Lumpur Time). Now we had a very big Airport to Explore. But the whole Airport wasn’t accessible and it was very confusing. We just started following the crowd from our flight. We reached a hall where we had two options: International Transfer & Immigration. Since we didn’t have a visa, we went to the International Transfer area.

We got freshen up and went to McDonald's for breakfast. I was shocked to see the prices. Everything was super costly! A normal meal was worth 17–18 RM (Around 300 INR). We moved to Burger King hoping that it would be lesser than McDonald’s but it wasn’t. I took a round of whole Food Court and later settled at Chicken Royal Meal of Burger King which costed us Rs. 300 per meal. By now, I had found people in Malaysia to be rude in nature.

We thought of exploring the Airport now or to get some sleep. After passing time for 2 hours we were super bored. We wondered if we can just explore the city. We asked a few help-desks if we can get a Transit Visa or Visa on Arrival but none of them had any idea about the same. They just asked us to visit the immigration office. We couldn’t find the office but found a helpdesk near immigrations. A lady there suggested seeing the officers in B12–B14. There were few travelers from other countries waiting in a queue. They were just showing the tickets and passport and the officer was allowing them to go. My turn came, I asked the officer if there’s any fee for the same (We really didn’t want to spend 25 USD, which was listed on their website for eNTRI Visa). He said it is free as we were eligible for Transit Visa (I don’t know how). He gave us the validity of 5 days (Till our return flight). We passed the immigration and exited the arrival hall. Now we were in a huge never-ending mall with no sitting area. Somehow we reached the final gate where people started asking if we need a Taxi. I asked the price for Petronas Twin Tower driver quoted me 100 RM for one-way (around 1650 INR) we tried bargaining and he came down at 80 RM which was still a huge amount in Indian Currency. We came back to the mall and found a train like metro: KLIA Ekspress. Which was cheaper than taxi but still expensive for us. So we decided to roam in the mall.

Due to no sitting area in the mall, we thought of going back inside the airport. We completed immigration again followed by a security check and customs. By now, the gate was allotted to our flight. Our gate was in L series and there was one more security check. There, they threw my 2 deodorants because container size was 120ml (Even though deodorants were already used and weighed less than 100ml. The same had passed through 4–5 security checks earlier). I was shocked when I found that they were throwing Duty-Free Drinks bought at the same airport and perfumes bought in the Airport Mall. This made my experience a lot worse towards staffs at Kuala Lumpur Airport.

We entered the L Series gate and found that there’s only 1 place to eat inside that too was expensive. We ate Chicken Puffs and Mushroom Puffs which costed us again 292 Rupees. We waited for our flight for 2 hours boarded for Bali. Here, I observed the crew be very rude with passengers. He literally shouted at a few passengers.

Well I took a nap on the flight and woke up during the landing. It was 8:30PM. We landed around 9:40PM and stepped in Bali. Airport was empty. We completed the immigration (where they just asked our itinerary verbally) and custom formalities.

Our agents were already waiting with my name board. We met and greeted. They had brought a garland for us. There we met our dedicated driver Mur. He was very friendly and was explaining about Bali on the way to the Hotel. Since our hotel was nearby, we reached there in 15 mins. I observed that people at Bali are more disciplined than us when it comes to Road-Traffic. Our next day was scheduled for Nusa Penida Islands. Mur told us to be ready at 6:45AM in the morning.

We checked in to the hotel and found that they are not serving dinner anymore. So, we thought of visiting KFC (open 24 hours) which was 5 mins away at walking distance. There, a normal chicken burger costed us around 8,000-10,000 IDR (40–50 INR). We were really happy to find such a cheap price. We had our dinner and bought a pre-activated SIM card from a nearby shop of 2GB Browsing + 2GB Social Media in 75,000 IDR (Around 370 INR).

We reached the hotel and slept.

Day 1: Nusa Penida (USD 50/Pax)

I was already attracted to the beauty of Nusa Penida by looking at the photos. We woke up at 6AM and got ready by 6:45. Our hotel package included free breakfast, but that day we had to skip our breakfast it was supposed to be started at 7:30AM. However, we found that we could have informed them to pack our breakfast and keep it ready. Please be noted that Mur was the one communicating with Hotel Staffs in their local language. Mur said we can get a takeaway from McDonald's on the way. Unfortunately, McDonald’s had only breakfast option available. We took 2 breakfast meals and it costed us around 74,000 IDR (370 INR) I don’t know-how which was supposed to be only 50,000 IDR. When asked for proper breakups they gave me some bull-shit which I didn’t understand due to the language barrier. We decided not to visit MCD again and stick to KFC.

We reached Sanur Harbour where we could get a fast boat there, one of the agency team was already waiting with our tickets ready and paid for. We just took followed a guy till their boat. I was wearing sports shoes as I had forgotten to pack my slippers. They took everyone’s footwear in a box and told us to ride the boat. We were supposed to get our footwears back after reaching Nusa Penida (Just like check-in luggage at Airports). It took us around 45 mins to reach Nusa Penida from the fast boat.

There, our driver (assigned by the agency was already waiting for us with a name board). His name was Wayang, even he was very friendly and humble like Mur. Our 1st stop was Kelinking beach which looked like a T-Rex dinosaur. It took almost an hour to reach there. Roads were very bad. It is really recommended to hire a car than a bike.

The view was breath-taking. Though it was very crowded. It used to be one of the unexplored regions of Indonesia. But now, almost everyone visits this place. It has great views and the water is literally blue. You can hike down to the beach but it isn’t recommended for “unfit” people as it is very dangerous.

Next stop was Angel Billabong and Broken Beach. We reached there in 1 hour. Again an awesome place to have pics with. We spent around 1–1.5 Hours there. The place was windy with attractive views.

Angel Billabong

Broken Beach

By now we were hungry. Wayang took us for lunch in a nice quiet place. The lunch for Nusa Penida was included in the package. We had fried rice and noodles. To be honest, I didn’t like the taste (This was my first local food at Bali).

It was 3PM by now. We visited the crystal beach. It was good for snorkeling and just to chill out. We spent almost an hour there just chilled. Since it’s a coral island, you may get lot of stones at the beach unlike Goa in India where it is purely sanded.

We reached back to Harbour for the fast boat back to Bali. It again took us almost 45 mins to 1 hour. I took a nap.

We reached our hotel by 8PM. Since we were hungry, we again visited KFC but changed the plan and visited Dominos. I didn’t like the taste here too and we spent around 300 Rupees here. We had a plan for shopping at Kuta Market but as soon as we reached the hotel. I just slept and woke up the next day.

Day 2: Bali Sightseeing (USD 30/Pax)

Our trip was starting from 8AM in the morning. We had our breakfast. They had many varieties. We took a small portion of each but ended up eating bread jam and some fruits.

We had added Tukad Cepung waterfall in our package (they didn’t charge anything extra for this). We reached there on time. The entry fee was 15,000 IDR per person (Rs. 75). It was almost 20 mins of walking including stairs. It looked really great when sunlight was passing through the droplets.

Image from Google as we couldn’t take good photos

We had to climb back to the top and the next stop was Kintamani Volcano and Lake Batur. The view was great but you have to take photos from the Road Side. Early morning 3AM people even go for trekking. But due to our tight schedule, we didn’t go for trekking. We were supposed to have lunch here but we found out that all the restaurant nearby had only buffet option with 150,000 IDR (750 INR) per person. We bought some snacks from the supermarket and left the place.

Next place was Tampak Siring Temple. The entry fee was 30,000 IDR (150 INR) per person. However, it was just good to take photos from the outside. They had holy water concept where you have to sacrifice the offering and you can take a bath in holy water. Apart from that, we didn’t find anything to do. Though religion being Hindu, they have a slightly different culture. Like you can enter the temple with your footwears. We also saw many people smoking in the temple. We left the temple and proceeded for lunch.

Mur took us to a nearby restaurant which was just next to the rice field. It was very expensive and overpriced. I had a pretty bad experience there. We ordered only noodles and Bali Coffee. The waiter asked if we wanted cold coffee or hot coffee. We thought the price will be the same. As per the menu, we were supposed to pay around 50,000 IDR. But we paid 92,000 IDR including service tax, Ice for cold coffee and some other taxes. Also, the portion size was like 5 Rupees Maggie Packet.

Next he took us to Ubud showed us some wood carving and stone carving followed by a place for Swing. The place was purely a business place. For 15 push swing, we had to pay 300,000 IDR which included full whole access to their field/park. Otherwise, we could have accessed their field in 100,000 IDR. But it was a great place for photos.

Next is we wanted to shop some gifts for our friends. We visited Ubud Market near Ubud Palace. It had various options but we had to negotiate really smartly.

My small scam story

I’m not really sure if this was a scam or a genuine query, we were at the Ubud Market and a couple reached us and asked if we know any good Indian Restaurant nearby. They initiated the conversation when they got to know we are also Indians. They were in Bali for Honeymoon and next stop was Goa. The wife was engaging my friend and husband started talking to me about Indian Currency. He had many notes in USDs. He said someone has told that all the USD notes must have a special stamp to exchange it in India. I didn’t have any idea about it. He asked if Indian Currencies have a special stamp and if I have any Indian Notes to show him. I had around 3000 Rupees (500*6). I showed him one-note. This time he started talking to my friend as well asking sorry to stop us (Maybe he wanted to distract me). But I didn’t look anywhere apart from my wallet. I asked him that one-note and rushed from there saying our driver is waiting. Later I checked my wallet and I had all the money.

We finished our shopping and traveled back to our hotel.

Day 3: Sightseeing Bali Continued (USD 30/Pax)

This day we didn’t hire the agency and thought of wandering ourselves by chilling at Kuta Beach or by renting a bike. But just after breakfast, the laziness took over and we booked the agency for of last day as well. We were covering areas around Bedugul this day.

We visited the Ulun Danu Temple. It was almost noon but it felt like an early morning. It was getting covered by the clouds.

Here the entry charges were 50,000 IDR (Rs. 250) per person. But it was worth the money.

Next, we visited Handara Gate. We didn’t go exactly at the gate because they were charging 30,000 IDR per person (Rs. 150) just for 2 minutes. I would say it’s a great place to take photos of the couples.

Next, we could see the twin lake from the road. There were many spots for the photos with the Nest or swing but, again they were really expensive. Mur took us to the spot where we could take some photos for free.

Next stop was Bayumala Waterfalls. This place was quite nearer to the Twin Lakes. Again, this place was fantastic It would be more fun if you know swimming. You can just swim down to the center and chill.

Since we had chosen the waterfall, we had to skip the Tanah Lot Temple as these two were on completely opposite sides of Bali. It was almost 5 PM. We asked Mur to drop us back to the hotel as we had to visit Kuta Market. Kuta Market is a great place to shop. We bought a few gifts for our friends and visited an Indian Restaurant. We ate at Shankara Indian Food. The food was great but it was overpriced — 25000 IDR for 1 Paratha.

We went back to the hotel and packed our stuff.

Day 4: Return

Next morning we had our breakfast and meanwhile, the Driver had come to drop us back to the Airport.

I found Bali airport to be more advanced in terms of security checking and technology. Our return flight was with Malindo Airlines. They gave us free food and it had display panels to watch movies.

This time we explored Kuala Lumpur Airport Again as layover was only for 3 hours. I reached Bangalore on the same day.

Tips/Observations

1. Get a NiYO Card. It’s easy and seamless.
2. Carry International Socket
3. Carry slippers. However, you can buy it in the market at just 50 Rupees.
4. Make sure you have less than 7KG in your cabin bag. Weights are checked regularly.
5. Don’t buy any liquid item before boarding the flight in Malaysia. They will just throw it.
6. Try your luck to get a transit Visa for free at Kuala Lumpur Airport. Don’t hesitate.
7. Staffs (including Restaurants) at Kuala Lumpur Airport are rude.
8. Nusa Penida is a must go. It could be expensive but it’s worth.
9. Bali’s only economy is tourism. Hence, ticket prices are too high. Also, they have understood that it’s all about photos these days than the experience. If you want great photos, you have to spend a lot.
10. Though their currency is weak, the price for everything is almost the same as India.
11. It is better to explore Nusa Penida by a car than a bike.
12. I didn’t see anyone littering on roads. So please avoid.
13. If you’re used to Masaale-daar food, you won’t like Indonesian food. We had to live on KFC or Dominos.
14. There are many scams. Refer this: https://indonesia.tripcanvas.co/bali/tourist-traps-bali/
15. Bargain as much as possible at the Market.

Hope this helps. For any more questions or information, email me at nikhil.kumar487@gmail.com