Indonesia, a life-changing experience!

Indonesia is special to me... After traveling several months, I can say it is my favorite country in SE Asia.

Why? Because it has many good things, the first and best, the people in Bali, the kindest people I ever met, probably due to their culture/religion.

I think karma is a good thing if it’s used properly.

The landscapes are amazing... the wild cliffs with the the brave sea...it’s unbelievable! And my favorite view point of the whole trip is in Padar Island in Komodo National park, with magic SUNRISES!!

The sea life is blowing minding...turtles, mantas, sharks, all sort of fishes...

If you like hiking, there are plenty of volcanos with unforgettable sunrises & sunsets.

Exquisite food! Something I love when traveling, taste different flavors!!

Full of experiences, parties and obviously surf!!!

My Indonesia Itinerary in 26 days:

5 Days in Kuta

4 Days on Wanua boat trip

2 Days in Gili Air

3 Days in Gili T

6 Days in Ubud

1 Day in Canggu

4 Days in Nusa Penida

1 Day in Kuta

Landed in Denpasar airport, main airport in Bali and stayed in Kuta for few days.

I wouldn’t stay in Kuta again as it is very touristic with lots of suitcase travelers...but good place for buying souvenirs.

I had a great experience in BTS (Bali TURTLE society). If you stay around go and collaborate with them!! Loved it!

If you want to learn surfing it can be a good place as the waves are great for beginners but I think you can find other places to learn than have more things to offer.

I visited Uluwatu by motorbike from Kuta, it’s 1h ride (a bit long for scooter but doable).

Uluwatu is a nice place with wild cliffs and beaches, brave sea, there is a great surf vibe but I think is for people who already know how to surf...the waves are quite big.

Anyway there are beautiful beaches and landscapes.

After that I flew to Flores and took a 4 days boat back to Lombok, if you have enough time I highly recomend you that experience, one of the best experiences in Indonesia. It is the best way to travel the little islands, you get to see a lot on this boat trip, it is cheap, you can meet great people, Komodo National park is included (check it is open when you go, rumors said is going to close), the best view point ever...Just do it!

You can find several boat trips companies, choose depending on your budget

Wanua is the one I chose.

For more info about Wanua boat trip, check:

https://mybananapancaketrail.blogspot.com/2019/06/boat-expedition-flores-to-lombok-wanua.html

http://wanuaadventure.com/

I recomend you to stay in Labuan Bajo (Flores) to do Scuba diving, I was told it’s amazing! One of the best places in the world!

But take in account is not an easy place to dive, lots of sea current, so if you are very beginner, take it in account!

After the boat trip we arrived to Lombok and I got transferred to Gili Islands.

There is a really good vibe on these islands but there is not much to see or do.

The best thing is there are no cars, the islands are so smalls that you can walk/cycle everywhere.

It’s a perfect place to chill by the beach and see turtles!!! If you want to see turtles, go there! 100% guaranteed you will see turtles!! I promise to you!!
I spent 2 days at Gili Air just relaxing and watching the sunset having a drink and sharing experiences with other people.

On Gili T, I did a day snorkeling trip with a boat but we were too many people in the boat and I did not enjoy it that much as when we saw a turtle we were more than 100 people swimming behind it...crazy...

Snorkeling trip was 100k Rupias with 4 snorkeling points.

I would suggest to rent a mask and swim on your own.
The Gilis are the perfect place to have happy shakes, pizzas or whatever that makes you happy!
You can also go party on Gili T, that's the island with more restaurants, hostels, then Gili Air and Gili Meno is the most chill one.

After the relaxing Gilis, I moved back to Bali, Ubud.

Ubud

There is plenty to see from Ubud. You can visit the north of Bali if you rent a motorbike.

We rented a motorcycle for 70k Rupiahs/day and it is really easy to ride in Bali.

Places to visit

Sacred monkey forest - it can be visited in 1-2h

Temples

Pura besaki Temple - 2,5h to get there by motorbike - Cost 60k Rupiahs (incluiding guide who will ask you for tip). I wouln't go again, it doesn't worth the ride.

Waterfalls

Gitgit Waterfall

Tegenungan waterfall

Bhuansari waterfall

Rice fields

The most beautiful rice fields I’ve ever seen.

They were a bit crowded but as soon you walk a bit from the main entrance it gets better, less people and scenary is as beautiful.

We even got in a swing for free, no one was there, we checked it was in a good condition and played a bit!

Kumulilir
It wasn't in our plans but we had a great a great experience, tasted different coffees and teas and learnd a bit about the most expensive coffee in the world.
https://kumulilir.id/

Another place to visit, handara gate, we stopped when we were going to visit one of the waterfalls, but we had to pay just to get close to the gate and take the picture, we didn’t want to pay for just a picture...

A really good experience is hiking mount Batur.

They offer sunrise trip for 300k Rupiahs/person.

We decided to do it for sunset and by ourselves without a guide. Are we crazy?
There were only 11 people at the summit, to reach the summit was very rewarding and the view wa stunning, the bad thing was we had to do our way back in the dark! yes! Dark! In a mountain you've never been, without map, no torch, almost no baterry on our phones...!! But it was fun!

My best friend and I are a bit crazy, I can’t recommend to do what we did but if we did it, many people can do it!!

We were told hundreds of people do it for sunrise, so imagine being on a top of a crowded mountain...the sunrise can be amazing but in my case I prefer to share those moments with less people...

Another great place is Yoga barn.

If you want to do a bit of Yoga and meditation, that’s a great place!

I did my first meditation class and it was amazing, I hope I can come back again.

I met people who travel there every year just to do yoga, insane!!!

I also did my first AcroYoga class and discovered a new hobby!!!

Recommend accommodation:

Ubud rice field hostel

After Ubud we moved to Canggu for partying!

That’s the place for party, full of young people with good atmosphere and parties at the beach.

It’s also a good place for surfing even if you are beginner.

Some recommendations:

Crate cafe for breakfast

Old mans or sand bar for party

Pretty poison (skate bar)

Although I stayed in a hotel, I was recomend those hostels:

Clandestino Hostel

The farm hostel

Socialista hostel

Cangu hostel

Suny Cangu hostel

We headed by boat to Nusa Penida, probably my favorite island in the area, the landscape is mind blowing!!

We spent 4 days and I would have stayed longer, it’s a small island but the roads are so bad that it takes you forverer to get to the sightseeing points, but you really need a way of transport to move around and motorbike is the most convenient.

There is a manta point, we wanted to scuba dive but we left it for the end of the trip and the 2 last days we had bad sea and we missed it!!!! So don’t leave it for the end, if you want to scuba dive try to book ASAP!!

I will have to come back...!!! What a shame!! Loooooool

There are also 3 Islands, Nusa Penida is the biggest one but there are also Nusa Lembongan and Nusa Ceningan, we only had time for Nusa Penida, anyway here some recomendations.

Sightseeing points:

Nusa Lembongan:
Devils Tear

Dream beach

Nusa Ceningan

Blue lagoon

Nusa Penida has the wildest landscape.

Atuh beach
Diamond beach
Teletubbies Hill
Tembeling beach and forest

Manta point

Kelingking beach

Angel's billabong and broken beach.

Goa giri Putri temple
Crystal Bay for sunset

Some tips Nusa: take cash with you, there are just few ATMs and some didn’t work...

Most of the restaurants don’t accept cards just cash.

I recommend you to stay in the south of the island, closer to the sightseeing points, they are mainly in the south.

We spent the last day in Kuta, close to airport, just to make sure we were in the main island to catch our flight. Time for buying presents for friends & family!!

Other places I could not visit but they are in my bucket list:

Volcano hiking in Lombok, mount Rinjani.

Another option is go to Amed, north Bali,were you can also scuba dive.

West Papua island: Raja ampat, this place looks awesome!

4 islands

Diving: manado and Sulawesi island. I was told are the best place for scuba diving in Indonesia but it’s quite far from Bali.

Akasha: www.newearthhaven.com

As I said I love Indonesia as it has lots of things to offer, a big variety, but if you are looking for paradise beaches that’s not your place, nothing like the Philipines if what you want is lying under a palm tree on a beautiful and relaxing beach.

I would change from my Itinerary

5 Days in Kuta - I recommend Uluwatu instead.

4 Days on Wanua boat trip - highly recommend!!

2 Days in Gili Air

3 Days in Gili T - They are not my fav, I would suggest to stay in one of the islands and travel to see the other ones or avoid them.

6 Days in Ubud - highly recommend but maybe 4/5 is enough.

1 Day in Canggu - it was enough for us one night party.

4 Days in Nusa Penida - I would stay longer, visit the other Nusa islands and as we did, leave it for the end of the trip as it was my highlight.

1 Day in Kuta next to the airport.

Some of my photos and video from Indonesia:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sfXMLW6gEuE&ab_channel=DianaFernandez

Nusa Penida:

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Indonesia, a life-changing experience!

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