Many of us try hard to get out of the shackles of our daily life. However, we fear thinking of the unknown and the associated uncertainty. May be confused about where to go. If you are one of them, we guess you have come to the right place.
As we call ourselves Travel Freaks………
Now we know what you might be eager about……
Table of Contents
1. Where are we heading to?
After a fantastic day at Nusa Penida Island, it was time for us to explore more of the main Bali island. Already exploring the south and the central regions, it was time for us to move to the northern part of Bali Island, which is still a hidden treasure for most.
Yeah, so let’s ask you something. Do you know anything about North Bali? Or………
2. What is the speciality of North Bali?
We are giving our opinion.
North Bali is often referred to as the hidden treasure of Bali. North Bali embraces a rich cultural heritage that is deeply rooted in Balinese tradition. Without any further introduction, let us take you all to this wonderful part of Bali Island.
We know what you would like to know now…
3. When did we land in Bali?
For a quick recap, we already explored the South, Central and the Nusa Penida Island of Bali. Click on the links and do check out our blogs if you are yet to read them. You would love to read about our experiences.
Checkout how we landed on this magical island.
Okay, so coming back to our journey, we were a bit exhausted last night after returning from the Nusa Penida tour. After a good sound sleep and a heavy breakfast from our hotel stay, we were ready by eight o’ clock in the morning for our North Bali Tour.
We departed sharply at 5 minutes past 8. The first destination that we were heading to was the Mengwi, or the Taman Ayun Temple.
Don’t assume it to be like the earlier temples that we elaborated on. Now you will be curious about………
4. How were the journey and the experience of the Taman Ayun Temple?
It was indeed a memorable day for us……….
It took us close to an hour to reach the temple. Just as we got down from the car parking, we took the tickets that cost around IDR 20,000 per adult. As we walked in, we spotted a typical Balinese Temple gate and entered the premise after clicking pics.
As it was early hours of the day, there were little or no visitors except us. It somewhat thrilled us to see that only we were present in the temple. As already mentioned in our previous blogs, all the temples provide “Sarong” to cover the lower portion of the body in case the knee is exposed. The same we noticed there.
The temple premise was full of gardens, and few maintenance activities were going for the fountains. Quickly took out our cameras and phones and started our clicking spree. The beauty of the place completely awestruck us.
After spending close to an hour, we entered an auditorium, where they played their traditional festive videos. We took a lot of interest in understanding their culture. In fact, our driver cum guide explained and showed, with a lot of zeal, the traditional attire of the Balinese people.
A hilarious incident that we would like to mention. Just as were about to leave the temple, our guide was insisting us to make a dancing reel on the streets just outside the temple gate. After a little bit of hesitation, we agreed, and for the first time in our life, we danced on the Bali street.
It was truly a memorable moment that we will never forget for the rest of our life. After grasping for some breath, we got back to our car and departed for our next spot, the iconic Handara Gate.
Have you ever heard of the Handara Gate?
If not, then definitely many of you might have seen it virtually. So, you would like to know…….
5. How is Handara Gate different from other Balinese gates?
It’s very difficult to explain until we share a glimpse of it……
On the way to Handara Gate, we enjoyed gazing at the lifestyle of the Balinese people. It took us less than an hour to reach the spot.
To our utter, we were shocked to see close to ten vehicles parked near the gate. Even more when we came to know that there was a ticket for clicking pictures in front of the gates.
Our guide was an expert at it. He quickly went and purchased tickets for us ahead of the entering tourist bus. Ticket cost was IDR 30,000 per adult. Well, our queue number was 43. On enquiring with the local security personnel, we came to know that it would take close to an hour for our number.
On being bored, we thought of exploring the local area. Thankfully, we came across a local who took us to her home and was jovial to interact with us.
In the meantime, we were looking at our watch. Finally, our number came, and we were ready to click pictures in front of the gate. It was the largest Balinese gate that we had come across. There was a photographer who could click pictures for some donation if you wished to give.
One more thing that we noticed was that cars were constantly plying on the road leading to the Handara Gate, as there were hotels in the close vicinity.
After a series of picture sessions, we thought it was better to move on to the next spot, as we could notice that the queue for clicking was increasing. It was a different experience for us. So, it was time for some waterfall experience as our next spot was Banyumala Waterfall.
Don’t get confused with any other waterfall.
Which is your favourite waterfall? You think and in the meantime let us take you there………
6. How was the Banyumala Waterfall?
The distance was approximately 40 km from the Handara Gate. Hopefully, there was no traffic, and we reached in half an hour.
We got down in the parking, and our guide led the way to reach the spot. Initially, we observed that the road was curved and topsy-turvey along the jungle. It took 10 minutes to reach the ticket counter of the Banyumala Waterfall. The ticket price was 30,000 IDR.
From there, the actual trek started. There was a steep staircase. On the way down, we noticed dirt, mud and water flowing down from the side of the hill. Slowly and carefully, after taking intermittent breaks, we could reach close to the waterfall.
It was simple picturesque spots. Many Western travellers were swimming beneath the waterfall. There were even pre-wedding photoshoots happening. It was really fun to experience the ambience of the waterfall.
We were hungry by then and then thought of returning to our car for lunch. Again, slowly and carefully, we climbed on and reached the ticket counter. Our guide was waiting there patiently. We took the same return path and moved for lunch, which was also our next spot, Ulun Danu Beratan Temple.
You might now be bored to know another temple. We were no different back then. However, it was a completely different temple. Now we know you grew curious about…….
7. How picturesque was the Ulun Danu Temple?
Better to answer this with snaps…….
Coming back to us, within half an hour, we reached our next spot. Surprisingly, we were hungry, but on seeing the spot, we thought of skipping lunch and exploring the place first. However, the guide persuaded us to have our lunch.
It took us less than 15 minutes to finish with our lunch as were more inclined to explore the place. One step out of the restaurant, we started capturing photos from there only. The weather was nice and clear.
The ticket cost around 50,000 IDR per adult . We went further and entered the main temple premises. We skipped a few places where there was a separate entrance fee as found the outskirts were more beautiful.
Readers can also take a boat ride if they wish so. As we did the previous day, we thought it better to explore the place completely. We felt like staying there for the rest of the day.
Our guide, who was a nice and patient human being, constantly persuaded us to move on to the next spot. However, after close to two hours, we decided to depart from the place and move on to another rice terrace, Jatiluwih Rice Terrace.
Have you ever visited any Rice Terrace? Of course, we took you to Tegalalang Rice Terrace in our earlier blog; we mean apart from that.
Now many of you are excited to know……
8. How was Jatiluwih Rice Terrace?
On the way to Jatiluwih Rice Terrace, we were constantly chirping about the beauty of the Ulun Danu Temple and the beauty that it offered. It took another close to an hour to reach the Jatiluwih Rice Terrace.
As we had already experienced the Tegelalang Rice Terrace, we were already accustomed to the beauty of a rice terrace in Bali. This was the first time we experienced a bit of repetition of spots.
So, on reaching the spot, we got down from the car and interacted with a few locals. In case, if you wish to go inside you can get the tickets which will cost you approx 40,000 IDR (about 3USD)per person. Then we moved to our last spot for the day, which was Alas Kedaton Monkey Forest.
Yeah, you heard it right, a monkey forest. Readers who fear monkeys might now wonder……..
9. What is there to see at the Alas Kedaton Monkey Forest?
It could have been much better had we reached a bit early.
As dusk was already around the corner, our driver drove us really fast to take us to the Alas Kedaton Monkey Forest.
On getting down from the car, we noticed that shops were about to close. We quickly took the tickets from the counter which cost us around 30,000 IDR per adult. Our guide requests one local person to help us explore the place. She politely agreed and helped us explore the place with a stick in her hand.
One strange thing we noticed among the monkeys was all of them seemed to have a moustache like male human beings. We enjoyed looking at them and, at the same time, exploring the place.
Even there was a place where we could click pictures with a fruit-eating bat. It was weird, and for the first time, we saw such a thing.
It was getting a bit dark when we decided to better return to Kuta and explore the local place. We departed from there at close to 6 o’ clock in the evening.
It took us over one hour to reach Kuta as there was a huge queue of vehicles. As soon as we got down from our car close to our stay, we decided to explore some more food options in our locality.
Luckily, we found an Indian restaurant near our stay. We had a lovely dinner with the host joining us in our gossip. It completed a memorable day in Bali. When it was close to 9 o’ clock, we returned to our stay as we had an early morning flight to our next spot, which was on a different island.
If anyone wishes to visit Bali, they can explore the various options available on their site. They provide affordable packages.
If you are planning to visit Australia, you can subscribe to their channel and get to know about their experiences. You will be able to plan on your own.
We are not going anywhere without this last question…….
10. What kind of help are we gonna provide?
Let us inform you that we prepare itineraries not only for anywhere in India but also for Asia. We have been travelling since we were toddlers. So here in our blogs and stories, we will be giving you a glimpse of our journey and also helping you to plan your trip.
Read about our Uzbekistan blogs.
Read about our Kazakhstan blogs.
Read about our Singapore blogs.
Read about our Vietnam blogs.
Read about our Cambodia blogs.
Read about our Bali blogs.
Read about our Kuala Lumpur blog series.
Read about our Sri Lanka blogs.
Read about our Nepal blogs.
Read about our Char Dham blogs.
Read about our Ladakh blogs.
Read about our day trip to Hyderabad.
Read about our Madhya Pradesh blogs.
Read about our Andaman and Nicobar blogs.
Do follow our Instagram handle @mindfulllofvacations and keep an eye out for the next destination story of Bali. For any query related to any trip, drop a mail at @mitkau007@gmail.com.
by mitkau