Are you ready for one last unforgettable adventure in Bali? Or do you think we are done with our Bali tour? If you feel confused, you have arrived at the right place. We know you all are as excited as we are to hear about our experience and, at the same time, help you all with your itinerary. If you don’t know who we are………
We call ourselves Travel Freaks…….
Let’s begin with the theme of this blog……..
1. Is East Bali the same as other parts of Bali?
Well, it’s not that easy to compare. This island is indeed different from any part of the world. Every place seems to portray a dreamland.
East Bali has some stunning beaches, ancient temples, and waterfalls that nature enthusiasts might find more appealing than other parts of the Island. However, everything is subjective.
In our case, we had a lovely experience exploring this part.
Without increasing your curiosity, let’s answer this……..
2. When did we land in Bali (Indonesia)?
Click here to read about how we landed in Bali (Indonesia).
For a quick recap, we already explored the North, 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 and, at the same time, use it to plan your own itinerary.
Additionally, we also had a great experience on Java Island, where we explored the largest Buddhist Temple and the second largest Hindu Temple.
Coming back to our story where we left off in our last blog, we were still in Java Island, Yogyakarta Region. Our flight from the Yogyakarta International Airport was at 7:50 AM in the morning. We had to depart from our stay by at least 4:30 AM so as to reach the Airport within the scheduled two hours before departure.
Our guide, Mr. Yudi, was quite punctual; he arrived sharp at 4:30 AM and reached the departure terminal well within 5:30 AM. With heavy hearts, we had to bid him goodbye, and the best part of him was that he cooked doughnuts for us. It tasted amazing and something we would never forget in our lifetime.
We landed in Bali at 10:10 AM. Our guide in Bali Island, Mr. Dewa, was waiting eagerly for us with a warm welcome again. Indeed, for the first time, we felt we returned home.
Yes, we know now. Maybe you are thinking………
3. Where were we heading to first in East Bali?
We started from the Bali Airport by close to 11 o’ clock. It was close to afternoon, we were also hungry at the same time. Our guide informed us that we were heading to Tirta Gangga Water Palace.
There was traffic on the way, and it took us over two hours to reach the spot. As we were hungry, we thought of having lunch first and then exploring the temple. The lunch place was hardly 100 metres from the temple.
The lunch place was absolutely fantastic, we loved it. There was a pool within the restaurant, and there were many antique statues that could be spotted. As already mentioned, we enjoyed each and every lunch place that our guide took us.
Now you might be curious about………..
4. How was the experience at the Tirta Gangga Water Palace?
Don’t get confused with Tirta Empul; Tirta Gangga is a completely different temple with its own vibe.
As we were about to enter the temple, we saw a man with a huge yellow snake sitting. He tried convincing fellow tourists to rent his snake for clicking pictures.
Our guide handed us the entrance tickets cost approximately 3.5 USD per person. As we entered, there were many tourists; some were trying to capture the scenic beauty, some were feeding the fish, and some were dancing the traditional Balinese dance with the dancers.
As we were lost in enjoying the local Balinese dance, the dancers requested us to join them. After a bit of hesitation, we joined them. It was a memorable moment for us.
After grasping for some breath, we explored the place. Tried to capture the beauty of the place in our snaps.
There was a pool where stones were there; you needed to stand on them carefully, and then you could feed the fish. We quickly purchased a packet of their food and fed them.
This place appealed to us, and we spent over one and a half hours before we decided to proceed to the next destination of East Bali, Lempuyang Heaven Gate.
We know you might have been confused about……
5. Is Lempuyang Heaven Gate the same as the Handara Gate we shared earlier?
Well, the answer is a big Nooooo……
Lempyang Heaven Gate is one of the most popular Instagramable spots in Eastern Bali. We were pretty excited to witness this place. Within an hour of Tirta Gangga Water Palace, we reached the site.
Out of excitement, we jumped out of the car. However, to our utter shock, we noticed a long queue of vehicles in the parking lot. Our guide informed us that entering the premises would take another three to four hours before we could take pics in front of the gate.
Lempuyang Heaven Gate has a volcano in the background. The weather had to be clear if you wish to take good pictures. Unfortunately, it was close to 3 o’clock in the afternoon. We thought it would be late evening when our turn to click pictures would come. Most importantly, we had our early morning flight home the next day.
We would suggest our readers arrive at this place early in the morning to get an early opportunity to click pictures. The ticket cost is around 50,000 IDR. Yes, of course weather has got to be precise. Unfortunately, this is not in our hands.
With gloomy faces, we got back in our car to head to one last waterfall.
Yeah, you heard it right.
6. How was the experience of the waterfall?
We were heading to Tegenungan Waterfall. This place was again another one-and-a-half-hour drive from the parking of the Lempuyang Heaven Gate. We felt, for the first time, that we were travelling a lot in Bali, more than the time spent for a specific spot.
You might notice that the distance between the main tourist attractions in East Bali is a bit far away from each other. So you might have to plan accordingly to start early.
Finally, we reached after having a short nap in the car. We got down and our guide purchased the entrance ticket that cost around 15,000 IDR (around 1 USD). A person was sitting at the entrance for stamping on the wrist. It was cool, though.
There were many souvenir shops on both sides of the road leading to the entrance and few restaurants were there too. Indeed the place was beautiful.
The place was ideal for partygoers as we could hear Electronic Dance Music (EDM) from a short distance. There was a pool where some party was going on.
There was stairs that took us around 15-20 minutes to reach close to the waterfall. Of course, we went down hurriedly in order to spend some time as dusk was round the corner.
The ambience was something we cannot describe in words and after spending over an hour, we realised our trip to Bali was about to end with this spot.
We could have opted for a few other places. However, we had an early morning flight the next day, so thought better to return to our stay at Kuta. It took us around one hour to get to our stay.
In the mid-way, we halted at a money exchanger to change our currency. Before entering our stay, we stopped at an Indian Restaurant that served us some delicious food.
Given that we covered East Bali, you might wonder……
7. Apart from the ones mentioned, aren’t there any other tourist spots in East Bali?
The answer is a big Yes. There are many spots.
There is a stunning beach in Padangbai. Sunrise at Amed Beach is also quite popular. Mount Agung, the highest peak in is the Bali Island is also located in East Bali. There is also a waterfall named Tukad Cepung.
You need to understand your requirement and your time schedule before putting anything into your itinerary. Yes, of course we can help you out plan your itinerary. Just reach out to us.
Okay so you might be curious about…..
8. How was the final goodbye to Bali?
Our very own guide, Mr. Dewa came sharp at 4 o’ clock in the morning as we had our flight to India. Yes there was a layover at Kuala Lumpur Airport.
One thing amazed us was that the manager of our stay came to bid us good bye even in the early hours and helped us load with our luggage. The gesture was amazing and something to learn. In fact our guide was emotional when he dropped us at the Airport.
Bali is indeed an experience of a lifetime. Everything seemed to be so fresh that it felt like yesterday we were there.
Hopefully, we gave you a glimpse of Bali in this blog series, and we can help you plan yours too.
If anyone wishes to visit Bali, they can click here and 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.
One last thing before we sign out……
9. 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 a new place. For any query related to any trip, drop a mail at @mitkau007@gmail.com.
by mitkau