Choosing the pictures that I wanted to include in this post, has definitely taken a while. From an original album of about 850 pictures, I have now narrowed it down to 12 pictures that actually made the cut.
During my trip to Bali, I stayed in four different locations in Uluwatu, Ubud, and Canggu. So in this post, I will talk about what I did in the different areas and all the places I loved on this absolutely remarkable island.
ULUWATU
When you are looking for the most beautiful beaches, you definitely need to go to Uluwatu, in the southern part of Bali. As you can see in this picture of Nyang Nyang Beach, it is endless and completely empty. Since it was a bit outside of Uluwatu centre, we needed to rent a scooter to get there, but it was lovely to spend a few hours on the beach by ourselves after visiting Thomas Beach and Blue Point Beach the days before, which were both also absolutely breathtaking but way busier than this one.
During our time in Uluwatu, we stayed at an AirBnB at D’Padang, which was the ideal location for us. Beautiful breakfast spots, cafés, restaurants, and amazing beaches were only a short walk away. We only ever took the scooter to go to Uluwatu Temple or beaches that were a little further away. The picture above shows a street sign we saw on the side of the road on our way to breakfast and it perfectly depicts how beautiful and colourful the area of Uluwatu is at pretty much every corner.
If you stay in Bali for a while and have some free time to spare, I can only recommend you to take a few hours off of sightseeing and your action-filled itineraries to just lie down for a while, relax at one of the countless beaches, and take in the beauty of Bali.
UBUD
If you travel for long enough, you will eventually get to a point where things do not go to plan. We reached that point when we got to Ubud. A region that, in comparison to some of the more western-influenced parts of Bali, still feels very original. There, you can find multiple temples, waterfalls, and beautiful rice fields.
The morning after we got there, both of us woke up with what is called “Bali Belly”. It is so common that tourists get food poisoning when visiting Bali, that they even gave it its own nickname – wonderful… Of course, we needed to get the full Bali experience and were not spared of the bad parts. Luckily, the sickness did not last too long, and were were able to extend our stay in Ubud so we could at least experience the area on our last day there.
Our trusted Bali Tour Guide Putu took us to beautiful rice fields and the Ubud Water Temple. Another clear recommendation of mine! I did not include any pictures of the temple to respect the people who were praying and washing themselves in the water but it was so wonderful to experience that part of the culture.
Our day continued with a coffee and tea tasting. We had the opportunity to try Kopi Luwak. The processing might sound questionable at first but the taste is really good and unlike any other coffee I have ever tasted before, so if you get the chance – try it!
“Kopi Luwak is Indonesian coffee that is made from partially digested coffee beans eaten and defecated by a civet. […] The steep cost [hundreds of dollars per pound] is a direct result from the drawn-out process of the cultivation of Kopi Luwak beans, unlike other coffee beans. This bean is defined by its processing. First a civet will actually cherry pick the beans and once consumed, the beans pass through the intestines and ferment. Due to the presence of digestive enzymes in the civet digestive tract, proteins inherent to the bean are broken down. These processes are believed to add to the overall flavor profile and are therefore necessary for the production of authentic Kopi Luwak.”
We finished our Ubud exploration with a waterfall tour through the jungle. We visited Suwat and Kanto Lampo Waterfalls. While Suwat Waterfall was very quiet without many people there, Kanto Lampo was the direct opposite. You had to wait in line in the water to get the chance to take some photos but the tour guides there were incredible and took the craziest photos of you (that are not shown here because I don’t see spicy bikini photos in a waterfall as a part of this blog but trust me, they are amazing :D)
CANGGU
For the final part of our trip, we came to Canggu – probably the most touristy region of Bali. Since we only had a few days left before my friend needed to fly back, we treated ourselves to an unbelievable apartment. Waking up and seeing Bali’s rice fields right outside your window? Ugh, how I miss it!
This sunset dinner at Skool Kitchen was one of the best dinner experiences I have had so far. Everything was just. perfect. The restaurant sits on top of one of Canggu’s most famous beach clubs and the culinary experience is worth every single penny. For Bali standards, the prices were relatively high, but compared to European prices? Here, you definitely would not have been able to get such a qualitative three course menu for nearly the same price.
As you might have noticed by now, food played a major role for us 😀 We spent a month on the hunt for the best avocado toast in Bali – and we found it! Sister Fields in Seminyak is THE place to go if you are a breakfast lover! And if you enjoy wellness, I have had the best massage of my life right across the street, at Spring Spa. A full body massage, followed by a foot massage and a rose quartz facial – if this doesn’t sound like the absolute 2,5hr treatment of dreams, then I don’t know what does.
When my friend flew back home and I had another week to spend by myself, I often started the morning with a Pilates session at Revive & Pilates in Canggu. You could book a 7-day-unlimited-pass for their classes and beach club which was perfect for me. I lived right around the corner, so in the morning, I went to pilates, then got breakfast and took a shower, before heading over to the beachclub where I spent the rest of the day.
After doing plenty of exploring over the first few weeks, I was happy to spend those last days just relaxing, not doing too much but enjoying the weather, the beaches, and all the great food of course.
For a whole month of travelling, this blog post was just a very condensed recap of what happened. So if you would like to see some more of my time in Bali, head over to my instagram and check out the story highlight with all the details of the trip!
Jessica Schütze 
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