8 Days in Indonesia: Bali & Gili Air

Indonesia is incredibly diverse, massive and has so much to offer—here’s our take on just a few of its many islands! We spent the majority of our time in Bali, which proved to be a great mix of western amenities and “cultural experiences.” My family was visiting and they had never been to SE Asia (which can be overwhelming!), so we chose Bali—and it proved to be a great entry point for American tourists, especially if you’re a little apprehensive about culture shock and getting around. Here's an 8 day itinerary! Day 1: Walking Around Ubud

We arrived late the night before and transferred straight to Ubud, the cultural center of Bali. Since we were headed to the Gili Islands later, we opted to skip the touristy beaches on Bali, but I hear from friends that Kuta and the like are incredibly fun if that is more up your alley. Ubud is nearly two hours from the Denpasar airport (the only airport) but our hotel offered a transfer service that made it very easy.

11am: Fight the Jet Lag and Try Indonesian Brunch

Since I live in SE Asia, I was headed straight for nachos and sushi (there is TONS of western food available!) but on Monkey Forest Road and beyond, there are innumerable cute restaurants and shops to visit. Try mee goreng (fried noodles), nasi goreng (fried rice) or satay (grilled chicken or pork skewers with peanut sauce) for a simple first try at Indonesian cuisine! 1pm: The Sacred Monkey Forest

I am terrified of monkeys, and even I loved this stop. Before you reach the forest at the bend of Monkey Forest Road, you’ll begin to see scruffy-faced monkeys peering out of trashcans or perched on signs. The monkeys are well taken care of and given pretty much free reign on the beautiful grounds of the sanctuary (and it is beautiful with hanging vines, a river walk and viridescent leaves overhead!). The monkeys do have free reign so they can and will run right up to you and try to snatch your things or climb on to you! You can purchase bananas to feed them and my sister did decide too, but even without them a very friendly monkey spent a good bit of time clinging to my father and I (actually was quite sweet, if terrifying?).

There is a temple on the grounds so I would recommend dressing conservatively to enter. My sister was very unhappy with me for making her pack and wear conservative clothes once she caught sight of all the tourists dressed by extremely western standards, but I do think it is best to lean conservatively since I have been turned away from temples other places in SE Asia for wearing leggings etc. It is also just more respectful of religious and cultural places, even if you can get away with it, and may make you feel more comfortable when interacting with the people that live in the places you’re visiting.

I would also recommend tying your hair back and keeping lose hanging objects close to your body, as the monkeys loved to grab them!! The entrance fee was 1.50 USD (GO, we spent over two hours there!). 4pm: Ubud Palace and Market

A short 10 minute walk down the same main road takes you to the palace. It was under construction when we visited, but still beautiful! The market is also worth visiting if you want to purchase souvenirs, but my family was definitely overwhelmed by the pushiness of the vendors. The shops are reasonably priced all around the area and will have a little more set prices, though I bargained there as well. 5pm: Happy Hour

Maybe it’s Malaysian lack of access to alcohol talking, but Ubud felt like a happy hour heaven. Places all along Monkey Forest Road had all kinds of specials, though it can be difficult to order something specific you like in the states. If you are coming to Bali from the States, you will be shocked by how cheap dinner and drinks are in comparison to their equivalent in the US (as my dad commented again and again!). 7:30pm: See a Traditional Dance Show

One of the things that fascinated me while in Indonesia was the intersection of religion and culture—culturally Indonesia and Malaysia are extremely similar (language, food, elements of dress) but differ as Bali is primarily Hindu and my area of Malaysia is 98% Muslim. (However, Indonesia as a whole is also an Islamic country.) Seeing this show was beautiful and interesting since I had seen gamelan shows in Malaysia, but the dancing accompanying was so different!

The dance company we chose to go with trains young Balinese students in traditional music—gamelan has a harsh tin sound as the instruments are bell-like percussion—and dance. The dance (even with their eyes!) was so beautiful and the costumes elaborate and gorgeous. My family was exhausted by this point, so it was a good seated evening activity. Day 2: Private Tour of Sights Around Bali

Again, my budget for this trip was based on my parents—but you would be shocked by how affordable hiring a car or taking a private tour is in Bali! (The island certainly gets you to think about the tourism industry and your feelings towards it) For 100 USD my family of four spent the entire day with an amazing tour guide and visited all of these sights. If you are on a tighter budget, I have had friends rent motorbikes from Ubud with great success to get around! My family was floored by the driving in Bali: like Malaysia, the traffic laws (and people driving) are more relaxed and weaving in and out between cows, produce being transported and motorbikes with a full family on board is pretty normal, so prepare for that kind of driving before renting a car or motorbike.

I booked the tour before we arrived online through Viatour, which is very reliable. Our tour was through Bali Sun Tours, which I highly recommend! 10am: Ulan Danu Temple – The “Water Temple”

This temple was built in 1663 and is dedicated to the Balinese water, lake and river goddess named Dewi Danu. It was beautiful in the morning since it’s against the backdrop of the Beratan lake! 11:15am: Gitgit Waterfall

It’s a bit of a hike down to the base of the waterfall and back up, but the path is paved and lined with souvenir venders. Once there, it is a spectacular 40 meter cascade!! (And a UNESCO World Heritage Site) 1:00pm: Jatiluwih Rice Terrace

My mother’s favorite place in all of Bali! It really is stunning// verdant, and worth going to see. Having lunch here was nice since it makes a lovely backdrop; you can’t walk down into the terraces since they are actively harvested. The expanse of paddies is a UNESCO World Heritage Site as well!

2:45pm: Visit a Coffee and Tea Plantation

It had just rained so all the leaves were so green and lovely! You can see the fields, watch the roasting and grinding processes and sit down to taste test all the different tea and coffee flavors—my favorite part of the day (all kinds of flavors!). You have to pay a bit more to taste the infamous Luwak Coffee…but I’d say it was worth the 4 dollars or so. The coffee beans of this particular coffee are eaten by “palm civets” (these wild adorable cat/ferret animals), partially fermented in their little bellies and then the beans from “the forest floor” are used to make the coffee! A cat-poo-ccino if you will :P

Then you can buy the coffee as “unique” souvenirs! 4pm: Taman Ayun Temple

The “most holy” of the temples we saw in this tour, this temple is also worth a visit. From the Mengwi empire, it’s a pretty large complex with layered towers and, as always, ornate carvings and designs! Balinese architecture and art have an aggressiveness to them, with features so stylized theyre almost grotesque.

6pm: Dinner

There are so many restaurants to try on Monkey Forest Road! (Where you can get Balinese Seafood and ribs all in one place.) I definitely recommend staying in this area for the best access to shops, restaurants and the tourist sites in the city of Ubud itself. Head to bed early to prepare for a sunrise hike! Day 3: Mount Batur or Museums 2am: Sunrise Trek up Mount Batur

We actually split up on day three. I unfortunately (big surprise) had bronchitis so I was unable to do the sunrise trek up Mount Batur, so my father went with my sister instead! To be at the peak of the active volcano in time to watch the sunrise, you have to be picked up from your hotel in Ubud around 2am. We booked the tour once we arrived, only the day before, which was pretty normal since the tour is popular and there are a lot of tour companies operating. Expect to pay 25 USD, or much more if you want a more private tour. But when they say strenuous, they mean STRENUOUS. My father was hilarious talking about how insanely difficult the tour was and how it about killed him—but it is really not safe to go on the trek if you are not “physically fit,” since it is dark, steep and gravelly/loose underfoot! I would not recommend going if you do not hike or run regularly, even if the tour companies say it’s okay. HOWEVER, my sister's pictures were gorgeous, so definitely go to be above the clouds as the sunrises!! I love sunrise hikes, and they are often the most memorable mornings of trips:) They also enjoyed hanging out with the monkeys at the summit, and the tours often include stops to coffee shops or breakfast as well. 10am: Agung Rai Musuem of Art

If you aren’t up for a trek/ that wake up call, I recommend brunch and the Agung Rai Museum of Art! It’s walking distance from Monkey Forest Road, and is a huge complex of buildings separated by beautiful gardens. My mother and I loved wandering around in the quiet exhibits—both ancient and modern Balinese art!! You also get free coffee and they have traditional dance shows you can use you ticket to return and watch in the evenings. At 80,000 IDR to enter, so about 6 USD. 1:00pm: Spa Day

My father was pretty sore coming back from the trek of a lifetime, so he joined all the girls for a spa day! We are not really spa-goers in the states, but it is so much less expensive in Asian countries—like 20 USD for a three hour massage/facial/hair treatment extravaganza. There are even cheaper places for sure (like 5 USD or less), but you may be in chairs close to other people or next to windows visible to people walking by. We went the more expensive (but super reasonable??) option at Song Spa (again on that main road) and I definitely recommend it! Treat yourself. Day 4: Balinese Cooking Class

8am: Get picked up by your cooking class tour. We booked this once we were in Ubud as well, which gave us a chance to get our bearings and decide when the best time was for us. We went with Periuk Bali Cooking Class, which I highly recommend! It included a trip to the market, and the kitchen where we actually cooked was incredibly nice.

My family really enjoyed learning what all went into the food we had been eating all week, and some of the dishes really are fun—flipping the “pancake” parts of quay, crushing the sambal with a grinder, skewering the satay, wrapping the fish in banana leaves—and you definitely get to do a lot since so many ingredients go into the complex sauces.

It was around 100USD for us to all go! 1pm: Ride a Motorbike

I can vouch for Balinese hospitals—(don’t be too alarmed, “hospital” can mean just a clinic in Asia—since my sister ended up with a wicked spider bite. Our hotel was nice enough to give my sister and dad a lift to the hospital—which meant they got to ride one of the 5 million motorbikes on the move in Bali! They enjoyed the experience (and her medicine was great and she was just fine!). 1:30pm: Take a Yoga Class

My mother and I set out to take a yoga class in one of the yoga/meditation retreat complexes in Ubud, of which there are many. We chose the Yoga Barn since it was within walking distance and our hotel had a copy of their schedule. We walked up and paid for the beginner class there for around 10 USD. It was a pretty strange class (not going to lie) but cool to say we did yoga in Bali! It was great for beginners, so I would recommend trying it out even if you aren’t a yoga person at home. 4pm: Sunset Tour of Tanah Lot

We booked this day of as well—you will be asked pretty constantly if you need a taxi as you are walking around Ubud. We did decide to hire a taxi to get to Tanah Lot, the famous temple by the ocean on Bali’s coast for 40 USD.

You could definitely get there cheaper on a motorbike, but to have a private car and be there the amount of time we wanted to, the price was pretty great. The temple was lovely and the sunset over the beach and reflective pools of water was beautiful! Day 5: Ferry to Gili Air

There are LOTS of horror stories on the internet about ferry boats in SE Asia, and while I have never experienced a real one, there are certainly questionable safety standards pretty often. So, I booked the absolute most expensive and reliable ferry—BlueWater Express—which had us at 50 USD each, roundtrip.

It wasn’t that much nicer than other options, but they also picked us up from our hotel and took us all the way to the ferry and to the airport on the way back, so I was happy with the price.

There are 3 Gili islands-- Gili Trawangan, Gili Meno and Gili Air. Gili T is the biggest and has a backpacker area, but we went with Gili Air for the most idyllic experience since no motorized transportation is allowed and it is literally just blue water and white sand.

We stayed at Sunrise Gili Resort, which I recommend highly! It was extremely nice and right on both the beach and the main path to walk around the island. The dirt road is soft, so you may want to hire a horse-pulled cart to help you carry your luggage to and from your hotel, but otherwise it is all great on foot. Days 6-8: Enjoy the Beach, Go for a Dive

We experienced an unexpected major death in our family on this day in our trip, but were unable to move our plane tickets any further up (having moved them up already earlier in our trip to the soonest available day) so we were stuck on the island. Of all the places to process grief and be stuck away from your extended family, Gili Air was nice in how quiet and beautiful it is. The restaurants are nice and walkable distance, and the white sand and blue water, looking out on the mountains of Lombok are really lovely.

My father had completed his dive training at home, and we had arranged before we arrived for him to complete his certification with DreamDivers, who we definitely recommend. Since we had already paid, he and my sister went ahead and dove with them, and I joined them the second day. My mother snorkeled as well!

Dive trips, or snorkeling if you aren’t certified, are a great way to see the other islands and get up close to the BEAUTIFUL wildlife in this part of the world! The colorful coral in Malaysia and Indonesia rival the Great Barrier Reef in my eyes. Diving (and getting certified to dive) is also infinitely less expensive in SE Asia than in the states, so if you’re interested, go for it!

Returning to the US was not how I expected this trip to end and we will certainly remember the trip sadly for more than just the wonderful things we got to see—but it really was a lovely family trip. My family did not make it to my temporary home in Malaysia, but Bali and Gili Air offered a peek into SE Asia and its culture, and we were able to do so many cool things in the few days they were here! I definitely recommend Bali to travelers heading out of western countries for the first time, or anyone interested in religion, delicious food and beautiful nature!