Bali, the so-called Land of the Gods. Everyone, it seems, wants to go to Bali, the beach island paradise south of Indonesia. It first appeared on the tourist map as one of the three K’s eighties backpackers and surfers jump to around Asia, Kathmandu, Khao San Road, and Kuta—the most famous area on the island province. From what was once a back-country Indonesian island, it quickly rose to fame. And soon, huts were replaced by luxury hotels, and its multitude of age-old temples started to fill up with tourists.

Over the years, the island has evolved to cater to every type of traveler, from backpackers to luxury seekers, making Bali tour packages increasingly popular for those who want a hassle-free experience. Whether you're after cultural immersion, beach hopping, or a mix of both, these curated options can help maximize your time on the island.

I visited Bali a few times the past years, my trips ranging from overnight to a full ten-day beach and temple bonanza. But for the course of this Bali travel guide, I would limit the trip to a single week just to make it simple. A few of those ten-day trips were spent doing nothing anyways, just lazing around the pool and hunting for bargains at the local markets.

Food isn’t really the first thing that comes to mind when one speaks of Bali. What this island paradise south of Indonesia conjures up are images of white sandy beaches filled with skimpily-clad bodies and moss-laden temples perched on cliffs. Bali has become such a popular year-round destination for tourists that modern air-conditioned restaurants and popular fastfood places can be found just about anywhere. But dig deeper through the local eateries they call warung and you just might be surprised to find something unique to eat in Bali.

BALI’S INFAMOUS BABI GULING

Yes, they do serve local dishes on the many fancy restaurants in Bali, but for a more local taste—which is a lot easier on the wallet, by the way—the way to go is to eat where the locals does. Be brave. Go down and dirty, and legitly eat your way through Bali.

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A TYPICAL HAWKER SELLING LUNCH ON A MOTORBIKE

From my observations, Balinese dishes are cut into three categories—rice meals, noodles, and soups. That’s not discounting snacks and desserts, of course. The difference between the food here to the rest in Indonesia is that they do serve pork, Bali being Hindu instead of Muslim. The taste usually gravitates to a mix of salty and mild spiciness with nary a note of sweetness. It’s a tad similar to the food in Malaysia, albeit with the flavor and spiciness toned down in half. Eating in Bali is generally cheap, with a serving at a warung costing at an average of IDR10,000.00 to IDR20,000.00 (USD0.75 to USD1.50)

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Mention Bali and the first things that come to mind are its white sand beaches and the hundreds of ornate temples that dot its landscape. But there’s more to Bali than these, and no, it’s not babi guling—although that porky delight is indeed another aspect of the island worth considering. It’s the traditional Balinese villages that still celebrate the way life was on the island before hordes of tourists started invading this paradise.

COLORFUL TRADITIONAL WOODEN MASKS BEING SOLD ON THE VILLAGES

During the course of my visits to Bali, I’ve visited only two of these so-called Bali traditional villages. There are more, like the Trunyan Village which has the custom of leaving their deceased above ground, a cloth and bamboo canopy its only cover, to the more famous jewelry-making village of Celuk and the culturally rich and more touristy Batubulan Village in Gianyar.

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How many beaches are there in Bali? That was the thought that was running through my mind as we savored our last sunset on the island, pastels painting the lower part of the horizon as surfers glide through the curling waves. We’ve just spent almost two weeks on the island, exploring the temples of Bali and waterfalls of Bali, and of course, its beaches. We’ve seen quite a lot, swimming on a few and wishing we actually know how to surf.

When was the last time you’ve actually stayed and slept on a palace? When was my last? Well, never, of course. I have never slept on a palace before like the rest of the proletariat. But checking in at Ubud’s Puri Saraswati Bungalows, I’m finally getting to sleep on one. And it’s not just any palace, it’s one with a history too.

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PURA SARASWATI BUNGALOWS’ OPULENT VERANDA

I actually have zero inkling that Puri Saraswati Bungalows is part of Ubud’s Puri Saren Agung, a royal palace built during the 1800’s in the heart of Bali, until reading their in-room menu while munching on a Tim Tam chocolate bar on our room’s very Balinese veranda. It turns out that that the ground we’re standing on used to be the playground for the children’s royalty before it was converted into bungalows which then served as residence to the royal family.

Wow. Just, wow, I said to myself as I reached for another bar of chocolates.

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THE ROYAL PALACE OF UBUD

The bungalows were then opened to the public for lodging in the mid-seventies, with the exception of a few where three generations of Ubud royalties still live up to this day.

ONE OF THE KORI AGUNG GATES INSIDE THE ROYAL PALACE

As I was munching on the last of my friend’s Tim Tams (okay, they’re not really mine but he left them on our table), a lady in full Balinese regalia passed and smiled at me. A princess? I thought, as I tried my very best sawasdee krab. I found her the next morning serving us Balinese pancakes on the open-air pavilion in front of our bungalows.

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THE RESORT IS A MAZE OF GARDENS

We were supposed to stay on a hostel too far away from the center of Ubud downtown when a few of our friends from Manila decided on a whim to drop by Bali for the weekend—we have rich friends like that. Planning the night before to surprise mine and C’s mom, we transferred to Puri Saraswati Bungalows making up lame excuses that they thankfully believed before being greeted in surprise by our friends in the lobby of our new lodging.

THE BUNGALOWS, WE STAYED ON FOUR OF THESE

The royal resort has a total of fifteen bungalows and we occupied four of those, our friends indeed has lots of moolah but the nightly rates at Puri Saraswati Bungalows are unbelievably affordable. Really, like half the price of regular hotels in Manila.

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THE ROOMS LOOK BEAUTIFUL IN A DATED KIND OF WAY

Considering the spaciousness of our room, its authenticity—you just have to see the intricate gilded double-door to each of our bungalows—and its lush garden setting, it’s definitely a steal.

THE LOTUS TEMPLE AT NIGHT

But there’s more. Its location is supreme. It’s right in the middle of downtown Ubud, a few minutes’ walk away from two of the best babi guling restaurants on the island, two minutes away from the shopping haven that is Ubud Market, a stone’s throw away from the Royal Palace proper, and right next door to the Bali Lotus Temple. In fact, we were able to enter the inner courtyard of the temple, something most tourists in Bali are not able to, since there’s a private entrance right on the grounds of Puri Saraswati. Definitely sweet.

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TWILIGHT AT THE PURA SARASWATI BUNGALOWS

We were definitely rarin’ to stay longer and chance upon a gamelan and dance performance on the Lotus Temple, a weekly spectacle, but our friends came on our last day in Ubud and we’re transferring to Kuta the next day. Oh well, sleeping like a royalty, it was fun while it lasted.

Puri Saraswati Bungalows ►RATES
Address: 14 Jalan Raya Ubud, Ubud, Gianyar, Bali, Indonesia
Contact Number: +62 (361) 975-164
Email: info@purisaraswatiubud.com
GPS Map: -8.5060787,115.2588963

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Bali, the Land of the Gods. Separated from mainland Indonesia, this island paradise has a belief unique from the rest of the country, practicing Hinduism instead of Islam. With it comes temples, lots of them, sacred grounds carved on mountainsides, built over lakes, and standing over cliffs, all dedicated to their faith’s gods. And they literally have millions of gods, thirty three million to be exact.

HINDU IMAGERIES ON BALINESE TEMPLES

Imagine how hard it was for us, unfamiliar with Hinduism, to choose which temples to visit—each Balinese village having no less than three temples on their soil. We consulted guidebooks and read about Sad Kahyangan, the six cardinal temples of Bali, the holiest and most revered pura or temples in the whole of the island. But not all of these are easily accessible, being located on the heart and perimeters of Bali, and this island is huge.

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Bali is known for its white sandy beaches and intricate Hindu temples, but since we’ve seen all that during our prior trips to the island, we thought of seeking other places to visit this time around. Browsing through Instagram, we found that Bali also has more than a few waterfalls up its sleeve.

The pool opened up from our room, sky blue and gurgling, with stone frog sculptures pouring water onto its placid surface. Dropping two stories below, the infinity pool overlooks handsome Balinese villas, and further away, a terraced landscape of verdant rice paddies being lorded over by Mount Agung—one of Bali’s prominent volcanoes. Everything was just saying, hello there, welcome back to Bali.

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TRAVELING TO BALI WITH OUR MOMS

It was our third time in Bali. The first one was several years back, on our first ever two-month backpacking trip, the epic ASEAN Summer Loop. We went back the second time as part of Indonesia’s Trip of Wonders, albeit very briefly. Now, we’re here for a much longer time—as if our first trip which lasted eight days wasn’t long enough—we’re staying for eleven days, and we’ve even got our moms in tow!

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SERES SPRINGS RESORT, OUR HOME FOR THREE DAYS IN UBUD

VERY BALINESE LOBBY

From the airport, we were fetched by Putu from Bali Golden Tour, our go to guys when it comes to tours on the island. We went straight to Ubud, Bali’s so-called cultural heart. But we weren’t gonna hit the ground running, we planned to take everything slow. In fact, we’re gonna do nothing but stay and relax on our chosen hotel for our first three days here. And SereS Springs Resort was just the perfect place for our Balinese staycation.

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THE VIEW FROM OUR ROOM, BALI’S RICE TERRACES AND MOUNT AGUNG

SereS Springs Resort & Spa, a five-star accommodation, is nestled in Singakerta—a quieter part of Ubud—away from the busy happenings of its main arteries. Going to the busy part of town isn’t a problem though since the resort offers free transfers twice daily to their sister resort, Sens Hotel Ubud, which is located downtown.

SERES RESORT’S PREMIUM ROOM

SereS Resort is a fairly new resort in Bali, having opened only in October of 2017. The name derives from the Latin word silk and also denotes Xinjiang, an area located on the northwestern part of China where silk is produced. Billeted at the resort’s Premium Rooms—one for our moms and another for us—we’re staying here for a total of three days.

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OUR BALCONY HAS A TUB

Our room is located on the second floor, with a balcony overlooking the pool below. The view, which you can enjoy while soaking up on their outdoor ofuro soaking tubs, extends towards a terraced rice fields similar to the Banaue Rice Terraces, in the Philippines, albeit on a lesser scale. The décor is modern with touches of Balinese art here and there.

COMFORTABLE WORKSTATION

The bed, beautifully framed by glass etching along the headboard, is super comfortable. Off its foot is a divan, which we decided to move on the left side of the bed since we found it to be a bit of a hindrance when moving about. A loveseat sits on one corner of the room and opposite it is a workstation.

BALI ROBUSTA COFFEE

The usual flatscreen cable television, mini-fridge, electronic safe, and tea and coffee-making facility is present. What’s different about it though is the coffee that they supply to guests, it’s not just any other coffee, but local Bali robusta. I like local touches like that.

BALINESE INTERIORS

Another thing I like is the number of well-designed closets and drawers in the room. It just makes everything much tidier. I don’t like bags and clothes strewn about all over the room, I’m OC like that.

VERY COMFORTABLE BED

The toilet and bath is set near the entrance with walls made of glass. These types of baths are made for couples, but if you’re not sharing a room with your paramour, it has a curtain you can draw for privacy.

CAFE DAR SINI AND LOUNGE

Since we decided to coop up at SereS Resort for the duration of our stay, we were able to try most of the dishes on their menu. The resort has two dining halls, Mulberry Place, which is the main one, and Cafe Dar Sini & Lounge, which is more for drinks. We exclusively ate on the former.

MULBERRY PLACE IN-HOUSE RESTAURANT

The restaurant offers both Indonesian and Western cuisine. While we dined mostly on local food for our first few meals—sate platters, nasi goreng mawut (fried rice with chicken, satay, and shrimp), mie goreng campur (mixed fried noodles with chicken and shrimp), soto ayam (chicken noodles soup), we eventually tried their salads, pizzas and burgers later on.

COMPLIMENTARY BUFFET BREAKFAST

NASI GORENG MAWUT

HAWAIIAN PIZZA

MIE GORENG CAMPUR

My favorite is, of course, their mie goreng, even though it’s not as spicy as the Malaysian version of this dish. The fact that it comes with a serving huge shrimps and kropuk is a bonus. We weren’t that impressed with their burger but their pizza is quite good.

THE SPRING POOL BESIDE WOS RIVER

WELL-EQUIPED GYM

Don’t think of us as sloths, we didn’t really just laze around during our whole stay in SereS. When we’re not swimming on the two infinity pools or eating, we’re exploring the property. The resort sits right beside the Wos River, and right by its edges, about six meters above the water is a sacred natural pool. It’s just one of the twenty three pools in the properties—though most of which are on the private villas. Besides these, SereS also has a gym, kids playroom, yoga halls, and conference rooms.

EARLY EVENING AT SERES

Indeed, our stay in SereS Spring Resort was three full days of nothing but relaxation. Now it’s time to actually work our muscles, move, and explore Bali!

~ OUR GRATITUE TO SERES SPRINGS RESORT FOR HOSTING OUR STAY IN UBUD. VIEWS AND OPINIONS ALL MINE.

SereS Springs Resort & Spa ►RATES
Address: No.9 Jalan Taman Ganesha, Banjar Jukut Paku, Singakerta, Ubud, Bali, Indonesia
Contact Number: (+62) 361 301-2222  
GPS Coordinates Map: -8.5387887,115.2509613

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Summer’s here again! For most, it’s that time of the year when we don our swimwear and head over to the beach. For us though, this means another two months of traveling non-stop wherever our feet—or more precisely, the seat sales—lead us. This time, we’re doing things a bit differently. Instead of airline promos dictating where we’re going, we’ll actually decide our destination.

Waves crashed on the shore of Seminyak Beach, booming, one after another, unmindful of the people swimming on its waters, unmindful of the big ball of fire, setting poetically behind it. The whole beach was bathed in a fiery orange light, a last hurrah for the day that’s soon gonna end. It mirrored exactly what we were feeling, at the sunset deck of Alila Seminyak, glasses of cocktails in hand. It was a melancholic farewell to the twelve days we’ve spent around Indonesia, with old and new friends alike.

SUNSET AT SEMINYAK BEACH

It was the last day of Indonesia’s Trip of Wonders tour. We started off in Jakarta, passing through Bandung, Lombok, Jogjakarta, Flores and finally, Bali. Unlike our previous stops, we have absolutely no itinerary here. What we were here for was to rest and party, celebrating the adventure-filled days that went by. And our chosen chill-out place, Alila Seminyak.

“That beach can’t really be as pink as that.”  I told W, as I was browsing through Komodo Island’s Pink Beach on his Instagram account. A few days later, we docked on that same beach. And I couldn’t believe my eyes. I was bowled over. Its sand was even more pink as the photo I was shown.

ABOVE AND BELOW INDONESIA’S KOMODO NATIONAL PARK

Besides komodo dragons, the largest lizard on the planet and a living Jurassic creature at that, the Komodo National Park also boasts of beautiful beaches and extensive underwater gardens fit for snorkeling and diving. The three we visited, much as I wouldn’t want to admit it, can go head to head with the best that the Philippines has to offer when it comes to beaches.

My throat was parched and my breathing, ragged. I trudged, unwillingly, for a few more steps uphill before I turned my back. The view blossomed like a flower right before my eyes; four coves ringed with white beaches, cradling jade green waters within its embrace. Dividing them, a range of craggy peaks rose into a falsetto, their surfaces a grassland of dried bushes, golden brown against the lively greens of the sea, dotted with notes of green trees here and there. I took in the fresh breeze, breathing it fully, savoring its fresh salty taste before letting Padar Island’s panorama take it all away again.