Bali 4-day DIY itinerary: Ubud and Seminyak tour
October 2, 2018
For our first day in Bali, we wanted to explore the beautiful Ubud – well-known for its temples as well as its rice terraces (although nothing beats Banawe Rice Terraces!). We took the Cebu Pacific flight, which landed in Bali at 8AM. Red-eye flights are the WORST, because you never really feel fully rested… However, if you’re short on time, then taking a red-eye flight will allow you to still enjoy the wonders of Bali for a full day!
Enough talking, let’s get on to the actual tour shall we?
Table of contents
Tour guide for the day
Before we start, let me mention that I booked a tour guide/driver for the day in advance (Whatsapp’d him ~2 weeks before we went to Bali). The rates we agreed upon for a typical 6-seater van (think Avanza) is IDR 450k (for 8 hrs), then additional IDR 50k for every additional hour. If you want a bigger car (e.g., that can sit 8 pax), then the running rate will start at IDR 800k
Personal recommendation: Kadek (+62 878 6183 9135). He responds super fast via Whatsapp, and is super friendly and knowledgeable. The only con is… he’s not the best photographer (haha! I know this is a shallow reason… but my previous tour guides were all AMAZING photographers, so I was quite sad that he wasn’t huhu)
8:00AM Arriving in Bali
As soon as we arrived at the Bali Denpesar International Airport, I beelined straight to the bathroom to refill my water bottle
PRO TIP: Always bring a water bottle so you can save on water costs!
Afterwards, we went through immigration quickly (another perk of arriving early in the morning – no long queues yet!). Past the baggage claim area, you’ll see a whole slew of money changers AND more importantly, the Discover Bali store. If you’ve booked your WiFi via Klook, this is where you’ll need to go to claim your WiFi device. NOTE: There’s a USD 50 deposit fee (in cash), which they’ll give back once you return the device at the end of your stay. You’ll be returning the device at the exact same place. Likewise, if you’ve brought USD/PHP instead of IDR, you can have some money exchanged here as well.
PRO TIP: Only exchange a small amount at the airport (where exchange rates are always the worst). Afterwards, be on the lookout for money changers as you travel throughout the day. In the Ubud area, we saw one touting a 1 USD: IDR 14.6k exchange rate
8:30-10:00AM Traveling to Ubud
Once we had everything in order, I WhatsApp’d Kadek (+62 878 6183 9135) who would be our tour guide/driver for the day. He was gamely waiting for us at the Arrival area, and off we went!
NOTE: Ubud is quite far from Central Bali (~1.5 hours), but this can take MUCH longer if you account for traffic. Thankfully, at ~9AM, there wasn’t a lot of traffic yet (plus it was the weekend, and not peak season), so we made pretty good time
Along the way, we requested Kadek to stop at Circle C (a convenience store), so we could stock up on breakfast, as well as snacks that we could munch on during the long drive
10:00AM Tirta Empul
First stop, Tirta Empul temple! The two key things to see here (in my opinion), would be:
One, the cleansing area. People from far and wide come here to cleanse themselves of negative energy. In fact, because we came here the day of the full moon, there was a pretty sizeable crowd waiting to be cleansed! NOTE: This isn’t limited to locals – tourists can participate too. Just make sure to bring extra clothes to change into if you opt to do so
Two, the koi pond. I have never ever seen so many big, fat koi in one area before! Kadek came prepared with fish food, and we happily fed the koi (and helped them grow even fatter for the next group of tourists)
Costs (per person): IDR 15,000 (entrance fee) + IDR 2,500 (sarong donation). NOTE: the sarong donation is optional
10:45AM Shopping!
The Ubud Market is part of the itinerary – BUT my friends told me that the prices at the Ubud Market are extremely jacked up (tourist prices, hello!); plus the selections can be a bit hit or miss. As such, when I found a Bali bag that I absolutely fell in love with while perusing the Tirta Empul market area, I snapped it up and bought it (after a hard round of haggling, of course)
PRO TIP: Ask around for prices first to get a feel of how low people are willing to go. The farther you are from the temple, the cheaper prices get (think prime spots = more tourists = more expensive)
Cost: Bali bag (IDR 110,000 -> originally IDR 250,000)
11:30AM Uma Pakel
Costs: IDR 200,000 (per person)
Uma Pakel is a tourist trap – but what a trap! There are mainly three activities at Uma Pakel:
- Free Luwak coffee tour, where they show you how the luwak coffee is processed (max 10mins tour)
- Photo-taking with the famed Uma Pakel Swing and Bird’s Nests
- Free coffee and tea tasting + luwak coffee (for IDR 50k per cup)
Since you’re here, might as well partake in the free Luwak coffee tour. The guide was nice and solicitous, succinctly explaining the entire coffee processing process. But, he clearly knew our interests lay elsewhere (aka I couldn’t wait to get on the swing and the bird’s nest for photos!!)
From here, we rushed to the swing area and was GOBSMACKED by the crowds. There are 3 swings you can choose from, and each one had a queue!! My tip to you: Quickly check out the 3 swings and determine which view you like the most + inquire about the queue.
NOTE: Each person takes ~4-5mins at the swing. So if you’re trying to determine how long you’d have to wait before it’s your turn, multiple the number of people ahead of you in the queue by 5 mins.
Once you find the view you like the most, list your number so that you’re already part of the queue. Afterwards, pay at the ticket booth. The ticket costs IDR 200,000, and is inclusive of:
- 1 swing ride
- Unlimited photos at the Bird’s Nest areas
- Free coffee tasting
Once you’ve paid and while you’re waiting for your turn at the swing, queue up at the Bird’s Nest. There are 3 you can choose from as well. The system here is a bit weird. For some, you just queue up normally; while for others, you need to get a queue number (which you can grab from a tree by the middle swing)
As we were a pretty large group, by the time we finished at the bird’s nest, it was our turn at the swing! Wheeeee – this activity isn’t for the faint of heart… But after the first wild swing out over the horizon, it quickly becomes fun – the wind rushing past your face is a very nice treat in an overall very hot day! Also – you can opt to do half facing forward, half facing backward. That way, you get two different experiences! For those who are worried about safety, you’re put into a pretty secure harness (kind of equivalent to what you wear when you go on a zipline).
PRO TIP: Don’t wear floofy skirts – they get in the way of the safety harness and will ruin your photo! What should you wear? Bright tops and pants – so you can be seen clearly even if you’re swinging far far away (but don’t wear green as you’ll end up blending into the leafy background)
After the adrenaline rush, we then requested for the free coffee and tea kit (but opted out of the luwak coffee since we didn’t want to pay IDR 50k for a cup). The coffee and tea textures were interesting, and we all came out of it with different favorites. Personally, I really liked the cinnamon tea and pandanus tea <3
1:30PM Tegalalang Rice Terraces
Ubud is really famous for their rice terraces – but we ended up spending only 20 minutes here! It was a quick pop-in, take a photo, pop-out kind of scenario. I think you can spend more time here if you bothered going all the way down; but we were happy with our photos at the top level
NOTE: There’s no official entrance fee booth (which is a bit shady LOL). But there’s a guy who collects the fee – your tour guide will point you out to him
Costs: IDR 10,000 (entrance fee)
2:30PM Ubud Market
Browse through the Ubud Market stalls and haggle away! While here, don’t forget to check out the Gaya Gelato. I heard the dark chocolate orange gelato is to-die for
3:30PM Naughty Nuri’s
It’s finally lunch time!! Naughty Nuri’s is famous for their ribs – so DON’T order anything else. If you’ve got a large appetite, you should get one whole ribs for yourself. Otherwise, it’s good for sharing (for 2 people). The vodka martini is also pretty famous. We tried it, and found it very spirit-forward (new vocab for the day!!!). Essentially, the vodka martini tasted like straight vodka. Whew, it packs a punch!
Costs: IDR 130k (ribs), IDR 10k (rice), IDR 130k (vodka martini)
4:30PM Batuan Temple
You can skip this temple if you’re running short on time. As for us, we figured we had loads of time anyway, so we gamely did one last stop before Tanah Lot. The temple is pretty small, but has a different look from Tirta Empul
Costs: IDR 10,000
6:00PM Tanah Lot
You MUST reach here by 6:00PM (or by sunset time – depending on which time of the year you’re in Bali). Important to note that Tanah Lot is back in Seminyak – therefore it’s another ~1-1.5 hrs drive back
Tanah Lot has the best sunsets (better than Uluwatu Temple, by far!). If you’ve got the time, go down to the beach and gaze in awe as the sun slips through the watery horizon for the day
PRO TIP: Leave as soon as the sun sets and you’ve got the photos you’ve come here to capture. That way, you can avoid the mass exodus (read: traffic) of tourists who are leaving the temple at the same time
7:30PM Home sweet home
We stayed at a Villa AirBnB, which was pretty huge by AirBnB standards. Unfortunately, the water pressure in our room was pretty weak, plus we were overran by mosquitoes… Sad to say, I can’t 100% recommend it to you folks. The location’s great though, and the caretaker was extremely helpful
Total costs for the day
Please do check out my other Bali blogs as well <3
Guide to Bali for first-time DIY tourists
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