17 Things I Wish I Knew BEFORE Travelling To BALI

Here are 17 things I wish I knew before I traveled to Bali. I have spent over four months of my life on this beautiful island, and I've got so much knowledge to share with you and to make your trip to Bali even better. Before we begin, let's talk about what you should do when you arrive at Bali International Airport. And you come out the airport terminal and there's just loads of taxis, people trying to get you into their taxi. And one of the things you can do is just book a taxi beforehand. It's likely to be slightly more expensive, but it's probably worth the hassle. The other thing you can do is try and bargain a taxi once you're there. But let's not waste any time. Let's get straight to number one, and that is how to get around. Now, in Bali, there is next to no public transport. So the only way you can get around is by ride-sharing, or taxis, or actually shuttle buses as well. The ride-sharing apps are Gojek, Bluebird, and Grab, and I totally recommend these three. Also, if you go to a small travel agency, then they'll help you book ferries and other transport to different spots. Now, number two is where to start in Bali. I always recommend going to Canggu. This is like the heart of Bali. This is where most people go nowadays. People have moved off from going to Kuta and Samanyak, so I recommend starting in Canggu. And if you're by yourself, it is the best place to meet people. Stay in a hostel there, and you're guaranteed to make some friends. There are so many hostels to choose from in Canggu, and they're all cheap. Now, number three, there's lots of small fees. For example, you've got to pay for parking all the time. You've got to pay for beach entrances. You've got to pay for those Bali swings that you've seen on Instagram. So make sure you've got some small cash on you, because there's always little fees you have to pay, but it's never expensive. Now, number four, if you've been to Bali, you'll know this, that the traffic is so bad, and it takes forever to get from A to B. But the best way to get around is by scooter. And honestly, there's so much traffic, so if you haven't ridden a scooter before, please, please be careful. Or go up north and learn to ride a scooter there, where the roads are a lot quieter. Number five is all about accommodation and where to book places in Bali. Now, there's three places people normally tend to book on, and that is Agoda, Booking.com, and Airbnb. Now, recently, Airbnb, the prices have seemed to really increase, but you can still get some really good deals on Agoda and Booking.com. And if you're looking to stay in hostels in Bali, then definitely recommend using Hostelworld. It's literally so good for staying in good hostels. It gives a clear rating, and there's loads of reviews. Now, let's move on to number six, and that is gonna be your Bali itinerary. There's gonna be so many different places that you're recommended to go, but you can't fit it all in one. I spent over two months in Bali, and I still haven't seen it all. So I'm gonna give you the best places that you should visit if you've got one month in Bali. Now, you're gonna start off in Canggu. As I said earlier, it's the best place to start, and I'd recommend five days here, and then heading to Ubud for four days. Also, one of the best things to do in Ubud is the Mount Batur sunrise trekking, and I'll leave a link in the description to it because you will not wanna miss it. It's one of the best things I did in Bali. Then, moving on to the mountainous, kind of central region of Munduk, and spend three days there. Then, I've kind of given you two options. You can either head right up north to Levina, where you can actually see dolphins, or you can head east to Ahmed, where you've got beautiful views of the big volcano, Angun. Now, next, we're gonna be leaving the main island of Bali and going to the Gili Islands. There are three Gili Islands, and I recommend going to two or Gili Ti, the main one, and I recommend spending five days there. It's a really chilled-out place, and the beaches are beautiful. Now, one of my favorite places in Bali is Nusa Penida, and you have to go here. It's one of my favorite places in the entire world, and this island will literally blow you away. If you actually wanna see another video I did on Nusa Penida, then I'll leave it down below. I recommend spending three days on Nusa Penida, and don't forget to go to the famous Kelingking Beach. You will not wanna miss it. Next, you should go to the neighboring islands of Nusa Senegon and Nusa Lembongan, and I recommend spending about three days there, but you'll probably wanna stay longer than that Now, the best place is to go back onto the main island and go onto the bottom southern bit of Bali, and it's like a kind of weird shape at the bottom, and this is Uluwatu, and I recommend spending your last few days here, maybe four days, because there is so much to do. If you like surfing, it's a great place to surf. The cliffs, the beaches are beautiful, and it's a really, really cool place in Bali. Now, number seven is a quick one, and that is the offerings on the ground. Please don't step on them. Try to stay away, because it is a religious thing that they do, and it's an offering to the gods. If you didn't know, then Bali Island itself is actually Hindu, whereas the rest of Indonesia is predominantly Muslim, so that's just something to keep in mind. Moving on to number eight, and that is make sure you bargain. It is not offensive to bargain. It's just how they do it in this part of the world, and you must do it, otherwise you're gonna be spending a lot more money than you should be. For example, I was bargaining for the ferry ticket, and for each person, one way, he said it was 600,000 each, and I managed to bargain that down to 400,000 each, so you can actually save a lot of money. This was like a 12, $15 saving, so make sure you bargain. Now, number nine is when to go. If you've been to a tropical part of the world, you probably know there are two seasons, dry season and wet season, and when you go probably will make quite a big difference. Dry season in Indonesia is between June to September, and wet season is from November to April, but honestly, take that with a pinch of salt. When I was there in July, it rained so much, but when I was there in 2018, it hardly rained at all. One of the advantages of going in wet season, though, is that things will be cheaper, like hotels, flights, et cetera, so take advantage of that. Moving on to number 10, and that is try Indonesian food. Now, if you're from the Western world, then you probably haven't had Indonesian food, and it's not really that well-known there, but honestly, it is so good. Amelia and I absolutely loved it. One of the good things is that there's lots of vegetarian options. There's this thing called tempeh, and it's like a soybean, and honestly, it is so good, and one of the things I miss here in the UK. Obviously, the classic dishes are like nasi goreng, mee goreng, which is fried rice and fried noodles. You can get this pretty much anywhere, and it's always really, really cheap. Now, one of the things, Indonesia is quite well-known for its spicy food, so make sure you tell the waiter that you probably don't want that spicy, or just say like a little bit, or if I say pedas sidikit, which is like a little bit spicy. Now, one of the things you have to do is try a warung. It's basically like a buffet, kind of canteen style, and you can basically choose exactly what you want on your plate. There's a really good one in Canggu, and I'll write it down below. I've just forgotten the name of it. Now, number 11 is trying all the different cafes and restaurants. There are so many different restaurants and cafes, all the quirky, cool ones, but honestly, there are so many, and they're all really good. One of the things they do do is add on a 15% service charge and tax, and sometimes you're not expecting it, so it might be a little bit more, but honestly, even though it's Western food, it's still pretty cheap. Now, number 12 is some of the beaches are not as beautiful and pristine as you may think. Some of the beaches around Canggu, Akuta, and Seminyak are actually black sand beaches, and they're not those white, sandy beaches you may be expecting, but don't worry. The Gili Islands are where the beautiful white sand beaches are. Also, if you go to the neighboring islands of Lombok, there is beautiful, white, long, sandy beaches there, too. And obviously, Nusa Penida, as I said in itinerary, you must go there, because it's probably got one of the most beautiful beaches in the world, Kalenking Beach. Some great beaches on Bali Island itself is in Uluwatu. The beaches down there are really good, so if you want some nice beaches, head down there. Now, one of the things you have to keep in mind for your own sake is that some of the monkeys and the dogs may have rabies. At the monkey forest in Ubud, all the monkeys won't have rabies, so if you get scratched by one of them, it doesn't matter. If you do get bitten or scratched, you must go to hospital and get a rabies jab, then you'll be absolutely fine. Now, number 14 are gonna be the negative, bad things about Bali. And please, don't let this stop you from going. I'm just trying to warn you so you're well-prepared and know of some of the scams and some of the negative things about Bali. So in Bali, one of the things which have been happening is that on the back of scooters, phones have been stolen. It's not just phones, but also bags. If you've got a bag on your back, I've heard about people being ripped off. Another thing are scams in taxis. Sometimes, if you're booking with Grab, they'll try and charge you more and say, oh, no, you need to pay more. You shouldn't be paying any more than it says on the Grab app. And if they're charging you more, they're just trying to get more money out of you. One of the things, you have to be quite persistent and just say no to things. You can feel pressured to do things or take opportunities or get in a taxi, but if you're not comfortable and you don't wanna take it, just say no. Now, if you're going to other places outside of Bali, like Lombok or Java, they will not be as used to seeing white people. We had a lot of children and a lot of people wanting photos with us. Hello. We're just getting a photo with the bule. The other thing is, as it is Muslim, a lot of the girls and females all cover up, so they might not be used to seeing girls and females with more skin showing. It's just something to keep in mind. Now, number 15, there is more to see than just Bali. There's Lombok, there's Java, there's Borneo, there's Sulawesi, there's Flores, there's so many different islands. Indonesia has like 17,000 islands, so you're not gonna be short of places to visit. Obviously, these places aren't as touristy, so if you're looking to go there, make sure you do your research and maybe learn some Indonesian phrases and just be prepared for a less touristy environment. One thing you can do, which I highly recommend, is doing a Mount Batur and Mount Ijen tour from Bali. You get private driver and they'll take you all the way into Java and take you to the two amazing volcanoes. And this is one of the most stunning places that I've been to anywhere in the world. You literally go to two active volcanoes, but they won't blow up. Well, hopefully not. But honestly, highly recommend it. I'll leave a link in the description if you wanna do it. It will blow your way. But honestly, Indonesia is one of my favorite countries in the entire world and there is so much to see and I can't wait to keep on exploring the beautiful country. Now, number 16 is a little hack and something you can do anywhere in the world for touristy places and that is get up early and go to the spots. You will see all these cool Instagram shots in the rice terraces and rice fields with no people in them and that's because they're shot at sunrise. If you wanna get to the spots, the touristy spots with no other people, get there early and you'll likely miss them. Now, number 17 is all about budgeting. Now, in Bali, you can budget on 20 US dollars a day or you could probably spend 1,000 US dollars a day. There's so many options for the broke, cheap backpacker all the way to the luxury honeymooner. So in Bali, there is so much to choose from and honestly, you can spend as much money as you want or as little as you want. If you are on a really strict budget, you can do it on 20 US dollars a day which is incredible value. I honestly think Bali has the best value of accommodation anywhere in the world. Me and Amelia stayed in a seven pounds a night, double bed with an ensuite and I'll say that's insane and it came with breakfast. If you wanna go out partying every night, then alcohol is quite expensive, more expensive than like Thailand and Vietnam. So that's just something to take into account. There is obviously loads of cool expensive villas that you can stay in, in Canggu or Ubud or anywhere in Bali. So if you've got more money to spend and you're just there for a couple of weeks, you can splash the cash and honestly, your money will go so far. Obviously, eating Indonesian food is really cheap and you can normally get a nasi goreng for like 15,000 or 20,000 which is incredible value. I think that's everything to do with budget but if you've got any questions about budgeting or Bali in itself for your first time and you're going and you're scared or you're worried about something, please leave the questions down below in the comments because someone else probably has the same question as you and I'll get back to you and I'll answer your question. Thank you so much for watching. I hope you found this useful. Follow me on Instagram for live updates of what we're doing. Me and Amelia are going on a big trip to Asia again. So, so excited for that. Thank you so much for watching. I'll see you in the next video. Bye.