What the Hell Happened to Canggu, Bali and Why Do People Love It? 🇮🇩

This is Canggu and I do not understand this place. It doesn't have the amazing beaches of Uluwatu or the nature and culture you can find in Ubud, but somehow it's become one of the most popular places in Bali to live, work, train, party, and apparently spend half of your day sitting in traffic. So today we're heading out with one of my very good friends who chooses to live here. This is Alex, my Belarusian brother from another mother. Hello, good morning. Good morning. Well, thanks for being here, Alex. How long have you lived in Canggu? It's been a while. Came here before COVID, so seven years. Wow. Yeah. Okay, and has it changed much since you came here until now? Oh yeah, yeah, it did change quite a lot. It's way more developed, it's way more busy, they're changing in a bad way, but still it's not as bad as people describe it I would say. Yeah, no I get it, I mean I remember coming to Canggu 15 years ago and it was basically rice paddies, a beach, a couple of restaurants and just a few villas and now some days when I'm out here it's like holy heck there is so much. Yeah, that little shortcut you remember, you drive through rice paddies, and it feels like Bali, and now it looks like Beverly Hills. It does look like Beverly Hills. So why did you choose Canggu over a place like Uluwatu or Ubud to live? Well, I would say Canggu is for people who love efficiency. Okay. Canggu is like downtown. It's like living in downtown. You stay here, you don't have to ride anywhere. You have everything close by, five to seven minutes away from your house you have bunch of gyms, any cuisine in the world from any country, all healthy food, unhealthy food, semi-healthy food, whatever you wanna get. You have beach, you have a beach, beach, beach, yeah. And I feel like something you get here you don't get in a place like Uluwatu is the ability to go walking. If you got your 10,000 steps a day, if you need that. Yeah. You don't really have that in Uluwatu. I mean I feel like walking in Uluwatu is taking your life into your hands. Pretty much. And there's not even a place that's really good for it unless you're willing to drive 35 or 40 minutes. That's actually another reason. Many times I was thinking about Uluwatu and I was thinking about moving down there but I'm like where I'm gonna walk. Yeah. Like I walk every day. I need to walk every day. That's just... who i am yeah a walking man a walking man and i can be a walking man in uluwatu or anywhere else it's just the infrastructure is in abundance i would put it this way okay and it's convenient for people like me i value my time in uluwatu you have to drive from place to place 20 minutes here 15 minutes there you want to get there it's another half an hour you spend basically half a day riding It's true. Over here. I wake up 5 a.m., 5.30, I'm at the beach, I can go surfing, running, I'm done with my workout by 6.30, 7. I had my breakfast, 8 a.m., I'm home, I'm ready to work, I have my work day, that is it. As opposed to in Uluwatu, you wake up, you check the surf, you see what's going on, you ride 40 minutes one way, then you go paddle out, then you do this, then you do that. And then you have breakfast and you come home, it's 3 p.m. Then you take a nap because you're tired of all this riding. Yeah. And then it's beer o'clock. ****. And basically, your whole day is about it. Yeah. So is that like your favorite thing about living here is the efficiency of it? That's what I would say. I mean, for people who actually are productive. Alex is a digital nomad, so it makes a big difference. Yeah. I work every day. I need to work. And I feel like this is the place where I can have my routine dialed in. You know what I mean? I have everything that I need is in 5-10 minute proximity. Yeah. So this is why it's very convenient. I can go to the... Rice field walk, I can go to the beach, I can go to the gym, I can go to any place. I mean, and speaking of the rice field walk, I asked them to take me someplace quiet. We drove four minutes from central Canggu, and now we're out in these amazing rice paddies. There's farmers out working, people are running, the sun's coming up. It's gorgeous out here, and I'm kind I'm shocked that this still exists in Canggu. Oh yeah, and we're just, like you said, four minutes away. You can drive even 10 minutes further up. And there's going to be way more of that. It still exists. It's just I choose to live in, like, downtown Chengdu. Yeah. Because of the convenience. And I just don't like riding. Like, a lot of people talk about traffic. It does exist. Yeah. But traffic exists for people who want to get from A to B and A to B. It's distant. Yeah. I choose to stay in C, which is in between A and B, so I don't have to ride anywhere. True. So the key here is to find all the things you want, your gym, the food you like, your community, and then that's where you pick your place to live. Pretty much. Yeah, this is exactly how it is. You stay in a small area in the community. I got my five places where I go. Amazing breakfast, amazing lunch, amazing dinner. I swap them around sometimes, but I don't think much about where to go and how long it's gonna take me. And we're still not in a rainy season, but in a rainy season, if you have to ride 15, 20 minutes in the rain, that sucks. Yeah, for sure, especially on a motorbike. Oh yeah. Well, and you're not gonna be riding anything else. That's true. In a car, it will take you an hour. Yeah. So is there anything particular about Canggu that you don't like? I mean, all places have pros and cons. Canggu, it's quite noisy, I would say. Yeah, it can get busy. But the key is you just have to find a place that is not noisy. It's not easy. It's not an easy task. But... Things have changed. Canggu used to be busy probably three, four, five years ago and then we've got the fame of, oh Canggu is trash, everybody go to Uluwatu. No, Canggu is super busy, traffic is insane. I'm glad that rumor came out because everybody left. So So, um... let's spread it more. Yeah, go to Uluwatu, don't come to Canggu. So do you think this still feels like Bali despite all of the development? Like I know Ubud, it like feels like Bali. Uluwatu, when you're on the beaches, it feels like that tropical paradise. Like does Canggu still feel that way for you? Well, I'll put it this way. Feeling of Bali for different people is different, right? If you are looking for complete peace, serenity, meditation and yoga, you got to go to Ubud. If you are a surfer who just want to Tuck into the barrel and rip it. Yeah. You go to Uluwatu, right? Yeah. But if you just value your time and you want productive and efficient routine, that is what Canggu is for me. Yeah. So probably one of the best places to live would be Canggu. Yeah, and Canggu is pretty big. There are still areas like Seseh, Pererenan that are slightly further out there and they're getting developed. Still have the same vibe, they're just a little less busy than Canggu. But then at the same time, you have less infrastructure. So it depends on what you're looking for. But I would say, if you're someone who used to live in downtown, whatever, North America, and you know what living in downtown is, that you have everything close by, you walk five minutes from here to there, Then this is what it is. Yeah. So if I only had a week here, like the average tourist, or 10 days, do you think Canggu should be on the list? Well, it definitely should be on the list. There's a lot of party scene in Canggu. And the food in Canggu is probably far more superior than anywhere else. Yeah. Um, but Canggu is more for people who stay long term. Yeah. Canggu is for expats. Canggu is for people who, like I said, want to have their routine, If you want to have a home away from home and don't feel like riding and sweating and looking for places just have a nice accommodation and everything you need pretty much five minutes away. Well you've almost sold me so tomorrow Alex actually offered to take us out and show us around Canggu and what is special about it and why he loves to live here so I'm super excited for that and then afterwards I'll tell you about our day and we can figure out if I finally understand why people love Canggu so much. Alright, peace out. Peace out. Take every opportunity that you have to have a cold coconut when you're in Bali because they are amazing. Anyway, Alex took me out yesterday and it was quite the day. We started out down on the beach with a beautiful morning beach walk. There were dogs playing, lots of people were out doing some surfing. We got to see an actual ceremony that was going on so we got a little culture. And then after our walk we did a quick workout on the beach at a free gym. We went and hit up a delicious healthy breakfast spot. After that we heated things up with the sauna and then cooled things down in their swimming pool above the rice paddies. In the afternoon we stopped by the lawn to experience a classic Canggu beach club. Then we went over to Echo beach for a stunning sunset. There are so many restaurants along the water as well as beach clubs. Beanbag chairs, people were just walking in the shallow water. It was pretty amazing. I was actually really impressed. And we found some seats and had a beer and just took it all in together. After that, we finished the day with the best Mexican food I have ever had in Bali, as well as some really impressive salsa dancing. And after spending that day with Alex, I think I can finally answer the question why people love Canggu. You know, it is busy and it doesn't have the best beaches or the most culture, but it is super convenient. And you can still enjoy a lot of the things that other places in Bali have. But without the hassle. Now there is a lot of traffic here, but it tends to be from like 3 until 7 o'clock. In the mornings and the afternoons you can drive around and not even see people walking on the street which kind of blew my mind. I do understand why people love it here. And I think that it's probably one of the best places for you to live if this is where you're going to be based because it has all the things that you need in a very small area. However, I think if you're on vacation for a couple of weeks and you're not looking for a party or just sitting in a beach club all day, this probably isn't the best place for you. I would do Uluwatu, Ubud, and then go up to like the north, hit some of the amazing waterfalls like Sekumpul, go swimming with dolphins in Lovina, or go out to the east and check out the amazing rice paddies at Sidaman and do some scuba diving and really good snorkeling out in Ahmed and get away from the crowds. So it really comes down to what you're looking for. But I do understand it now because I think sometimes we see the world through the lens of our perceptions and people are always telling me like, oh, Canggu, it's so busy. Oh, Canggu. I don't understand why people go there. So I started thinking the same thing. But after seeing it and experiencing it firsthand, it's not like that. So keep the prejudgments. behind you and just keep your eyes open and see things for what they are. Experience them for yourself, like all of travel should be. Next week I'll be heading to Ubud to explore some amazing nature and culture, so make sure to come back for that. And if you enjoyed this video please give me a big thumbs up, comment, subscribe, and don't forget to bling bling bling bling bling bling of Bali. Terima kasih. I will see you next time.