The Perfect 3 Days Trip to Explore Bali, Indonesia!

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Bali, my first travel destination outside Canada after two years of staying in. A famous island in Indonesia known for it’s great nature, scenic rice terraces, awesome beaches, magical temples, and delicious food, it’s a perfect getaway to experience amazing South East Asian culture. It is also my first destination on my one week Indonesia trip.

Bali is where I met up with two of my closest friends and did our 10 year friendship reunion. One friend was coming from the Netherlands and the other one from Australia. We call ourselves Two and A Half Asian because the one from Australia, Klayola is full Filipino and the one from the Netherlands, Taniquia, is half Dutch and half Taiwanese. I’m also full Filipino so the two full and a half Asians! Lol! We all left our country to meet here which was pretty awesome idea and it actually happened. Both of them have been to Bali before so I’m the newbie since it’s my first time in Bali and Indonesia.

We were in Bali for 3 full days and explored many areas in Ubud and Badung. Each day was jam packed tour as we explored Bali’s nature, temples, and food. Here are the best things you can do in Bali for 3 days for an awesome trip!

Sayong House Stay

My friends and I stayed at Sayong House in Ubud. Ubud is a town in Bali known for arts and crafts as well as many famous Bali landmarks. We chose this guest house because it was very close to central Ubud where the markets, restaurants, and temples are located. They had a very good price for 3 nights around 110.00 AUD (~98.00 CAD) so it was a really good for three people and free breakfast! Pretty awesome breakfast of three options: banana pancakes (it’s green because it’s pandan flavoured), toast, and omelette.

Day 1 – Explore Ubud Downtown and Ebikes Tour

First day in Bali, we explored Ubud by feet and bike. Woke up early, had breakfast then made our way to central Ubud. We walked around the main streets of Jalan (Jl. for short which means street) Raya Ubud to see Ubud Palace, Saraswati Temple and initial shopping at Ubud Art Market. Jl. Monkey Forest was also nearby where Ubud Market was located so we pretty much walked around town. There are many many temples in Ubud. They’re all very pretty and unique so we stopped a lot and took many photos. Fun fact about Bali is that it mainly practice Hinduism while the rest of Indonesia is Muslim so here you’ll see many Hindu temples.

After all the Ubud central tour, we walked towards Jl. Jatayu for the best BBQ pork ribs in Bali. It’s a restaurant called Warung Pondok Madu and yes, get the BBQ Pork ribs. Another thing, you’ll most likely be able to eat pork in Bali than anywhere else in Indonesia because Muslims don’t really eat pork so have a pork feast here!

The afternoon activity was a bike tour ran by Ebikes Bali. The tour starts at 3 PM where they pick you up from your accommodation and drive you to the corporate office where the tour starts. It’s honestly a really good tour package that also includes dinner (or lunch if you choose the day tour). You’re given an ebike which is actually pretty easy to use. You press the throttle then the bike will feel lighter because it’s helping you pedal. Really handy when I was going uphill because this lady hasn’t biked for so long haha. We visited many sites on the 3 hours tour. Highly recommend this tour company and the half day tour. The destinations are the must see sites, the bike is great, the tour guides are very helpful and spoke English very well plus there’s food and pickup/drop off!

We biked to a lot of places. The Tegalalang Rice Terrace, a Shiva temple in a village and learned about their culture and burying and cremating the dead, a Bali swing, a luwak coffee plantation, then finishing with a wonderful dinner all in one price. Being said, this tour is one of the best ones I’ve done in such a good price and I got to know Bali really well.

Day 2 – Private Charter Day Trip For More Ubud Exploration

For the second day, my friends and I went to places around Bali by car. We booked a private car charter using Klook. It’s actually a really good service because the price is all inclusive for how long you want. There’s a 6, 10, or 12 hours itinerary. You can tell them where you want to go and you can also ask for recommendations because the drivers are very knowledgeable of local things. I got to know Bali even more by talking to these local tour guides specially on where to eat.

Klook.com

Our first stop was the Ubud Sanctuary Monkey Forest where we hangout with monkeys. We paid for our tickets and the driver went with us inside. Explained the monkeys in the forest and the different clans. There were also cemeteries inside the sanctuary. Beware of monkeys trying to reach inside your pockets and bags or anything you are holding and have them taken away. They want something in exchange.

After the monkey, we stopped by many specialty villages like the art village, silver village, and wood village then headed to the famous Tegenungan Waterfalls in Bali social media. If you have ever seen those instagrammable photo ops in Bali, most of them you’ll see in this location. They even advertise it as a sign and I actually went and took photos on those spots haha. There’s about 9 places here alone so you’ll already hitting many of the spots of Bali photo scene by visiting here.

After the waterfalls, we wanted to go the Pura Tirta Empul (Water Temple) next so for lunch we ended up at a local place near the temple so we can head there after eating. Tried bebek guling at Pangkon Bali Resto & Agrotourism. The eating area was really nice surrounded by rice paddies and there was live music.

Pura Tirta Empul is a Baliense Hindu temple that has water bathing area for self purification. It was a very good spiritual experience doing the self purification and walking around the temple. We spent the rest of the afternoon there and the trip ended with a nice afternoon meal with our driver eating babi guling (roasted pig) at Warung Babi Guling Ibu Oka 3.

For the rest of the evening, we walked around the main streets to shop then we hang out at a Sen Sang, a local restaurant near our Sayong House accommodation. We talked about life updates while eating Balinese food and drinking Bintang. When that closed, we went to Jl. Gootama and bar hopped for more Bintang haha.

Day 3 – More Private Charter Day Trip To Explore South of Bali

We booked another private charter car today to go to the south of Bali in Kuta where the Depansar Airport is location. We went to three attractions and ate more pork.

First destination was the famous Sate Babi Bawah Pohon. It’s a famous bbq pork in a stick restaurant featured by food vlogger Mark Weinz in his Bali Food Tour. Honestly, most of the places we ate at were inspired by him. It was on the way to the places so we ended up dropping by here first. They’re super delicious and our driver gave us a tip that sate (grilled meat) making differs from the area so he suggested we stopped by at another one on the way back from Kuta.

We drove to Pura Segara Tegalwangi, a Hindu temple location on the coast. No, we did not go in and it’s closed for the public instead we walked towards the coast. This area has stunning cliff views and very good for social media photos. Haha and that’s what we ended up doing.

Next stop was the Uluwatu Temple, another Hindu temple that has stunning cliff views. Everywhere you look offers a great views of the coast with bougainvilleas trailing on the side. Beware of the aggressive monkeys in the temple, they will take what’s loosely hanging around you. I saw a money take a woman’s sandals and chewed it. It was so hot and the pavement is steaming like how even did she walk on foot. Just be careful and you’ll enjoy the views!

We were there for so long. Too long that our driver thought we got lost and went in to find us >.< so sorry! Didn’t realize three hours went by and didn’t feel like it when you having fun with your best friends and taking photos and videos.

Stopped by for a quick lunch on the way to the third destination which was another social media worthy photo op. Uluwatu Beach is a very pretty beach and is a surfer’s paradise. Fine white sands and great for swimming too.

Ending the tour with another babi guling food trip with our driver at Sate Babi Yan’s Dolar. He recommended this place and yes it was for a snack. Legit I won’t know how to find this place let alone I can’t find when I search it. The sate was spicier than the morning ones and very good juicy meat! After that, we went to get more babi at Paude Egi, another local joint our driver recommended. We got dropped off at our accommodation to rest a bit then went out for the last night. Had dinner then Taniquia and Klayola shopped the rest of their rupiah before going home the next day while I went to my next destination.