Bali is stunning – gorgeous and home to MANY Travel bloggers sharing their experiences. Before my first visit I think I read 50 blogs and some of the things were so repetitive that I thought “Ok I have to do that” then I did it and well. Lets say I was underwhelmed. So without further ado – heres my list of things that I did in Bali and wouldn’t recommend to anyone else.
Visit Uluwatu Temple
Uluwatu Temple is one of the most popular tourist destinations in Bali. The temple is located on a cliff that offers a stunning view of the ocean. In addition to the breathtaking views, you can also watch the famous Kecak dance performance at the temple. The dance tells the story of Ramayana and is an experience you won’t want to miss. Heres the thing though. I found it INCREDIBLY Boring. If you don’t buy your tickets online for the first showing you’ll be going to the second showing. It was FULL of tour buses full of people and I felt like I was in a tourist trap. The monkeys at this temple are incredibly aggressive and while sunset might be fantastic – I think we wasted our time here. If you’re staying in Uluwatu then sure maybe – it just wasnt for us. The “fire” part was lack luster in my humble opinion & I saw so many other temples that were SO much nicer. I think next time I am going to check out a fire kecak in Ubud (Im going in September 2023 if you want to join) and I’ll report back if I found a better option.
Ride a Motor Bike / Scooter
Well – I think you’ve probably read this a million times at this point but the Scooters in Bali are dangerous. Driving in Bali isn’t for the faint of heart. I wouldn’t ride on a motorcycle or scooter in Bali after witnessing the traffic there. Theres too many accidents and so many people riding around without a helmet too. Just order a car off GoJek – its their version of Uber and SO incredibly cheap.
Go ATV Riding
This one comes with an asterisk. While we had a great time ATV Riding in Bali – it was incredibly dangerous. If we were to go again we would check the brakes & the tires and definitely not go after a ton of rain. We had 4 ATV’s and 2 had no brakes so one of us went crashing into the woods at one point and then another we had to push up 2 very muddy hills. I somehow ended up with the only ATV that had zero issues. Funny thing is that when we got back from our ATV ride we saw 4 new ATV’s sitting out front and then put the afternoon group on those new ATV’s! We opt’d to do ATV riding then White Water Rafting to rinse the mud off and had we done it opposite its possible I wouldn’t be writing this exact blog post. So my words are just – BE Cautious. Make sure your brakes work and all the tires have good treed on them. I plan on going again but with a different vendor that Ive spoken with extensively about our experience & how it definitely WILL be better next time I go!
Go For Only a week
You’re probably flying for over 24 hours if you’re coming from any other place other then maybe Australia or other parts of Asia. So you want to make the most of your time over here. Let me tell you – you’re going to get here and just get sucked in. Theres a reason people call this place paradise. If I were planning another trip I would absolutely give myself like 3-4 free days at the end of my trip just with NOTHING planned on them and let me see where the wind takes me. I left with FOMO and regret of not extending my trip. Next time I’m giving myself WAY more time then just the 14 days that I had.
If somehow you found this post without checking out my Top 10 Things EPIC Things to do in Bali – you should go check that out! Its full of things that I did and loved & would happily go do again the next time I visit!
