Exploring Bali and Lombok on a 2-Week Backpacking Tour
- The Travelling Couple
- Jan 14
- 27 min read
Updated: Jan 18
What is covered in this blog:
1. Introduction
8. Conclusion
1. Introduction
Welcome to the ultimate tropical escape! We’re The Travelling Couple, and we’re thrilled to take you along on our 2-week Bali and Lombok journey from India. This trip has been a dream of ours, and we can’t wait to share our Bali Itinerary and our travel experience - from exploring Bali’s vibrant temples and lush rice terraces to trekking up Mt.Batur and Lombok’s breathtaking Mt.Rinjani, an active Volcano.
We had Bali as a travel destination in our minds from long time, but we were planning for the same in 2024, but as our Europe backpacking tour had to be cancelled due to visa issue, we pre-poned Bali along with a short but exciting Thailand backpacking tour. The entire itinerary was finalized just in 2-3 days but the itinerary was in the shelf for over a year or more.
We travelled to Bali from Thailand (after spending a week exploring Thailand) on June.09 2023 and spent 2 weeks exploring Bali before heading back home to India on June.23rd 2023 with loads of experience and lifetime of memories.
2. About Bali
Bali, Indonesia’s most famous island, is a tropical paradise known for its stunning beaches, lush jungles, rich culture, and warm hospitality. Located in the Indonesian archipelago, Bali has something for every kind of traveler - from spiritual seekers and adventure lovers to beachgoers and culture enthusiasts. Known as the “Island of the Gods,” Bali is home to ancient temples, vibrant ceremonies, and unique traditions that give it a distinctive charm.
Also, Bali is now one of the most sought out destination for Artists and Freelancers of all sorts, from Arts to Adventure sports to Martial arts or Yoga/Meditation retreats.
Weather: Bali enjoys a warm, tropical climate year-round, with two main seasons: the dry season (April to October) and the wet season (November to March). The dry season is generally the best time to visit, especially if you’re planning outdoor activities like trekking or beach-hopping.
Culture and Religion: Predominantly Hindu, Balinese culture is deeply spiritual, with daily offerings, rituals, and ceremonies that reflect the island’s connection to its Hindu beliefs.
Festivals like Galungan, Nyepi, and Odalan are celebrated widely and offer a unique glimpse into Balinese life.
But we also had a different experience of their culture, some of them being negative in terms of Touristic temples made for Instagrammers, rude locals working in Tourism industry and scamming touts and non-existent public transport, over tourism and control of foreigners on the local tourism and restaurant industry. We will detail our personal experience in a separate blogpost, as this is more of a Itinerary Blogpost.
Activities to indulge in Bali:
Temple / Heritage site Visits: Don’t miss iconic sites like Tanah Lot, Uluwatu Temple, and Besakih Temple.
Trekking/Nature Walks: From jungle trails to explore numerous waterfalls to volcano treks on Mount Batur or Mt.Rinjani in the neighboring Lombok Island. Bali’s landscapes are ideal for adventurous hikers.
Water Sports: Bali is a world-class destination for surfing, diving, snorkeling, and paddleboarding. Major beaches have the world class PADI centers for organizing Scuba dives or Snorkeling.
Wellness & Yoga Retreats: Known for wellness tourism, Bali has many yoga studios, meditation centers, and spas, especially in Ubud and also across Bali island.
Shopping: Shopping for local soaps or dresses or shopping for Arts or other souvenirs, Bali has endless options for such shopaholics.
Or Just Relax: There are many less explored beaches in Bali, where you can simply unwind yourself and just relax alone or with your partner watching the sun set over the horizon sipping local beer or delicacies.
3. Visa & Connectivity in Bali
Visa Process:
Even though for Indian Tourists, Indonesia (Bali) provides Visa on Arrival (VOA), but its advised to get your e-visa online before entering Indonesia (Bali) to make your immigration process faster and smooth.
Below is the official Indonesian e-visa website, where you can apply to get your e-visa online.
For Tourist (Visa on Arrival) the type of visa would be B1.
e-visa cost (online): Rp.500,000 (Indonesian Rupiah) which is INR.2650 (at the time of writing this Blogpost)
Eligibility:
Passport valid for at least 6 months.
Outbound ticket from Indonesia.
Stay (for Tourist B1 Type) - Valid Up to 30 days (extendable for another 30 days)
Visa validity - Would be generally 90 days.
SIM Card & Connectivity:
Bali has excellent mobile network coverage with 3G/4G Network bandwidth and getting the SIM cards was a hassle free experience.
After doing some basic research before the trip, we found the Telkomsel to be the best Mobile Network carrier in Bali at that time and we opted to buy their sim card at the Telkomsel outlet in the Airport right after the Immigration point in the Arrival hall.
We opted to purchase Telkomsel physical SIM card at the SIM Card shop in Ngurah Rai International Airport (DPS) at Bali upon Arrival from Bangkok.
Alternatively, you can pre-book your SIM cards from the Klook app (link shared below) and once you reach Bali, you can pick up your SIM card from the designated pickup points or get it delivered to your hotel as well for an extra fee and for the peace of mind.
The other well-known Mobile Network carrier is XL-Axiata and they too have a wide-range data/voice plans to suit your needs based on number of days you will be travelling in & around Bali or Rest of Indonesia.
Klook App link for Bali SIM Cards:
Transportation in Bali:
Public transport in Bali is a challenge and you need to opt for Private transportation at most of the time. We used Klook app to book Cabs for our full day travel to South Bali, Central Bali & East Bali. Alternatively, you can rent scooters or opt for Self drive cars, but would strongly recommend you have International Drivers license and you are comfortable driving in traffic and in a foreign country, as we heard of numerous stories of Bali Traffic police seizing the vehicle and charging hefty fines on Tourists for alleged traffic violations or not presenting International Drivers license, but this could be limited in some areas and depends on how they enforce the law as we found no proper guidelines for tourists on renting vehicles.
For short outings and airport transfers, you can always book Taxi's on Grab or Gojek apps available on Playstore or Appstore for easy download and setup.
At Nusa Penida Island, we hired a rented scooter at Doel Hadi Rental Scooter, near the Nusa Ferry harbor itself, which was convenient for us to explore Nusa Penida island for 3-days.
4. Brief Day-wise Itinerary
Our 3 week long tour began from Thailand (refer blogpost: for our 5-day Thailand Itinerary here: https://www.thetravellingcouple.in/post/thailand-a-first-glimpse) and on June.09th, we flew from Bangkok to Bali and reached in the evening and spent next 2 weeks in Bali before departing back to Bengaluru, INDIA on June.23rd.
Below is our brief itinerary of 2-week Bali & Lombok Island tour.
Day-1: Arrive in Bali (Denpasar) | Head to Kuta (South Bali)
Day-2: Explore Kuta & around (South Bali)
Day-3: Travel to Ubud | Explore Ubud Town (Central Bali)
Day-4: Mt.Batur Sunrise Trek | Explore Ubud (Central Bali)
Day-5: Explore Ulun Danu / North Bali | Back to Ubud
Day-6: Travel from Ubud to Amed | Explore Amed (East Bali)
Day-7: Ferry from Sanur to Nusa Penida Island (West) | Visit Kelingking Beach
Day-8: Explore Nusa Penida Island (North) | Visit Mambo Beach area & Relax
Day-9: Explore Nusa Penida Island (East) | Visit Diamond Beach
Day-10: Ferry from Nusa Penida to Lombok Island | Reach Senaru Village, Lombok
Day-11: Mt.Rinjani Trek | Day-1 from Senaru village to Sembalun Crater rim campsite
Day-12: Mt.Rinjani Trek | Day-2 from Sembalun camp to Segara Anak lake / Torean camp
Day-13: Mt.Rinjani Trek | Day-2 from Torean campsite to Senaru village | Reach Mataram
Day-14: Flight from Mataram (Lombok Island) to Bali (Denpasar)
Day-15: Last day at Bali | Return flight from Denpasar Bali to Bengaluru, INDIA
5. Detailed Itinerary
Day #1: Arrive in Bali (Denpasar) | Head to Kuta (South Bali)
Flight from Bangkok to Bali (Flight Details – AIR ASIA FD-398 – 13:00PM @DMK, 18:20PM @DPS)
Reach Denpasar Bali & and after Immigration process and SIM card setup, we head to Kuta to Check-in to our Hotel.
We had our dinner at the hotel itself in their restaurant and later went for a walk to explore the Kuta Nightlife.
The roads in Kuta were jam packed with heavy traffic and driving sense of the locals was bad and constant honking and riding bikes on footpath reminded us of our home.
At the Day-1 itself, we felt, Bali is over crowded especially in Kuta at night times and sustainability wise, Indonesia tourism needs to think to manage it well.
Our Stay for the night was at (Kuta Seaview Boutique Resort, Kuta)
Day #2: Explore Kuta & around (South Bali)
Explore Kuta Seminyak beach in the morning.
We spent morning time walking on the Kuta neighborhood and also had our brunch at a local cafe called Beach Bowl Bali, Kuta and the food was amazing with healthy bowls and fresh juices/Shakes.
In the afternoon, we hired a local taxi (booked through Klook) and planned to explore few places around South East Bali
Visited GWK (Garuda Wishnu Kencana) Park - This was not worth the hype and long walk. It was purely new man made structure, and we felt not much of any cultural significance.
We also visited Uluwatu Temple (South East Bali) in the evening and also witnessed the Kecak dance - Traditional Balinese performance based on Ramayana (though we felt, it was a mockery of the original story, but was made in fun to entertain people).
On the way to Hotel, we had our dinner at Atithi, Indian Restaurant & Bar, Kuta.
Our Stay for the night was at (Kuta Seaview Boutique Resort, Kuta)
Day #3: Travel to Ubud | Explore Ubud Town (Central Bali)
We left Kuta early morning and head towards Ubud (Central Bali) on our pre-booked taxi booked on Klook app.
Reached our Hotel in Ubud - The Evitel Resort Ubud
Booked a scooter from the Hotel itself for us to explore Ubud and around for the rest of the day.
We had our lunch at a Indian Restaurant in Central Ubud - Punjabi Grill Indian Cuisine Ubud.
Post lunch, we visited one of the less explored temples in Ubud area called as Pura Puseh Desa Batuan. This temple is a very well maintained, quiet & serene to visit and also, we can see the whole temple (with traditional Balinese lower dress of course) and enjoy its unique architecture without much Instagram line or crowd.
In the evening we head to Campuhan Ridge walk, near Ubud Central, a short ridge walk amid greenery and also good for evening sunset views. The walk was really nice and with lots of birds and evening sun made it very special.
We had our dinner at another Indian restaurant - Sitara Indian Restaurant Ubud
Our Stay for the night at (The Evitel Resort Ubud)
Day #4: Mt.Batur Sunrise Trek | Explore Ubud (Central Bali)
This morning, we had our chance to experience the Bali's grandeur, its nature and volcanic mountains up close.
Early morning around 2am, we were picked up from our Hotel by the Trek organizers and we were taken to Mt.Batur base and around 4am we started our trek up to Mt.Batur top.
After trekking and prodding for about 2hrs and in between stopping for majestic early sun rise colors, we reached the Mt.Batur top right in time for sunrise around 5:45am.
And what an amazing sunrise it was, we were amazed to see the Mt.Agung and East Bali coastline on the foreground of the sunrise colors (it was like a drawing board with multiple colors).
We had our simple breakfast there at the top of Mt.Batur and descended back after spending couple of hours at the top. We reached back to our Hotel early afternoon.
In the afternoon, we tried one of the famous cafes of Ubud for lunch - Sayuri Healing Food - Cafe, Ubud.
After lunch, we visited the Sacred Monkey Forest in the heart of Ubud and this was interesting place to watch monkeys getting up close with humans and it was good to see lots of baby monkeys living here in the well maintained natural like forest cover for them. The monkey selfie here was a unique thing to observe and there was trick to this whole concept of Monkey Selfie (visit Monkey forest to know more).
Next up, we visited Ubud Palace, it was a short visit for few photos as the entire palace is not open for public, unless of course if you have some pre-planned booking for any photoshoots or events.
Next we headed next door to another interesting temple - Pura Taman Kemuda Saraswati Temple, Ubud - A pathway over a scenic lotus pond leads to this Hindu temple with ornate architectural details.
Before heading back to our hotel, we saw a nice road side Restaurant - The Legend Cafe, Ubud, where we can sit and watch the main street looking at locals and tourists moving around doing their business, while enjoying our drinks and food.
Our Stay for the night was at (The Evitel Resort Ubud)
Day #5: Explore Ulun Danu / North Bali | Back to Ubud
On our last day in Ubud, we planned to visit North Bali and some amazing places there and hence, we booked another taxi for the day and started early morning.
First we visited, Tegalalang Rice Terraces and tried the famous Bali swing.
We also visited near by Tegalalang rice fields and experience the locals indulging in their daily work at their fields and met a senior Bali person selling coconuts with an amazing harmonica talent and while we were enjoying the coconut drink, he played harmonica for us.
Next we had long journey to travel all the way to North Bali and reached our next destination - Banyumala twin waterfalls. The short walk to the waterfalls from the parking area was very well maintained and you can spend hours at this twin waterfalls enjoying the view and surrounding lush greenery. A big hats off to the locals for maintaining this place really well.
After the waterfalls, we head towards one of the most visited places in Bali - Ulun Danu Temple, but on the way we stopped for couple of mins at the Handara Gate to click few snaps of the place and the people who are queued up to take their pics with Handara gate, really the Instagram crowd will not resist themselves anywhere in Bali.
Ulun Danu Temple visit was a good experience, as the location of the temple on the Lake Danau Beratan and the unique architecture of the temple makes it one of the must visit places in North Bali.
After getting back from this day outing in North Bali, we got back to Ubud and transferred to our next stay, which was little interior in Ubud amid the rice fields with nice evening views - Alam Kawi Ubud Resort & Spa, Ubud.
We explored the nearby rice fields and had our late evening snacks and dinner at our resort itself enjoying the night vibes.
Our Stay for the night was at (Alam Kawi Ubud Resort & Spa, Ubud)
Day #6: Travel from Ubud to Amed | Explore Amed (East Bali)
After exploring South & Central & North Bali, it was time to explore East Bali and we planned to explore the same on this day.
On our pre-booked taxi, we started from Ubud towards Amed, easternmost beach of Bali.
On the way we visited, the religiously significant temple in Bali, The Besakih Great Temple - A Large, holy site featuring 23 temples, including several with soaring spires, with many festivals year around. We had a very bad experience here with the local touts and photographers who were literally harassing people who were on their own clicking photos and not taking their services. Also, they were sitting close to the sanctum of the temple smoking cigarettes and also not letting people even get a glimpse of the outside area of sanctum of the temple saying its not allowed for those who do not bring offerings and while arguing with them, one of them came close and tried to touch his burning cigarette to my chest. This was too much for us and we quickly climbed down and clicked few pictures and exited the place as it was evident for us, that they only need tourists there to pay for their offerings and Instagram reels/photos by using their photography services.
Next we visited another similar temple - Lempuyang Temple. Though the temple architecture was nice, here too we were not allowed even to enter the temple premises and had to just click pictures outside and get into the long line of Instagram picture line, and some of them were waiting for hours to get their chance to click photo with Mt.Agung in the background. So, basically all these temples are kept their outside verandah area open for tourists and that too only for such lines for pictures and not for visiting the temples to enjoy the architecture and history of the these ancient temples. Hence, we exited this premises and decided to head straight to Amed beach.
We reached Amed beach and checked into our stay - Amed Cafe and Hotel Kebun Wayan, Amed.
Here we had a magical evening on this black volcanic sand Amed Beach, enjoying the sunset views in the background of Mt. Agung. This was the best beach we visited in our entire trip. The beach was less crowded and much of it family crowd and few tourists enjoying the Scuba dives/Snorkeling and evening boat rides to watch the sunset from the ocean.
The resort had excellent beach facing restaurant with nice food and drinks, so this made our evening more relaxing and memorable.
Our Stay for the night was at (Amed Cafe and Hotel Kebun Wayan, Amed)
Day #7: Ferry from Sanur to Nusa Penida Island (West) | Visit Kelingking Beach
Early morning we had breakfast at our Hotel and then hurriedly we booked a taxi to Sanur Port to catch our Ferry going to Nusa Penida Island.
Earlier we did not realize that it is tough to get taxis in this part of the Bali and also, it takes at least 3hours to reach Sanur port from Amed and we had to reach Sanur under 3hrs. So, our taxi driver made it his priority to make sure we reach Sanur port in time for our cruise to Nusa Penida.
Thankfully to our driver, he made sure we reached in time to Sanur and also safely and we hopped on our first cruise experience in Bali from Sanur to Nusa Penida Island.
We reached Nusa Penida (took 45mins/1hr) to reach Nusa Penida Ferry terminal.
We rented a scooter from Doel Hadi Scooter Rental, just right next to Ferry Terminal and we rode towards Kelingking. On the way, we had nice lunch at a Indian Restaurant - Indian Food Delhi 6.
After reaching Kelingking and check-in to our Hotel, Kelingking Sunset Point Hotel & Spa, we relaxed for some time as we had a long, fast day since morning.
In the evening, we walked from our Hotel to Kelingking beach (just a 400mtrs walk) and we enjoyed the views of Kelingking Beach from the cliff view points, we did not get down to the beach as the cliff pathway down to beach looked slightly dangerous to us and we were happy to stay at the cliff and enjoy the views.
Our Stay for the night was at (Kelingking Sunset Point Hotel & Spa, Kelingking, Nusa Penida)
Day #8: Explore Nusa Penida Island (North) | Visit Mambo Beach area & Relax
On our day-2 in Nusa Penida, we visited another interesting place near Kelingking Beach, which is Angel's Billabong and Broken beach.
Angel's Billabong with its naturally rock cut infinity pools, where the waves rush in to create wave pool is a interesting place, but during our visit the waves were rough and it was not safe to get down to the pool, hence we enjoyed the views and also we were able to spot Manta Rays in the ocean from above.
The Broken Beach, is under current beach where the rock is carved out naturally to make it look like a hidden beach under the rock. Though the place is naturally beautiful, the place is quiet littered with plastic waste which needs attention before it spoils the entire place.
After visiting these places, we rode on scooter all the way to North west of the Island near the harbor to spend next 2 days of Nusa Penida stay.
After reaching, we check-in to our Kayuna Villa Resort & Spa.
We had our lunch at Mambo Beach Restaurant and in the evening we visited the Mambo / Prapat Beach which is usually busy with water sports activities like Scuba dives/Snorkeling/Jet ski's etc.
In the evening during sunset we rode till Buyuk harbor for the sunset views and had dinner at Bollywood Indian Cuisine Restaurant, Nusa Penida before heading back to our stay for the night.
Our Stay for the night was at (Kayuna Villa, Nusa Penida).
Day #9: Explore Nusa Penida Island (East) | Visit Diamond Beach
We had a relaxing lazy morning, exploring the Pratap beach and other nearby beaches near Buyuk Harbor.
In the afternoon, we rode towards Diamond Beach (East Nusa Penida). The route from Buyuk to Diamond beach is most scenic coastal route and really enjoyable with the scooter ride. The endless coast line from the cliff and at times small jungle clearings, numerous small villages on the route makes this journey memorable one.
On the way, you can visit Sampalan Beach which is really scenic and with shallow sea where they are growing Sea weed.
The Diamond beach was one of the best beaches in Nusa Penida and you can enjoy the views from the top of the cliff, also you can get down to the beach itself to enjoy the waves. The place is well managed with nice view points and parking area.
After enjoying the sunset there, we rode back to our resort, and on the way back we had multiple pit stops to finish dinner and to enjoy scenic panoramic views of the ocean from cliffs (it was like mini Great Ocean Road of Australia).
Our Stay for the night was at (Kayuna Villa, Nusa Penida).
Day #10: Ferry from Nusa Penida to Lombok Island | Reach Senaru Village, Lombok
This was our last day in Nusa Penida and we had plans to reach Lombok Island by the end of the day. In the Lombok Island, we had trek planned to Mt.Rinjani, one of the active volcano.
So, we travelled to Buyuk Harbor and waited for our Ferry from Nusa Penida to Lombok Island.
The ferry took around 4hrs to reach to Lombok and we were picked up from Lembar Ferry Terminal by the Rinjani Samalas (Trek organizers) of Lombok and transferred to Rinjani Guest House in Senaru Village (base camp for the Mt.Rinjani Trek).
After relaxing for some time, we visited a near by Sendang Gile Waterfall (a small trek to get there)
After the dinner, we had the meet & greet with trek guides and trek briefing session at our guest house itself.
Our Stay for the night was at (Rinjani Guest House, Senaru Village, Lombok Island).
Day #11: Mt.Rinjani Trek | Day-1 from Senaru village to Sembalun Crater rim campsite
Early in the morning around 7am, After the trek registration at Sembalun town at the Tourism office, we started the trek to Mt.Rinjani.
We met loads of trekking groups and interacted with many folks to exchange views about travel and trekking.
We had really hard trek, as the trail was dusty and loose soil at times which made 2 steps up and 1 step down at most of the trail to reach the campsite.
After the hard day trek we reached the Sembalun Crater rim campsite in the evening and had night camping there in the vicinity of the rim of the Active volcano.
Our Stay for the night was at (Tented camp at Sembalun Crater Rim Campsite).
Day #12: Mt.Rinjani Trek | Day-2 from Sembalun camp to Segara Anak lake / Torean camp
Due to exhaustion from previous day hard trek, we gave up the Summit attempt (was supposed to start at 2am in the night, but we lazy bums chose to sleep and relax for the early morning sunrise, which we later felt not a bad idea given our condition)
But we made for it by descending down the rim, all the way to the bottom to the Segara Anak lake campsite to get a feel of Volcanic lake and also, to get a glimpse of present day active volcanic shaft (mouth) known as Gunung Barujari spewing sulfuric smoke quietly.
Also, we chose not to ascend up to Senaru crater rim, as it was only going to take more time and effort and will be similar view as Sembalun Crater rim (previous night camp). Hence, we chose the Torean jungle route, which passes by the hot springs (where we had our lunch and gave our legs and toes a nice Hot spring massage).
After crisscrossing many cliff hanger like trail section, we finally camped near one cliff point with a slight open ground area (our makeshift campsite for the night).
Our Stay for the night was at (Torean Campsite).
Day #13: Mt.Rinjani Trek | Day-2 from Torean campsite to Senaru village | Reach Mataram
Early morning we continued the trek from Torean cliff campsite and mostly the trail was thick jungle and water stream crossings.
We finally hit the civilization at Torean village and from there we got picked up by Rinjani Samalas in a 4-wheeler to Senaru village.
From Senaru village, after the bye byes to the trek lead and our porters/cooks, we were dropped to Mataram in the cab arranged by the Rinjani Samalas.
We stayed in a hotel close to the Airport and next morning we took flight from Mataram (Lombok) to Denpasar (Bali).
Our Stay for the night was at (Tanawu Airport Hotel, Mataram).
Day #14: Flight from Mataram (Lombok Island) to Bali (Denpasar)
After the grueling trek of 3-days, we slept till late in the morning taking all the much needed rest and finished our breakfast at the hotel itself.
In the afternoon, we walked to the Lombok Airport (it was walkable from our Hotel) and caught our flight from Lombok to Denpasar, Bali.
After reaching Bali, we head to our Hotel - Kuta Seaview Boutique Resort, Kuta and relaxed for the evening with evening walks near Kuta beach.
For the dinner, again we tried the same Atithi, Indian Restaurant & Bar, Kuta.
Our Stay for the night was at (Kuta Seaview Boutique Resort, Kuta)
Day #15: Last day at Bali | Return flight from Denpasar Bali to Bengaluru, INDIA
After the long 2-weeks in Bali & Lombok, this was our Last day of the Tour and after having breakfast nearby to our Hotel, we proceeded to buy some souvenirs before heading to Airport.
The best place everyone suggested was Krishna Oleh Oleh, a big super market kind of area, where you can buy any souvenirs for a fixed prices. Though touch expensive, you get everything under one roof and everything looks authentic.
After spending much time buying souvenirs, we proceeded to Denpasar Airport to catch our Long Return flight back to Bengaluru, INDIA.
After a 3-week long tour of Thailand & then Bali & Lombok, we arrived at our home sweet home with life long memories to cherish from the trip.
6. Other places of Interest in & around Bali
We planned to visit lots of exciting and interesting places in Bali & Lombok during our 2-Week tour. But, to be honest, 2-week is not enough to explore all the places around Bali and there are many places we frankly could not visit due to the distance and limited time.
So, if you want to visit all the places in & around Bali and cover all the trekking trails in Bali & Lombok, 2-3 months would not be enough, hence it would be ideal to plan Bali in phases and visit multiple times and focus on each region and try to cover all the important places/cafes/trekking trails etc.
Below are some of the Important places / regions we did not cover during our Tour and we feel worth visiting in our next phase of Bali (hopefully in near future).
Tanah Lot (South Bali) - Tanah Lot is a rock formation off the Indonesian island of Bali. It is home to the ancient Hindu pilgrimage temple Pura Tanah Lot, a popular tourist and cultural icon for photography.
Secret Bay, Gilimanuk (West Bali) - known as Secret Bay in Bali’s dive community – located extreme West Bali and is the only bay off the narrow Bali Strait where currents can reach 7 knots. A famous Scuba dive spot and ferry harbor to East Java Island (Indonesian Main land).
Lovina Beach (North Bali) - Volcanic-sand beach for diving & snorkeling, featuring regular visits from bottle-nosed dolphins.
Jatiluwih Rice Terraces (Central Bali) - Scenic area with verdant, undulating rice terraces attracting hikers, cyclists & photographers.
Leke Leke Waterfall (Central Bali) - Tall, narrow waterfall surrounded by vegetation & cliffs, reachable by short hike.
Pura Tirta Empul (Central Bali) - Hindu Balinese temple with a bathing area containing holy spring water for ritual purification.
Kanto Lampo Waterfall (South East Bali) - A wooded trail leads to this waterfall flowing down rocks to a small pool surrounded by foliage.
Padang Padang Beach (South Bali) - Cozy, scenic stretch of golden sand featuring large boulders.
Trek to Mount Agung (East Bali) - Mount Agung is the highest peak of Bali and an active volcano, at altitude 3031m. The Pura Pasar Agung trail takes between 4-5 hours to climb depending on your fitness level. The trek starts at 1,700 meters above sea level and ends at Mount Agung crater rim, which is 2,866 meters above sea level.
Trek to Anak Dara Mountain (Lombok Island) - Anak Dara Hill is one of many hills that is a favorite for climbers in Sembalun Lawang Village, Sembalun District, East Lombok. The height of Anak Dara Hill reaches 1,923 meters above sea level (msl).
Gili Islands (Gili Air / Gili Meno / Gili Trawangan) - Party Islands of Indonesia (close to Lombok Island) known for cozy resorts and adventure sports.
7. Brief guide to Mt.Rinjani Trekking in Lombok
Mt.Rinjani / Segara Anak - An active volcanic mountain situated in Lombok Island (east of Nusa Penida & Bali Islands). The Volcanic mountain is regarded as Holy mountain for the local Sasak tribe people (related to Balinese people in ancestry, but are pre-dominantly Muslim) and both Balinese and Sasak people consider the trek as pilgrimage as well.
During our 2-week Bali tour, we added this as our adventure activity and considered 3-days-2-nights trek to Mt.Rinjani and below are some of the details we wanted to share, if you are planning the same trek in Lombok.
Trek Planning:
We trekked with Rinjani Samalas - a local trekking agency based in Senaru village in Lombok island itself.
The experience of booking the trek in advance via online/WhatsApp and making payment via PayPal was seamless and the agency gave all the information about the trek and process of booking. They handled the pickup at Lembar Port in North Lombok and made our stay in Senaru village a hassle free experience.
During the trek, they cooked really amazing Vegetarian food for us (as we both are Vegetarians) and every meal was nutritious and they also acted as porters and helped carry our Tent/Cooking equipment for us and made our tough trek memorable (we carried our trek backpack on our own, as we always do).
Trek Difficulty:
The trek difficulty was not anticipated by us and it was honestly a difficult trek, because of sheer altitude gain on the first day from 600mtrs to 2639mtrs (+2000mtrs).
Also, the terrain and trail, with loose soil and gravel from volcanic rocks made the trek difficult as every 2 steps we climb, we come down 1 step.
At many places, ladders were installed to navigate the cliff trail and monkeys were chancing upon us to steal our food packets during such ladder climbs. At times the cliffs were dangerous and the ropes installed on them were broken or unusable, so safety on the trek was a concern at times, but it comes with any adventure sports.
Our Trek to Mt.Rinjani and Segara Anak Lake was planned as below:
Day 0: Arrive at Lombok - Transfer to Senaru Village - Short Waterfall visit - Trek briefing
We were picked up from Lembar Ferry Terminal in Lombok and transferred to Rinjani guest house.
Visited a near by Sendang Gile Waterfall (a small trek to get there)
After the dinner, we had the meet & greet with trek guides and trek briefing session at our guest house itself.
Day 1: Senaru village (601m) – Sembalun village(1100m) – Sembalun crater rim (2639m)
After the trek registration at Sembalun town at the Tourism office, we started the trek to Mt.Rinjani.
Met loads of trekking groups and interacted with many folks to exchange views about travel and trekking.
We had really hard trek, as the trail was dusty and loose soil at times which made 2 steps up and 1 step down at most of the trail to reach the campsite.
After the hard day trek we reached the Sembalun Crater rim campsite in the evening and had night camping there in the vicinity of the rim of the Active volcano.
Day 2: Sembalun crater rim(2639m)-Summit(3726m)-Segara Anak lake and Senaru Crater rim (2000m)
Actual Executed: Sembalun crater rim(2639m) - Segara Anak lake - Hot Springs - Torean Jungle route - Cliff campsite
Due to exhaustion from previous day hard trek, we gave up the Summit attempt (was supposed to start at 2am in the night, but we lazy bums chose to sleep and relax for the early morning sunrise, which we later felt not a bad idea given our condition)
But we made for it by descending down the rim, all the way to the bottom to the Segara Anak lake campsite to get a feel of Volcanic lake and also, to get a glimpse of present day active volcanic shaft (mouth) known as Gunung Barujari spewing sulfuric smoke quietly.
Also, we chose not to ascend up to Senaru crater rim, as it was only going to take more time and effort and will be similar view as Sembalun Crater rim (previous night camp). Hence, we chose the Torean jungle route, which passes by the hot springs (where we had our lunch and gave our legs and toes a nice Hot spring massage).
After crisscrossing many cliff hanger like trail section, we finally camped near one cliff point with a slight open ground area (our makeshift campsite for the night).
Day 3: Senaru crater rim (2641m) – Senaru village (601m) Actual Executed: Torean Jungle route Cliff campsite - Torean village - 4 wheeler ride from Torean village to Senaru village to close the trek.
Early morning we continued the trek from Torean cliff campsite and mostly the trail was thick jungle and water stream crossings.
We finally hit the civilization at Torean village and from there we got picked up by Rinjani Samalas in a 4-wheeler to Senaru village.
From Senaru village, after the bye byes to the trek lead and our porters/cooks, we were dropped to Mataram in the cab arranged by the Rinjani Samalas.
We stayed in a hotel close to the Airport and next morning we took flight from Mataram (Lombok) to Denpasar (Bali).
Trek Organizer Information:
Below is the Website for Rinjani Samalas, Lombok (Local Trekking agency for Mt.Rinjani trek)
Below are the 2 trekking packages that we shortlisted for Mt.Rinjani and Segara Anak trek.
We would recommend the 4-days-3-nights trek package, as the trek is difficult and terrain requires careful navigation and more time to enjoy the trek and the Volcanic mountain trail.
8. Conclusion
All in all, our 2 weeks of Bali & Lombok tour was successful with loads of good memories and backpacking experience. We experienced the rick culture & traditions of Bali, along with its amazing volcanic mountains, natural forests with waterfalls, amazing beaches and captivating sunrise and sunsets with rich cuisine.
Positives:
The overall experience was good, especially planning the trip, Hotel accommodations, interacting with people, the greenery and the nature of Bali island, the cafes, hassle free experience of booking cabs or ferries etc.
Lombok Island (separate Island located East of Bali & Nusa Penida) is one of the excellent destination and could well be a alternate or add-on destination to Bali for Travelers in the years to come. The Lombok island offers lot of Trekking and Adventure activities and the locals there are championing the management of Trekking and Adventure activities by building thriving travel friendly communities and facilities.
A trek to Mt. Rinjani & Segara Anak Volcanic lake is a must do activity on the Lombok island and the island has much more to offer. See our earlier section of "Guide to Mt.Rinjani trekking" for more details and we will publish a dedicated blogpost soon, to share our Trekking experience to Mt.Rinjani in Lombok.
Amed Beach:
An excellent getaway from hustle bustle of Central or South Bali.
Located in East Bali, This is one of the Best black sand beaches of Bali, Indonesia with great sunset views and best diving & snorkel sites.
Unlike other over crowded beaches in Kuta, this beach in Amed was serene and peaceful for us during our Bali Trip in June 2022.
The beach is one of the black sand beaches in Bali due to the volcanic sand and close proximity and with best views of Mt.Agung (largest active volcano of the Bali Island).
Diamond Beach & Road leading to it from Buyuk, Nusa Penida:
Located in East Nusa Penida Island (Island next to Bali), the route from Buyuk to Diamond beach is most scenic coastal route and really enjoyable with the scooter ride. The endless coast line from the cliff and at times small jungle clearings, numerous small villages on the route makes this journey memorable one.
The diamond beach itself is very scenic and panoramic views of the cliff and the ocean is a must see if you are in Nusa Penida island. You can also get down from the cliff to the actual diamond beach (if time permits), but keep in mind, the waves will be tricky around the cliff and not safe for swim (please exercise caution here).
Uluwatu Temple and panoramic views of Ocean:
This temple located in South East Bali is very famous destination and a lot of tourists flock here on their day-1 visit itself. The temple boasts of majestic panoramic ocean views from the cliffside and a expansive green cover with lots of trees and also sharp and conniving monkeys who are well trained on stealing stuff and in return demanding food or fruits from people. Also the evening show of Traditional Kecak dance (a story from Ramayana - but most of it is distorted and made for fun) is famous here. Although the Kecak dance could be skipped if you have better things to do in the evening.
Mt.Batur Sunrise Trek:
One of the best activity to do when you are in Bali, is this Mt.Batur sunrise trek. A short 2hr trek to reach the top of the Mt.Batur where you can have a glimpse of the smoke coming out of its old but still active volcanic shaft. And also, grand sunrise view from the top, where you can see the coastline, Mt.Agung in the background and also, if you are lucky distant view of Mt.Rinjani of Lombok Island.
We booked this Sunrise trek on Klook and they booked the local trek organizers for this and the team picked us up from our hotel in Ubud at 2am and around 4am, we started the trek from the base of Mt.Batur and reached the top around 5:30-5:45am just in time for the Sunrise. The package included breakfast and pickup/drop to our Hotel and it was well organized group trek.
Mt.Rinjani Active volcano Trek:
Details are in previous section "7. Brief guide to Mt.Rinjani Trekking in Lombok"
Negatives:
The negative aspect were also there, in terms of the Touristy Temples, where the locals are simply using tourists for money and not allowing them to visit the inside of temples (also at times reasonable, as some western tourists are just plain rude and disrespectful to the customs and traditions of the local), but we get the pure Instagram tourist vibes which is sad but true.
Transportation wise, its being observed that, uncontrolled traffic mostly non-registered tourist bikes with no clear rules or guidelines on renting the bikes, which results in chaotic traffic and dangerous riding by some amateur tourists and this results in long traffic especially in Kuta and Ubud area. The non-existent public transport is making this traffic problem worse in Bali (which we felt is the main concern for future, as no.of travelers are increasing in Bali every season), and public transport like Bus or Shuttle service are a must.
Another thing observed, was the influence of foreigners (especially Australians) on owning the cafes / restaurants or Hotel or resort chains and other commercial establishments in Bali is a scary thought, as, locals always end up working for them and not getting the control on their land or commercial or Tourist revenues. This will hurt local Balians in the longer run.
*******
But, nevertheless, Bali has a lot to offer to every type of Tourist or Traveler in terms of Serenity or Adventure. If carefully researched Bali has a lot of unexplored or less explored nature trails and beaches which are definitely worth visiting, if you want to get out of the already explored and crowded Kuta beaches in South Bali.
We will update our blogpost if we happen to visit Bali again in near future or if we stumble upon any new interesting details about Bali or Lombok.
Join us on our Facebook page "The Travelling Couple" and subscribe to our YouTube channel "@thetravellingcouple_in" for more travel inspiration and insights. For any suggestions or travel-related queries, please contact thetravellingcouple.in@gmail.com.
With Thanks,
The Travelling Couple
Comments