Thursday, May 10, 2018

May 10, 2018

A beautiful beach destination - Gokarna!

0


Kudle Beach
Gokarna was familiar for me as my father is from Manglore region and have visited the place as a child. But I never experienced its true beauty until in Feb 2018. A small pilgrimage town nestled on the western coastline of India about 2 hrs road trip to the south from Goa. It is also different due to the hills that come in the way of the coastline giving it a bumpy but beautiful topography. And to ensure that tourists thoroughly make most of the hilly region, beaches are well interconnected through hills than roads. Which means when you visit Gokarna you will need to trek to the most beaches through the hilly areas, this also gives you the pleasure of enjoying views of the ocean from the hills.
Gokarna literally means Cows Ear and this place has some significance in ancient Indian history. However, it has developed into beautiful beach destination where you can experience the hippie culture as well as rich Indian culture.

How to reach:  

Train: We were travelling from Mumbai, we boarded Matsyagandha train from Mumbai LTT (Lokmanya Tilak Terminus) at about 15:20 hrs which reached Gokarna Road early in the morning at 4:00hrs. We had pre-booked our hotel and since were about to reach at odd hours we had also taken the auto drivers contact details from the hotel reception in order to ensure that the transport is arranged. From Gokarna Road station to Kudle beach is about 13 kms and the auto guy charged us Rs.350.

Bus: There are multiple bus operators which will take you to Gokarna. The bus journey from Mumbai is about 15-17 hrs. All the buses going to Mangalore will take you to Gokarna. The bus will drop you at the Highway junction called Madnageri bus stop. The stop has a petrol pump and a few shops. Do not expect the stop to have many commercial outlets. However, there is an Auto rickshaw stand here where you will find at least a few autos standing willing to take you to the Gokarna City. Madnageri Bus stop to City is about 15 kms and they should charge you about Rs.350-400.
Just a note all the beaches or beach front huts needs some downhill walking hence I would suggest travel light and if possible carry haversack as this will be easier to climb up or down the hill. And in case your accommodation is on beach you will need to carry your bags and walk along the beach and then climb the hill to get on the road.

Transport: If you do not have your own vehicle the only local transport is auto rickshaws or taxis. Normally when I travel places I look to hire bicycle or mopped bike however this option was not readily available here. So, the best thing to do is to walk and if the distance is too much hire an auto rickshaw.

Accommodation:
We were staying at Gokarna International hotel which is on the Kudle beach. To reach this beach (as in case of every other beach in Gokarna) you will need to climb down the hill. This beach is really beautiful and it looks smaller but has quite a long shore and along the shore there are number of restaurants. Almost every restaurant has rooms available behind the restaurant area. Some of them are very cheap and comes with good sea view as well.

1.       Gundappa Café – Mob:7259240297
2.       Uma Sunrise (this place is 100 meters behind the beach front) - 9845558418
3.       Shanti Place (Tipi Guest House) – 7406195637,9620552257
4.       Kudle Ocean Front- this one seems like a bit expensive one.
5.       Gokarna International Hotel – we paid around Rs.3000 per night for a ac room. Here you can get Sea view rooms as well but there is no Air conditioning in these rooms. The prices are a bit on higher side as we had booked it through Makemytrip.com.

Gokarna International Hotel

Sea View from our room in Gokarna International Hotel

In case you go there directly and ask for room price in any of the hotels you may get it for cheap. However, I would recommend to book in advance if you are travelling over a long weekend or festive season. Other than those mentioned above, there are lot of good options. You may also try the famous Namaste café which is on Om Beach. Or there some good options on the Gokarna main beach we well. This beach is very long one and it experiences local crowd during weekends.
Normally for a beach destination I prefer a beach front hut, however there are many accommodation options which are quite away from the beach on the hill with a magnificent ocean view. You could opt for these as well.

Restaurants: Well I was not so impressed by the food here in Gokarna, but I believe it depends a lot on what you order. A few of the places we tried are given below:
1.       Arya Ayurvedic I would recommend a vegetarian restaurant in Kudle beach Arya Ayurvedic. This is more of a Ayurvedic care home or a Panchakarma Center where patients are treated and they are allowed to stay there to recover from their illness. It is not a tourist hotel. However, the restaurant is good and anyone can walk in. Although the restaurant gets closed by 22:00 hrs so no late-night meals please!
2.       Namste Café: This is located on the OM beach and generally is very crowded. The food here is good.
3.       Munchies – This is on Kudle beach and If possible please avoid this place, food was not good here.
King Fish fry - Lot of sea food options available in Gokarna


Things to do in Gokarna:

1.       Trekk: Honestly one thing you cannot avoid being in Gokarna is Trekking. And believe me you will gradually start enjoying because you will come across points during your trek from where you will have amazing view of the ocean from different angles you will love it! The trekking paths are marked and are easy to find. Some of them are the winding narrow paths around the hills. It’s truly funn!
You can take an Auto rickshaw ride from Main beach to Kudle beach or Om beach. However, to go to Paradise and other beaches you have no road ways you will need to walk or trek.
View from one of the Trekking paths


2.       Visit the Mahabaleshwar and Ganapathi Temple: Gokarna is considered a holy town and experiences lot of visitors from neighboring states to worship these Gods. These two temples are in the city close to the main Gokarna Beach.

3.       Shopping: There are lot of shops for shopping in the city which is close to the main Beach. You can shop for Copper utensils, Spices, Organic stuffs, Hippie stuff like clothes, shoes scarves, beaded jewellery, leather & cloth bags etc. Few shops offer good homemade pickles, papads, Ayurvedic churnas, Ayurvedic Personal care products etc.

4.       Swimming: Most beaches in Gokarna are safe for swimming. Since we were on Kudle beach we went to Swim in Kudle beach and it was lot of fun!

5.       Kayaking: There are vendors on Kudle beach from whom you can rent the Kayak and Go Kayaking in the ocean!

6.       Boating: There are vendors on Kudle as well as Om beach who take groups of about 10-15 for boating and if you are lucky you may spot Dolphins as well. We too got lucky and spotted a dolphin. We went boating on OM beach and they took us around too show the Paradise beach and Half-moon beach. They charged us Rs.300 per person.
Boating on Om beach


7.       Ayurvedic Kerala Massage: We had been to Shree Jayam Ayurvedic center which was in the premises of our hotel (Gokarna international Hotel). The prices were very reasonable. We paid Rs.1000 for a complete body massage. They offer lot of other good massages. Some of them could go on for days. It was really nice and rejuvenating experience.
Ayurvedic Massage Center in Gokarna International Hotel


8.       Lay on the beach at night watching the magnificent sky with millions of stars. Yes it is very safe to be on the beach at night in Kudle. We were two female travelers, but it didn’t stop us from laying on the beach at night gazing at stars till midnight.

1.       Visit Nearby towns like Murudeshwara -  Murudeshwara is a beautiful village and is famous for the Murudeshwara Temple which gas a gigantic Shiva statue in the middle of the ocean. This temple is surrounded by sea from three sides. The temple has a tall Gopuram(Temple entry gate) and has a lift service which takes you to the top floor of the Gopuram to enjoy the view from top. The temple charges Rs. 10 per person for the lift services.
Shiva statue view from the Gopuram

Coast of the Murudeshwara beach view from Gopuram


1.       Paragliding in Gokarna -  Although we didn’t try our hands at Paragliding, we saw couple of people paragliding over the hill on Kudle beach. Charges are Rs.2500 per person. So if you are the adventurous one this one is for you!
Read more
By at No comments:
Labels: , , ,

Friday, March 2, 2018

March 02, 2018

Be happy when in Hampi!

0


I wanted to visit Hampi since a long time and I finally did last Christmas (December 2017). As I reminisce about my visit to Hampi, its rocky ground, big boulders that looked like it has been stacked one above the other by some kid while playing, and the calm river Tungabhadra, flowing along this region adding to its magnificent beauty, flashes in front of my eyes. Unfortunately Hampi is fighting its battles of being the UNESCO world heritage site and a tourist friendly or shall we say Hippy friendly destination. Hampi is now completely under Archeological Society of India (ASI) and thus locals are not allowed any more to commercialize it. In fact this led to demolition of all the commercial premises like the guest houses, restaurants etc. in Hampi. Locals feel that this involves politicians and some big businessmen who want to build plush hotels in Hospet, since they consider these commercial premises as threats. After lot of protests and struggles, they were finally allowed to set up guest houses and restaurants on the other side of the River Tungabhadra. This is also referred to as “Hippie Island” many a times. The original name for this place is Anengudi. Hence now if you travel to Hampi you will not find anything other than the monuments and some small food stalls.
Everything about Hampi seems to have some unique flavor of its own. And that has been indeed my experience travelling to different places. Every place has a unique flavor, an exclusive vibe of its own. People, constitutes a significant part of any traveler’s experience and this experience is further enhanced as one interacts with the fellow travelers. 
People’s dialect of this region is naturally a bit on the harsher side, so they come across a bit harsh, but they need not essentially mean disrespect. Probably they are just learning the ways of flourishing through tourism. However, in my experience, some people who earn their living through tourism like Auto rickshaw owners, Tour operators, Guest house owners would talk foul about their competitors in an attempt to attract more business. This also led to confusion whether to trust these people or not. So my suggestion is to research well on various aspects like what are the normal charges for the services. Nonetheless, Hampi as a travel destination will not fail to awe you. And there is plenty to explore and experience!
Hampi



Reaching Hampi
AIR & BUS: We were travelling from Mumbai, and we had taken a flight from Mumbai to Bangalore (evening flight). From Bangalore we were to board the bus from the nearest bus stop (i.e. 8th Mile). We had pre- arranged our transport using some contacts, hence we didn’t waste time in arranging taxi at Bangalore Airport to reach 8th Mile. The Taxi guy was punctual and was waiting for our arrival it took us an hour to reach 8th Mile from Kempegowda International Airport. We had to pay the taxi guy rupees 1100. We did not bargain much on the price, I think we could have got a better deal. Nonetheless the experience was great, as the driver was aware of the local areas. He also stopped for us at McDonalds drive through so that we could parcel our dinner. We reached on time to board the bus to Hospet at about 23:40 hrs (overnight journey of about 6-7 hrs). We reached Hospet at 6:00 hrs. Hospet is the nearest city for Hampi and since most of the buses reach in the morning, you will find a lot of tea vendors and Auto rickshaw guys waiting at this junction.
ROAD: Alternatively, there are number of buses that ply between Mumbai to Hospet and it is a 15-16 hrs journey. If you are willing to spend so much time travelling, bus is the best option.
TRAIN: There aren’t many trains from Mumbai to Hospet. Just two trains (16533 BGKT SBC EXPRES and 16531 SBC GARIB NAWAJ) and these two do not halt at any main junction in western or central Mumbai. You will need to board the train from Vasai road or Panvel.
Transport
You can get an autorickshaw easily from Hospet to take you to Hampi. As soon as you reach Hospet be careful of the money transactions you make with locals because people here can fool you easily. Hospet to Hampi is around 12 Kms. Anything between Rs.180 -250 is a fair deal. Autorickshaw guy takes passengers till the jetty where normally a motor boat is waiting to take people on the other side of the river. However, the boat service commences only at 8:30 (until 17:30 hrs) every morning. Since we had reached quite early and we had luggage with us, we decided to take coracle which is also an option but an expensive one! The motor boat would normally charge Rs. 10 per person and in case you have luggage, you will be charged one person’s fare extra. But since boat service had not begun coracle was the only option. They charge Rs.100 per person.
Also, the boat fare can change anytime. In case you are visiting Hampi during a long weekend, the boatman can charge you Rs.20 or Rs.30. This price is not fixed and it is up to the boatman.
Accommodation
There are a lot of cheap and comfortable guest houses in Anengudi. The most famous among these is Shanthi Guest house. However, my personal experience with Shanthi Guest house was not great. You need to book in advance as it is the first one to be sold out. It has few huts surrounded by paddy fields. But this could be a little expensive of all but not expensive as per the metro cities standard. Rs. 2500 per night for a very ordinary room to Rs.3500-4000 for nice huts with view of paddy fields. These are peak season prices in case you book in advance you could get a good deal.
We however stayed at Sri Uma Shankar Café & guest house for a night. The staff is extremely helpful and courteous. It has 3-4 rooms on first floor and 3-4 rooms on the ground floor. Rooms are spacious, comfortable, clean and most importantly they have hot water available in the bathroom! Ground floor rooms were Rs.1000 per night for two people. And First floor rooms were Rs.1500 per night. This guest house made us feel at home, if I am to visit Hampi again I will surely stay at Sri Uma Shankar Café.
Sri Uma Shankar Cafe in Hampi
Sri Uma Shankar Guest House

And for other nights we stayed at Hema Guest house. This one was just okay. I was not very impressed as the care taker or the host never even smiled throughout our stay. Huts were just okay. We bargained with the owner and got the room for three nights for Rs. 5000. Rooms are smaller and just about ok, the bathrooms are smaller as well. There is no hot water directly in the bathroom you will need to get it from their common bathroom.
Other guesthouses were:
Sunny’s Guest House
Laughing Buddha
Raju Guest House
There are many guest houses/accommodations available on this street. You may just walk up to the guest house and ask for the room price. This way you will get rooms for very cheap.

Restaurants:
Almost all the guest houses have a restaurant of their own. We enjoyed food at every restaurant we tried except at Sri Laxmi Golden Beach resort. The location of this restaurant is just awesome but food was not at all good. We did leave a feedback note to the owner. Hope he works on it! The restaurant is located adjacent a rice field. The view is magical due to the boulders that can be seen on the other side of the field.
Try local food at Sri KP home-made pure veg food. A local lady prepares food which is very tasty and her husband runs a travel agency named “Uma Travels”.
Sri KP Homemade veg food in Hampi
Sri KP home-made pure veg food
Rajus Guest House Cafe in Hampi
Raju Guest house cafe

Sri Uma Shankar Cafe in Hampi
Sri Uma Shankar Cafe
Local Commute:
You can hire a moped bike or a bicycle to move around the hippy island. Moped bikes are available for Rs.250-400 per day. Bicycle is available for Rs.100-150 per day.
Actually, you won’t need any vehicle as the center is really small and most of the guest houses are around the center. So, walking is enough. However, if you wish to visit some places on the side of the island, like the Sanapur lake or the waterfall then definitely you will need either two-wheeler or an autorickshaw.
To visit the monuments, you will need to cross the river and come to Hampi. Please note the boat timings: 8:30 – 17:30 hrs. Sometimes they may just take people post 17:30 hrs if there are lot of people waiting to cross and they will charge you more, like Rs. 50 per person. Once the boat service stops you will need to take the Coracle service for Rs.100 per person.
On the other side of the river i.e. Hampi where all the beautiful monuments are located, you will need to hire an auto rickshaw or join some group which has a guide to take you to the important monuments. The group will be either on bicycle moving from one monument to another or by walking. The guide will be describing the monuments and also some historical events associated to the monuments.

Things to do:
  1. Bicycle tour of Hampi with Ravi. Ravi is a tour guide in Anengudi. He is available in Raju’s Guest house. He organizes tours on bicycle and autorickshaw. We had opted for bicycle. It was great fun! We went around the major monuments of Hampi on bicycle. It was a task as Hampi has quite a few slopes and the bicycles provided were not geared ones, so we had to pedal hard during up hill slopes. Nonetheless, we had great fun! Ravi assigned a guide Arun who explained the history of the monument in detail. After covering some monuments, they stopped at a restaurant for lunch which serves good local food. Post lunch we covered some more important monuments like Vitthala temple. This tour takes complete day. Towards the end of the tour we had to carry our bicycle until we reached Matanga hill from where the road to Hampi market starts, and that’s where our tour ended. This tour cost us Rs. 800 (excluding food, entry charges etc). Entry charges for all the monuments included is Rs. 30 for Indians and Rs.500 for foreigners. Retain the ticket as the same ticket is valid for other monuments.
    2. Bicycle tour in Hampi
    Bicycle & Auto tours arranged by Ravi
    Rajus Guest House Cafe in Hampi
    Raju Guest House where you can find Ravi
    Vitthala Stone Chariot in Hampi
    The famous stone chariot at Vitthala

    Lotus Mahal at Hampi
    Lotus Mahal

    Elephant Stable at Hampi
    Elephant Stable

    Virrupaksha Temple at Hampi
    Virrupaksha Temple





  2. Watch a sunset on Matanga Hill. This is a small hill but due to boulders you will need to trek a bit. It takes about 30 mins to trek this hill, the trek on the top is little steep. But the view is breathtaking. You can see the entire Hampi from here. Be careful as this hill is visited by wild animals in the night so as soon as the sun sets ensure you head back.

    3. Sunset View from Matanga Hill at Hampi
    Sunset view from Matanga Hill





  3. Visit Sanapur Lake & the waterfall on the other side of the river. Sanapur lake is about 3-4 kms from Anengudi and it is beautiful. However, I would suggest to visit this lake in the evening. You will not be able to see the lake until you reach the end as it appears hidden. It is actually lake formed by the Tungabhadra Dam. The beauty of this lake is accentuated by the boulders surrounding it.  You can also enjoy a coracle ride in this beautiful lake.

    4. Sanapur Lake at Hampi
    Sanapur Lake





  4. Watch Sunrise from Anjaneya hill or Monkey hill. This is a sacred place as it is believed that Lord Hanuman was born on this hill. You can see lots of black faced monkeys here. The hill has a temple which is open from 6:00Am, however the you will get Darshan only at 8:00AM. There are about 575 steps to climb the hill. It is quite safe to climb the hill in the early hours before the sunrise. We hired an autorickshaw who charged us Rs.500 to take us and get us back. TIP: It could be cold in the early morning if you are travelling during winter carry enough warm clothes.

    5. Sunrise at Anjaneya Hill at Hampi
    Just before Sunrise at Anjaneya Hill

    Sunrise at Anjaneya Hill at Hampi
    Sunrise from Anjaneya Hill





  5. Camping on the boulders: Hampi is full of adventurous activities. This is one of the activities that I missed since I did not have more time to spend in Hampi. Camping on boulders seems fun. I did enquire at Tom & Jerry’s adventures. They have a small shop just next to Hema Guest house. They arrange for Bouldering, Rappelling, Camping, Trekking & Slacklining. When enquired they had quoted Rs.1500 per person this included dinner & breakfast.  They also said there would be bonfire and if possible, they would try to keep barbeque as well. Unfortunately, we could not do this.

    6. Tom & Jerry Adventures contact details at Hampi, bouldering, camping, rock climbing
    Tom & Jerry Adventures contact details





  6. Visit Daroji Bear Sanctuary. Situated about 15-20 kms from Hampi. You can take an autorickshaw they should charge you about Rs.800-1000 for the round trip. If you have a vehicle, then the charges are Rs.500. The sanctuary is open from 2:00 – 6:00 PM. TIP: Carry Binoculars.






  7. You could also visit nearby Tungabhadra Dam.







  8. We had hired an autorickshaw to visit all the other monuments which were not covered during the bicycle tour. Auto guy took us to the Archeological Museum which is in Kamalapur. Entry charge is Rs.30. This museum has the before and after photographs of all the monuments. Some monuments were excavated.






  9.  Learn to make Dream catcher. There are shops which teach you to make dream catchers and jewelry using the thread. The dream catchers are beautiful looking artifact.






  10. For Shopaholics this is not such a great place, although you will find many shops on the street of Anengundi which sell dream catchers, jewelry, clothes, music instruments, shoes, bags etc.
Anengudi Street at Hampi
Beautiful Anengudi Street
Read more
By at No comments:
Labels: , , ,

Thursday, February 15, 2018

February 15, 2018

Enchanting Bali! Helpful tips to plan a trip to Bali (Ubud & Seminyak)

0
Bali is one the most beautiful places I have been. Although I have returned from Bali but it seems like my heart still resides there. One of the most striking features of Bali is its tropical flora. Bali is a treasure of Nature’s most beautiful flowers. Among other features are its people. They are very courteous and warm. Everything in Bali is very tourist friendly. Balinese people are also very artistic. They have some of the fine stone carvings and wood carvings. In fact, I felt that they are very artistic in their overall approach in life. The way they dress, express their happiness to god, the way they pray to god, their cuisine etc. I think Bali is a place one must visit. Oh did I mention that they are just obsessed with Ramayana & Mahabharata! You will know once you are in Bali!

Rice fields or Paddy fields in Ubud(Bali)

Visa
There is Tourist Visa exemption for about 140 countries. These countries get a visa stamp for 30 days ONLY. Being Indian I did not have to pay for Visa on Arrival, however do check on these rules before visiting as my friend had paid for it just a year ago. For more details please check the below websites:
https://www.bali.com/visa-indonesia-entry-requirements-bali.html
http://www.inbali.org/bali-visa/

Flight
We traveled from Mumbai to Bali (Denpasar) via Kuala Lumpur through Air Asia. It was 9 hours flight. Since Air Asia is a budget Airline, one needs to pre-book their meals and baggage allowance. These things are considered as Add-ons.
  1. Meals: My suggestion would be to book your meals in advance either during purchasing your tickets or while web check-in which needs to be 24 hrs. prior to flight time (if you wish to book meals). You can also purchase your meals on the flight, but options are very limited. Especially for vegetarians.
  2. In Flight Entertainment: There are no inflight entertainments in Air Asia flights so please prepare accordingly what you will be doing during the 9 hours journey.
  3. Baggage: Air Asia is quite strict with Baggage allowance. You are allowed only 2 pieces of cabin baggage that does not exceed 7kgs. If you wish to Check-in luggage then you will need to purchase baggage allowance separately.
Means of Communication
Once we landed in Bali, the first thing we did was to purchase a SIM card. There is a Telkomsel booth just after you come out of the Airport on the left side where a lot of drivers are waiting with placards. There are about 3-4 options offered. Depending on your requirement of International call usage, local call usage and Data usage you can choose the suitable option. The price ranges from 350,000 IDR to 500,000 IDR. However, we later realized that there are cheaper options available in the city.
Taxi from Airport
We were greeted by many agents outside the airport for taxi. They initially quote very high you need to negotiate with them. We had planned to visit Ubud first; the pre-paid taxi quoted IDR 600,000. However, we negotiated to IDR 250,000 since Ubud is quite far from Denpasar.
Local Transport
Seminyak/Denpasar: For local transport you can also take Bluebird taxi. It charges you by meter. But Bali has too many similar looking taxis, so look for bluebird only. Many a times the driver will refuse to go by meter and will ask for random amount (in dollars) hence ensure that he goes by meter.  For bluebird taxi you can use the bluebird app on your android phone. You can get Bluebird taxi just a little outside the airport.
Our driver showed us his Bluebird ID at the airport so we went with him, but we later realized that he either wasn’t a Bluebird driver but possessed a fake ID or he was just using his id to make some more money. As long as you are charged a reasonable amount, most drivers are safe to go with.
Another option for local transport is Grab taxi. Similar to Bluebird taxi, Grab taxi also has its app. Grab is the cheapest of all. However most of the hotel staff do not recommend Grab due to some taxi union issues, hence preferably do not make it obvious that you are using grab taxi. Also, please do not make them wait so that nobody will notice it. This will help the driver to serve you better. However, this is applicable for Seminyak, Kuta etc.
Ubud :In Ubud, the best option for short distance travel is to hire a moped bike. In fact, if you are used to riding bikes and if you have a valid license you can use it to explore Ubud. Most hotels will provide you with bikes for a rent of IDR 60,000 - 80,000 per day. Ubud being the mountainous region has lot of slopes, so be careful while riding with your bikes. And it rains there quite often so roads could be slippery.

Currency

 We had carried Indonesian Rupiah with us we bought it from Daspan Forex at Goregaon. Only selective vendors keep IDRs. Normally when you ask the price to buy IDR you will be given price per 100,000 IDR. We paid 530 rupees per 100,000 IDR. Before leaving we had checked if we could withdraw money after reaching Bali using our debit card. And to our surprise, the currency withdrawn through debit cards were cheaper. It cost us 480 rupees per 100,000 IDR.

Restaurants
Ubud has many nice restaurants and available to fit every budget. However, we found it difficult to find vegetarian or vegan restaurants. In normal restaurants you will hardly find anything in Veg. They consider egg as veg so be specific when you order food and ask questions. Some restaurants have amazing ambience, however almost every restaurant has amazing staff. Some of the restaurants or cafes that we tried in Ubud were:
  1. Bali Buda, located at Jl. Jembawan, Ubud, Bali.
  2. Gelato Secrets, located at Jl. Raya Ubud. They serve amazing Gelatos.
  3. Taman Curry, located at Jl. Raya Ubud. Ambience is just ok however food is quite good and reasonable.
  4. Tukies, located at Jl. Raya Ubud. They have varieties of sweets and other delicacies made of coconut. They also have amazing fresh coconut ice cream.
       
Tukies Coconut savouries shop at Ubud(Bali)
Tukies

Seminyak: Seminyak has millions of options for food, drinks, & desserts.
  1. Zula Vegetarian Paradise, Jl Camplung Tanduk, Seminyak. This was the veg restaurant with amazing variety in their menu and food is great as well. We visited this place twice while we were in Seminyak.
  2. Sushimi Kai, Jl Camplung Tanduk, Seminyak. This is a Japanese Restaurant mainly serving Sushi. We went here twice as we enjoyed our meals here. The staff is very warm and ambience so nice that you would definitely want to revisit.
  3. La Patio, Jl. Raya Seminyak.
  4. Gateway of India, Jl. Abimanyu No. 10, Seminyak. We used to visit this place only for Indian Chai. Along with Chai Pakoras which were amazing.
  5. Gelato Twist, Jl. Raya Seminyak. The best ice cream of my life was made here. Try their Dragon Berry you will be blown away.
Zula Vegetarian Paradise Restaurant in Seminyak(Bali)
Zula
Sushimi Kai Restaurant in Seminyak (Bali)
Sushimi Kai

Accommodation
Ubud :Accommodation is very cheap in Ubid and the good news is even though its cheap it’s damn good. We paid about approx. IDR 900,000 for three nights including fresh and yummy breakfast.
We had already booked our hotel in Ubud through booking.com. It was Taman Bali Bungalow (No., Jl. Sri Wedari No.64, Ubud, Gianyar, Bali 80571, Indonesia). It is a little inside from the main street but was very nice place to stay. It is a single wooden cabin with a double bed and some necessary things. It has a small beautiful garden outside it. If you are a nature lover, you are in for a real treat!! They grow their own ginger!! I was fascinated with that. Ubud will attract you for so many reasons and flora being just one of them! And that is why most restaurants I guess serves fresh food.
Breakfast at Taman Bali Bunglow, Ubud (Bali)
Lip smacking breakfast at Taman Bali Bunglow
Coming back to Taman Bali Bungalow, it is very well managed, spotlessly clean and they have a very warm staff. They have small verandah/porch outside the cabin where you can leave your breakfast request on the sheet of paper which will be given to you and it will be served in the morning!


Seminyak: We had booked Grandmas Plus Hotel. Seminyak, unlike Ubud gives very urban feel. And most hotels are big buildings. Our hotel was very close to the beach. The staff was very warm and welcoming. They have a very small pool by the restaurant. They also have complimentary bicycles. Note that there are just 4-5 cycles and they can be used up till 6:00 PM. We used these cycles to move around. The streets are beautiful with shops and restaurants on both the sides.
Rooms are smaller but very clean and will have everything you need. We had paid about IDR 2120000 for 4 nights. This included breakfast. Breakfast is not a buffet, and is served in smaller portion. So, you may have to eat out to fill your stomach.
They have a beautiful lobby where you can surf net, read books, they also have some activities like learn to make Canang Sari ('chanang', or small, square, woven baskets made from cut coconut leaves and filled with flowers – accompanied by an assortment of gifts for the Gods and topped with a single smoldering stick of incense.)


Places to visit/things to do in Bali
Ubud:
  1. Cycle tour with Greenbyke. This is a must do. This was the best way to explore Bali and its culture. Greenbyke will pick you up from your hotel. First, they will take you to the coffee plantation, where you can see a Luwak. Also, you can taste the world famous Luwak coffee which is world’s most expensive coffee, but not that expensive in Bali. You will be served breakfast here mostly pancakes and fruits.During the tour, Greenbyke will actually take you to some of the local Balinese people’s homes and show you how they live, explain their culture etc. You will cycle on the lanes between rice fields, orchards, temples etc. It is mostly downhill cycling so you won’t feel tired and besides the cycles provided are geared ones. Once the tour is over, you will be served lunch in a beautiful restaurant. They are very considerate of your food preferences (in case of any food allergies etc.) Food is very delicious! This price for this tour was IDR 350,000 per person. There are other operators as well.  If you research well you could find some operators which charge IDR 280,000 -300,000 per person. But since the reviews were very good we went with Greenbyke.
  2. Visit waterfalls: We had visited Tegenungan waterfall. There are more waterfalls like Nungnung. But since Tegenungan waterfall is just about 15 mins drive from Ubud we decided to visit this place. We had to pay some entrance fees here. There is changing room facility here so in case you wish to swim, carry extra pair of clothes and your swim suit.

    Tegenungan waterfall, Ubud (Bali)
    Tegenungan waterfall
  3. Visit beautiful temples of Ubud – Gunang Kawi, this is an ancient temple you will need to climb down some stairs. More than the temple I enjoyed the path to reach the temple. Lush green rice fields, small water streams on either side of the path and it made the walk to the temple enjoyable. There is a market here which sells beautiful articles made from coconut shell or wood. Balinese are very artistic and you can witness it through these markets
    Gunang Kawi, Ubud (Bali)
Tampa siring Temple – This is the temple with hot spring, water gushes out from about 15- 20 showers. Balinese consider this to be holy water and often come to take bath. When we visited this temple, there was some ceremony going on. Balinese express their happiness through singing, dancing and playing different instruments. We had to pay the entrance fees here of about 15,000 IDR per person. You can also visit the famous monkey temple.
Tampa Siring Temple,Hotspring, Ubud(Bali)
Tampa Siring Temple
                                                                           
Tampa Siring Temple - Balinese Dance, Ubud(Bali)
Balinese expressing their happiness

  1. One thing which we wanted to do but we missed is Sunrise trekking at Mount Batur. We even booked for this by paying advance of 100,000 IDR per person but my husband was not feeling well that night and we had to give it a miss! For this you will need to be ready in the morning 2:00 AM depending on your location and you will be picked up by the operator.
  2. Striking feature of Ubud is the rice fields. Do visit these rice fields. There are different operators who arrange either rice field walk or cycling around these fields. Either of them can be a great experience. We cycled around the rice fields. This is a must activity in your itinerary.
    Rice fields at Ubud ( Bali)
    Rice field at Gunang Kawi
Seminyak:
Seminyak is like Goa, it has beautiful beaches and streets filled with vibrant shops and lots of restaurants and Cafes.
We soaked in the vibes of Seminyak, went swimming, went cycling, tried different cafes and restaurants on the street.
What you could do in Seminyak:
  1. Cycle around the beautiful streets of Seminyak and try different cafes and restaurants.
  2. Learn to make Canang Sari ('chanang', or small, square, woven baskets made from cut coconut leaves and filled with flowers – accompanied by an assortment of gifts for the Gods and topped with a single smoldering stick of incense.)
    Canang Sari, Bali
    Canang Sari
  3. Go swimming. Seminyak Beach is one of the busiest beaches. You could go swimming there.
  4. Lear Surfing. Seminyak beach has instructors who can teach basic surfing. You can get surf boats on rent.
  5. Kite flying. You will see vendors selling beautiful kites.  These kites are three dimensional, brightly colored and beautiful.
  6. Yoga: You will find quite a few Yoga instructors in Bali and you can try out some Yoga classes.
  7.  Visit other places like Tanah lot temple. Watch Sunset from Tanah lot, it is believed to be a beautiful experience. We did not visit all these places as our motto was to enjoy each place thoroughly rather than rushing all the time to reach the next place.
  8. Visit Sunday Beach club. This is in Uluwatu. It is a private beach lagoon with a restaurant and facilities like shower, towel, wifi, games etc. made available. In the evening they light bon fire and it looks all so beautiful and romantic. You have to pay an entry fee, a part of which can be redeemed on food and beverages. This could be an expensive affair as food is way too expensive. Lagoon and beach is beautiful. This could be a great option for families with kids. Check out http://www.sundaysbeachclub.com
    Sunday Beach Club Uluwatu, Bali
    Bonfire at Sunday Beach club
  9. Visit Kuta: Kuta is extremely commercialized, you will see so many huge restaurants, discos, pubs, malls etc. We were lost and overwhelmed. We preferred to stay at Seminyak. But for Party lovers and sea food lovers Kuta is your destination! You could visit the Kuta beach as well.
  10. Visit neighboring islands - Nusa Lembongan & Nusa Penida. You can go for a day trip tour to Lembongan. Its a small island but very beautiful island. Within this island you have many things to do - Mangrove tour(see the image below), visit to Yellow bridge & Dream beach(see the second image below) etc. For Nusa Penida you will need more time as it is a bigger island. These two islands do not get many tourists and there are some beaches which are untouched.
    Mangrove Tour, Nusa Lembongan
    Mangrove tour
Dream Beach, Nusa Lembongan
Dream Beach

 Shopping
People who love shopping you will be in for a real delight in Bali! Some of things you shop from Bali are:
  1. Wooden articles: Beautifully carved articles are available at a reasonable price. If you love cooking look out for the wooden chopping board. These are only available in Ubud though.
  2. Stone carved articles.
  3. Clothes, shoes, bags etc. - Our suggestion is if you are visiting Bali, do not carry too many clothes, as you will most likely fall in love with the clothes/sarongs which are sold here and end up wearing only the dresses from these shops. They have dresses in every range for all occasions. Balinese have some excellent taste in dressing as well.
  4. Dream catchers – you will not be able to resist these things!
  5. Locally made soaps, personal care products, perfumes, massage oils etc. I picked up some locally manufactured perfumes which were very cheap and really good quality.
  6. Accessories like silver jewellery, jewellery items made of beads, key chains etc. Key chains could be great souvenir gifts!
  7. Beautiful trays made up of cut work. They are absolutely stunning!
  8. Remember Balinese are very artistic, you will find beautiful paintings on sale.
  9. Coffee: You must try the world’s most expensive coffee i.e. Luwak coffee. Actually, it is not that expensive in Bali!
  10. Organic food items like Nuts, herbs, seeds etc.
  11. Movie DVDs - Yeah strange right! But you will find some DVD shops with lot of Hollywood movie DVD for just IDR 10,000. We purchased 5 of them and four out of five worked!
  12. Incense sticks.They have incense sticks available in different fragrances.
And the list goes on!

Shopping tip: Hone your bargaining/negotiating skills before shopping!
Read more
By at No comments:
Labels: , , , , ,