Bali Tour Guide

Few weeks ago I went to a village called Yehembang in West Bali. I came here because some of my relatives, uncles and aunties live here.  Besides visiting them, I also wanted to visit the waterfall located in west side of the village.  It was about 4 PM when I started riding my motor cycle in the farm that belongs to the local in that village. My uncle has agreed to show me the route to the waterfall. We both went with the motor cycle. Sometimes he stopped to ask for direction to the people we met. Since there was no signage along the way, just plantation such as coffee, cocoa, bananas and spices.  It was fun to ride the motor cycle along the small path among the farm. This path was not actually for motorcycle, but for farmers to walk to their farm. At one time, we got lost in the farm, but there was a man who live along the path that we could ask. He was very kind person, and he told us the quicker way to go to the waterfall. His house was quite old. I asked if he stayed...

There are many things we do for fun in Bali. In this post, I share with you about a little sailboats race. To be honest, I never played this before as a kid. Well, this was some serious toy. The sailboats have to be designed to look good and to function well, especially its balance when sailing I went to the beach nearby my home in west Bali and met the people who were gathering near the  beach. From a distance, I saw the sailboats. At first, I thought they were real sailboats, but as I go nearer to them, I realized it was just toy sailboats. I asked the people what they were doing. They said, they were just testing or practicing to race with the toy sailboats.  Next time when there is a real race, they would be ready. I saw their excitement as they told about the race. Well, the race itself was very exciting. It was enjoyable to watch them practicing. I should watch them again when they have the real race.  By the way, the west Bali beach does not have white sand. T...

To get to the Wanagiri village where the waterfall is located, you need about 2 hours drive from the capital city of Bali. This waterfall is called Banyu Wana. Actually, there are numerous waterfalls in this area because the area is on hills. Hello everyone, I have not written in this blog for so long. I am writing now at other places, but I would start writing here again, and cross post my posts in other blogging platform here.   And now I would like to share my last trip to Banyuwana waterfall. This was before the covid-19. When I arrived in the village, I saw an open building by the road with the sign that said "BANYUWANA WATERFALL". There were two Balinese men wearing simple traditional Balinese uniform inside the building. One of them sold the tickets to get to the waterfall. One ticket to waterfall cost about 3 usd. The other man there was a local guide for the waterfall. You can hire him to show you the path to the waterfall and help carrying your bags if you need it. ...

Occasionally I walk with different clients in Tjampuhan Hill located in west of Ubud. It is a small hill with a lot of silver grass growing on top of it. And it is a very popular spot for the locals especially in the afternoon to spend time walking along the paved path on the hill. Why popular? It has a very beautiful view lush vegatation, hills and valleys. The local maintain the path on the top of the hill so people can come and enjoy trekking. Beside trekking, the local also come to take photos and even pre-wedding photos. To reach this place, you can walk to West of Ubud in the Tjampuhan River. There is a path by the river that leads to the Tjampuhan Hill. Walking from the start to the end of the trek can take about one hour. Remember to put on your sun cream because it is going to be hot during the day. For keeping yourself hydrated, you can bring mineral water with you. Once you pass the hill, you will arrive in a village road where there are  a lot of cafes for you to...

I was in South Bali, an area called Uluwatu, where the beautiful temple Pura Luhur Uluwatu located. But that day, I did not visit Uluwatu, instead I went to a beach called Blue Point. The name Blue Point was actually the name of a hotel located near the beach. The real name of the beach is Suluban Beach. Suluban in Balinese language comes from the word "sulub" which mean to walk under something or the bend your body so you can walk under something. In relation to this, to access to the beach, indeed we need to walk in an a small hole or opening under pile or rocks. To go to the beach, you need to go to south Bali, and ask for Blue Point. Once you arrive there, you need to descend stairs which takes about 10 minutes. Arriving on the bottom, you will see the main beach in between rocks. In your left side, there is an opening in between the rocks. Take this path, but do be very careful of high tide. If there is high tide, don't go there. On the other side of the op...

The Island of Antlers or Pulau Nusa Menjangan it's located in West Bali. To reach this island you have to board on a boat and travel for about half an hour or less. What is so special about this Island? The Island has quite a beautiful beach. The water on the beach is crystal clear. And since  there were not so many visitors coming to the beach, the beach is quite clean. This island is not inhabited by people. The island is occupied by wildlife especially antlers. Occasionally you can see some antlers running around the beach. The island is actually as you can guess  got its name from the animals. You can visit this island  to go for snorkeling in the ocean nearby the island. This is my first post after sometime 😀. Thanks for reading.

I went to Tegalalang with Gabriella for trekking and photos. She really enjoyed it because she wanted to take a lot of photos for her Instagram. You can check her photos while she is in Bali at  @gabrielaospina on Instagram.

When I handled on trip in  Munduk, the hotel I stayed,   The Sanak Retreat have a trekking program where my clients took part in. Trekking start in the morning from the hotel. The local guide, Mr. Gusti, lead the way to treking path to the nearby village, forest and waterfall of Banyuatis. We start walking in small village road where there were rice fields. It was about 8 AM when we started. It is better to start early because it is going to be hotter in the midday, eventhough the temperature is lower than any other tourist place in Bali. Mr. Gusti, stopped several times just to point out something interesting, he explained about the rice field, the irigation system, and he also stop and said hello to the local farmers. We walk trhough ricefield, garden, village road and finally we entered the main road. From the main road we took the small path to continue our final stop at Banyuatis waterfall. The trekking route to the waterfall is quite challenging as we need...

His name is Andy Mcneilly. I met him at the temple of Tampaksiring. He was visiting the temple with his students and colleagues from different part of the world. Andy works in Bali as a lecturer. He is quite known among the Balinese for his mastery of the Balinese language. What he speaks about is those mainly funny expression which will make Balinese laugh or smile. In this video, he talked about his daily routine in Bali and where he came from. The conversation is conducted in Balinese language.

This is the trip that I took from Kalimantan Tengah or Borneo and then continued to Komodo island. Borneo is the real habitat for Orangutan. My clients and I took journey cruising on a boat along Sekonyer River. Along the river, we saw forests, animal such as monkeys and birds. We didn't see any crocodile, eventhough they lived there. We spend some nights there, trekking into the forests into feeding stations where we could encounter Orangutan. The other part of the trip we journey on a sailing boat to Rinca island and Komodo island. We went to see the Komodo dragons.

Pura Tirta Sudamala is located in Bangli regency. It is a place for the Balinese to do a purification ritual or spiritual cleansing.  The Balinese believe that there should be a balance between physical and spiritual body. When the body is dirty, we can wash it with water and soap. When the spirit needs cleansing, the Balinese would perform a ritual called melukat or spiritual cleansing. In this temple, the ritual is started by praying to the God led by a pemangku in a little temple close to the holy spring. Next step is to go down to the river and wash oneself. Finally, going to each of the fountain located just by the river. After being blessed with holy water by the pemangku, the ritual is done. Here the Balinese will wear their dry clothes again and once again go to the main area of the temple to pray. Finally, it is done. They will go home feeling  spiritually cleansed. Here is the map where the Pura Tirta Sudamala is located.

Here is an adventure of Kat, Jack and me to Ubud monkey forest and some other places. Coming from US, Kat and Jack have different expecation  in Bali. Kat wants to visit Mc Donald, KFC or Starbucks and anything available in US. Jack wanted to see the carving of Balinese Hindu temple, the irrigation of the rice terraces and anything cultural. He also would like to visit monkey forests in Ubud. But monkey forests was a real nightmare for Kat. At least at beginning of the trek into the forest. She was scared like hell of the monkeys. Jack and I teased her along the trekking route about how monkeys will kidnap her and make her stay in the forest forever. But, if you ask how I feel about monkey as a tour guide, am I scared to monkeys? The answer is yes. Especially with their teeth showing when trying to scare people. It does make you shiver a little bit. Kat managed to finish the monkey forests, she ended it by saying "I survived".Jack was happy to see the Batuan Templ...

It was a great full day trip. We went to see mount Batur in Kintamani, trying the luwak coffee and visited Tegenungan waterfall. It is really important to feel excited and happy before you start the tour. When you are happy, you will surely enjoy the trip. They were like that. Happy and  and enjoying their trip. "Are you always happy? Have you ever get angry?" I asked, partly joking. "We will be miserable again when we're back to England,". They laughed.

It seems that the answer is yes. I took this video in a small cafe in Tanah Lot temple. The Cafe. The owner has several civet cats in his cafe. I stopped to have a look with my clients. The civets are quite tame and quite comfortable around people. One of the civet played with the lady who visit the shop. But with the owner, he is even more relax. Having a civet as a pet is not common in Bali. So, there is not enough story or detail to tell about how they might behave. One of the common story that people hear in Bali is that civet like to steal little chicks from farm area. If you encounter, domesticated civet in Bali, you can play with them if you like. But it is not enough detail or story that I heard about how they behave as a pet. Not that I know. So, please be careful in handling the civets. They may behave not as we expect.

Tegenungan waterfall is located in Gianyar regency, close to the popular place of Ubud.  Here is my video when I took some clients to the waterfall. The ticket cost at the time of this video is rp 10,000. The road  to the view of the waterfall is quite easy to walk. The locals in this village are serious to build a better road and path that it is easy for the visitors to come. Toilets are available after you walk pass the ticket booth. Some shops that sells souvenirs and cafe  for drink are available. If you just would like to view and to take photo from a far, you can do that from a view point. The view point is actually a cafe/warung just by the road. Walk 2 minutes from the ticket booth, and you will arrive at the view point. If you would like to get closer to the waterfall, then from the view point you can walk down to the river where the waterfall is located. The are steps going down. You will spend about about 5 minutes walking down about 150 steps. Nex...

There are some waterfalls in Gitgit village. If you've been there, probably you have visited the main waterfall where everybody goes. The multi-tiered  waterfall in Gitgit village North Bali, is the less visited waterfall, but it does not mean it is not a great place to visit. Check the video, you will find it quite interesting. Gitgit village is located in north Bali. If you happen to travel to Lovina Beach in North Bali, passing Ulun Danu temple, toward Singaraja, you will pass this village. Maybe you will even stop in this village and stop at one of the waterfall. The multi-tiered waterfall is the second waterfall you will encounter while driving from South Bali. The path is to waterfall is easy to walk on. There are not really any stairs on the path like the other waterfall. So, most of the visitors will find it easy to get there. You will cross a bridge, and then walk on the river bank, and continue to the small open building in the river where you can get the best v...

Gede Prama is the most inspirational teacher in Bali. He teaches about wisdom about how to build family, how to meditate, and how to live base on philosophy acceptance. I had a chance to meet him at Budha monastery in Banjar north Bali. I was taking some clients to the monestery and he was there for an event called Compassion Day. It was a coincidence for us to meet him. I did not know he was there until I was there myself in the monastery. Knowing from the local that he was there, I talked to the comittee of the Compassion Day  about the possibility of bringing my clients meeting him. "Please, say to him, we would like to meet him. These travelers are interested to learn more about meditation." I refered to my clients. But he was busy with preparation and some other people that meeting him at the moment. He could not meet us. So, then we continued walking around the temple, admiring the architecture, talking to the people there, and taking some photos. We were ab...

 Benoa bay is very popular with many watersport activities like parasailing, paragliding,  or jetskiing. Ocean bumper is quite new at the time I write this article. And it is operated by a company called BMR. It is similar to jetskiing, but it is only moving around in a designated area on the sea. When riding ocean bumper, and hit the border, you will will be bounced back. Not like the jetski ride, where you have to pay attention where you ride. In that sense, it is less challenge or less risk than jet skiing. You can try ocean bumper, because it is much easier than jetskiing. You don't have to be accompanied by instructors and you will not go as fast. It is more fun if you can do this with your friends and then you can bump to each other. You will share a good laugh. And again, there are many other activities you can enjoy if you think ocean bumper give you less challenge than you expect. This video is when I went with my clients to Benoa Bay for an inspection f...

As I went around Bali island, I have made some videos in the places I visited with my client. Then I compiled those videos into one snapshot video. The places appear in this video are Uluwatu, Jatiluwih, Gitgit, Lovina, Padang-padang Beach,  Kintamani, Lake Batur, Tegenungan Waterfall, and some other  beautiful places in Bali. Hope you like it.