Things to do in Bali Ubud that aren't overly touristy

Bali is such a well-travelled place and there are so many things to do there! Tons of people would recommend various cafes, waterfalls, activities that you should try. After scanning through many different blogs, I've curated a list of things that I did in Ubud that were highly accessible, superbly good, yet enjoyable because there were less tourists there!

1. Campuhan Ridge Walk
It's a linear walk along the ridge that showcases rice terraces, forests and greenery on either side of it. It's an easy trail that isn't very long (2km one way) so anyone can do it at their own pace! It's also possible to run along the trail. If you do it in the evening and hit the golden hour, the photos will turn out really pretty too!

At the end of the walk before u-turning back

How to get to Campuhan ridge walk:

- Plot "Warwick Ibah Luxury Villas and Spa" on your GPS. When you see that sign, turn in. There will be a fork in the road immediately after that. Take a left (there will be a sign that shows "Going to the hill" with an arrow. After that, you can see some parking area and that's where we got off. 

2. Kanto Lampo Waterfall

It's not a big waterfall and there's an entrance fee of 10k rupiah per person (about 1 SGD) but it's not as touristy as Tegenungan waterfall and it's also rather photogenic! The waterfall flows over rocks so you can actually climb on them to take your photos (at your own risk of course).

How to get to Kanto Lampo Waterfall:

The google maps location is slightly off, so I suggest you plot this into your GPS instead. There are signs around the area to direct you as well. Trust the signs rather than google maps! The locals know better (:

3. Tukad Cepung Waterfall

This waterfall flows over the cliff so the water goes straight down and it's slightly different from the Kanto Lampo waterfall. Also, you'll need to walk in a little from the main entrance in order to see the waterfall so make sure you wear slippers/sandals if you don't feel like getting wet but still want a picture of the waterfall!

How to get to Tukad Cepung waterfall:

The google maps location for this is rather accurate so you can follow it and then follow the detailed signs when you get there. It's not too far from the main road! Either get a car hire or rent a scooter.

4. Watercress Cafe

It's one of those pretty, instagrammable cafes that serve really good food at affordable prices! It's so good we went back another time during our short stay there and the waitress recognised us!

 

Ordered some smoothies (this berry smoothie is 50k rupiah, the smaller size)

Angus burger with baby potatoes on the side (110k rupiah). Highly recommended!

5. Warung Biah Biah

This is by far the best indonesian food I've ever had in my life and it's also the cheapest! Everything there is less than 5 SGD and the portions are reasonably large! I highly recommend you to try this at least once during your stay in Bali. Have an early dinner or late lunch to avoid the crowd, or you will be queuing for half an hour at least.

Nasi Campur (28k rupiah). My favourite meal throughout the trip!

6.  Bali Swings - Smiling Coffee

The Bali Swing has become extremely popular, but I didn't want to pay 30 USD to play on swings for the whole day (it does come with a lunch though), so I gave up on the swing idea, until I chanced upon another one on the way to the Tegelalang rice terraces. If you want to try the swing, I would recommend the one at Smiling Coffee Plantation. It's 100k rupiah for an unlimited number of swings. The guys there are really nice, they will swing you until you've gotten the perfect picture, tried everything you wanted to try and have enough of swinging. Why is this important? Because there are others who charge more for only 10 pushes on the swing!

It's rather thrilling! I found it worth the 100k rupiah

If you're more adventurous you could tilt back (you'll feel like you're about to flip)

7. Tegelalang Rice Terrace

I wanted to try the other rice terraces, but this was the most accessible via a scooter from Ubud since the rest would take more than an hour's journey, which is rather tiring on the scooter. I personally found it alright even though it's touristy but you'll need to know that they will make you pay 5/10k rupiah donations in order to access the rice terrace!

How to get to Tegelalang Rice Terrace:

There are various entrances, but I entered in from the one at Smiling Coffee, which is where I found the swings too! 

Entrance to the Rice Terrace on the left of Smiling Coffee

You will see the above entrance sign once you've cleared the flight of steps down. Turn the other direction when you encounter this because the view is much better on the other side and you don't have to waste money paying to enter this zone, which isn't that pretty at all.


Well, there are many other random padi fields that are really pretty all over Bali because their rice culture is strong there! These are just some views from right outside my Airbnb!

I hope this helps, and enjoy your stay in Bali! You can also try going to the islands like Nusa Lembongan or Nusa Penida. I'll blog about my experience in Nusa Lembongan in another post because I went there to dive!

What you need to know about Mt Batur Sunrise Trek

Mt Batur and Mt Agung are the 2 volcanoes in Bali and they are both very popular hiking options. Most people tend to do sunrise treks - the climb begins at 4am and takes about 1.5-2 hours for the average person to reach the summit.

Mt Batur is highly recommended for beginner hikers, people with an average fitness level, and those who don't mind putting in the effort for an epic sunrise.

What you need to bring/wear for the hike:
- Water (500ml to 1L, depending on how thirsty you normally get)
- Snacks. It's not compulsory if you eat breakfast before starting the climb.
- Windbreaker. This is EXTREMELY important because the climb starts early and it's very windy and cold at the summit.
- 3/4 tights/pants at least. It's both to keep you warm at the summit and to prevent you from getting cuts and scratches in case you slip or go too close to the plants.
- Hiking shoes/boots. These are not super necessary because I saw people climb in nike trainers, but if you want a comfortable hike without feeling like you're slipping on loose rocks or sand, I recommend shoes with better traction.

You should book a tour with one of the local guide companies there. I did mine with Bali Sunrise Tours. They're very experienced and they conduct hikes every morning. They cost about 60k rupiah per person. My guide was called Adi and he's extremely familiar with the hike and knows which paths to take. He also fits the comfort speed of the group so that everyone is able to manage. A plus is that when you reach the top, he knows the angles and poses for you to get that insta-worthy moment with the sunrise.

What is included in the tour package:
- 2-way transport from your accommodation (if you're staying in Ubud like me, they leave at 2.30am).
- One 500ml bottled water
- Flashlight
- Breakfast of one banana jaffle, 2 hot spring boiled eggs, an orange and a banana

So, the path up Mt Batur starts with a very gentle slope, till you reach the first major pitstop about 1/4 the way up. Then there is fork - the path on the right is shorter but steeper and the path on the left is longer but gentler. Most people would choose the path on the right going up because it's faster and there are less motorcycles to contest with. It's mainly sandy ground with some rocks, so use the rocks to anchor yourself. If you're wearing hiking shoes or boots, then it will be easier because this is what your shoes and boots are made for! About the last 1/3 of the hike to the summit, it starts to get rocky. You'll need to find the path that's more manageable because it's basically large rocks all the way. However, one good thing is that many people do the hike so you're never alone and also, this path is very well-walked, which is why it's manageable for beginner hikers. Trust me, the view is worth it.

I was extremely fortunate to be able to see the sunrise on such a clear day because it rained the night before. Despite shivering in the cold, I witnessed by far the most epic sunrise I've ever seen. The hues of pink, purple and coral all blended together, then transiting to a fiery red and finally seeing the yolk rising at the end to conclude that spectacular display of colours is definitely well worth any form of climb. Do a time lapse if possible! And take many pictures, or just soak in the beauty of it all.

It was such a pleasant experience, but make sure you book with the right people who know what they're doing. It's not worth it to book something that's not as reputable just because it's cheaper.

I'll definitely be back for more hikes!

With our guide, Adi!

At the summit of Mt Batur

On the way down

With Mt Batur as the background

7D6N Taiwan Adventures: Taipei and Hualien Part 2

This is the second part of my Taiwan Adventures! This post focuses on our itinerary in Hualien, so for the first part on Taipei, click here (:

My main objective for making the trip to Hualien was to cycle and for Taroko Gorge of course. The east coast of Taiwan is pretty famous for its cycling routes and so I decided to try it out. Hualien is also made up of people from the many tribes in Taiwan, rather than the city people, so I find the pace of life and the type of people there different from those in Taipei. They are usually more friendly and more willing to stop and help.

Getting to Hualien:
We took the train from Taipei Main Station. Make sure you book it before hand or you'll end up with no seats like we almost did. The train ticket (one way) costs about NTD440 per pax. Trains run about every hour or so.

Accommodation in Hualien:
I love Airbnb since it brings out the culture of the place more, so I opted to stay in a 民宿(min su), or in other words, a local guesthouse. I stayed at Guosheng 1st street, with a lady known as Amrita. You can check out her listing here. She has apparently been in the business ever since Airbnb came to Taiwan! She's also really friendly, extremely clean and will recommend you places to go/visit.

Cycling along the east coast:
I wanted to cycle along this route known as the "Two lakes bikeway", which runs from Qixingtan to Liyu lake along the east coast. However, our host told us that Qixingtan is nicer at sunset and it was really hot in the afternoon, so she recommended us to go to Liyu lake alone instead. We also rented our bicycles based on her recommendation as this shop had good quality bicycles for cheaper prices (we quoted her name for a discount). It's very near the Hualien train station.

Unfortunately, it stated raining along the way and we were drenched by the time we reached Liyu lake. We wanted to cycle along the east coast to head back to the main town but we hit a lot of detours along the way. Though we found the two lakes bikeway, the signs weren't very clear and we ended up going on a different bikeway instead. It's alright for seasoned cyclists like my boyfriend and I, but for my sister and her boyfriend, they struggled quite a bit and got a lift from a nice Vietnamese couple back to the town in the end (Thank God for them!). We clocked a total of 50km that day! I found it really interesting and fun because we got to see farms, mountains, small rivers, and explored local places in Hualien that we otherwise wouldn't have gone. But if you're not comfortable on the bicycle, I wouldn't suggest doing such an ambitious distance. I recommend sticking to just going to Qixingtan and back! Or just cycling around the town or to the beach for awhile. If you're up to it, take on the challenge and go for an adventure! You never know where that might lead you.

Liyu lake with a lot of rain and fog

Liyu lake

There are boats there for you to rent!

Chancing upon unexpected scenery during our mountain ride!

We passed by many farms too (:

Night markets:
The biggest one in Hualien (and probably the only one worth going to) is the Dongdamen market. It has a lot of games and food but no clothes. So, for the girls, shopping isn't the point in Hualien! The games here are significantly cheaper than the Taipei night markets. If you want to try the BB air rifles, bingo mahjong etc., I highly recommend doing it here as compared to the Taipei night markets.

Taroko Gorge:
There are a few ways to get to (and around) Taroko Gorge.
1. By bus: There is a shuttle bus (1133A) from Hualien train station that takes you to Taroko and stops at multiple stops along the Gorge. You can purchase the one day pass for 200NT and you can get up and go down as many stops as you want. It's cheap so it's a good alternative for those on a tight budget/solo travellers. However, the drawback is that there is a schedule that the bus follows so you need to bear in mind the time that you spend at each location because you wouldn't want to miss the bus.

2. Car hire: If you're travelling in a group, I personally recommend this method because you have better control of your time and where you want to go. Car hires in Taiwan charge by the day. There is a huge range of prices (from 2000NT to 3000NT) depending on car quality. We opted to go with a nice old man for 2000NT because he wasn't pushy, while the rest of the guides were hard-selling and we didn't like their method of doing so. We had to suffer with a squeezy car that was rather warm though. Some of the car hire guides are really good because they used to drive tour buses and then decided to retire and free lance. Our guide was like that! He was really knowledgeable about where to go, how we should best walk through the gorge to maximise the experience in a shorter amount of time. He also has REALLY GOOD photo angles and he'll help us take insta-worthy group photos.

These were the places we covered at Taroko:
- main entrance (just to take a photo with the sign). Our guide insisted.
- Shakadang trail. Walk 1.5km in until you hit the first pitstop and then turn back out. The entire trail is 10km long so you wouldn't want to go all the way unless you intend to hike for the whole day.
- Swallow Grotto. Really pretty pictures here. Highly recommended.
- Cimu bridge. Simple area for phototaking.
- Fei Yue Ting and the bridge. Also another simple area for phototaking.
- Tianxiang. You climb up a flight of stairs to go up to a temple and back down. We mainly stopped here because they sold some food.
- Eternal springs. It's an iconic picture of a temple with some fountain. Just to take pictures.

My 2 recommendations are Shakadang trail and Swallow Grotto! Really enjoyed those parts and we also spent the most time there.

Iconic blue waters of the Shakadang trail

Shakadang trail

Swallow's grotto

Cimu Bridge

Highly recommended for car hire!

Food in Hualien:
For breakfast, I highly recommend their toast shops. We went to this stall called "Good morning! Beauty Castle" because it was good and also very near our Airbnb. I recommend you trying their egg crepe if you've never had one before. Other types of pastries available are toast, bagel, croissant. All prices range from 40-55NT.

Egg crepe - a must try!

Hotpots are SO GOOD in Hualien because they have so many farms and the ingredients are fresh. And they are CHEAP. I highly recommend this shop (max 200NT per person). Each person can order their individual hotpot set, which comes with free flow of drinks, ice cream and rice, as well as a very generous amount of food. You can also order the items ala carte on top of whatever they've given you. There are so many soup bases to choose from you'll be spoiled for choice!

Individual hotpot for 200NT per person!

Fruit teas/bubble teas. Taiwan is a land of bubble teas. However, now everyone is on a health streak and this drink isn't exactly the most healthy, so they've created customisation options - all free of charge! After you've chosen the flavour and style of tea you want, you can select the amount of ice and sugar level. I'm rather amazed because back in Singapore if you want less ice they would charge more but in Taiwan, they do it free of charge. Also, due to a green movement in Taiwan, they also sell all XL-sized drinks in a reusable plastic bottle. If you buy from them again using the plastic bottle, they will deduct 30NT. There are many brands of bubble tea, but I personally recommend Presotea. I've tried it a few times and always get so addicted to their flavours.

Presotea in their XL bottle that you can reuse to save the environment and save some bucks

That's it for Hualien! I'll probably be back sometime to explore more areas. Definitely prefer the pace of the suburban towns compared to the city!