We are latecomers to the party when it comes to traveling to Bali. It seems like everyone has already been here and all there is to know about Bali has been blogged and vlogged ten times over. We arrived to the party a week late. But it’s okay! The party doesn’t stop and there are thousands of latecomers just like us flying to the island every day. So if you’re like us and still haven’t traveled through Bali, please give it a read; maybe it will provide some inspiration!
In today’s post, I’ll cover entry preparations to Bali, Tegalalang Rice Terrace, Sacred Monkey Forest Sanctuary, and Made’s Warung. I’ll cover the rest of Bali in the upcoming posts, so please subscribe!
Entry Preparation
Vaccination Status
Let’s start with the vaccination status. If you are fully vaccinated with two doses, you DO NOT have to quarantine and can enter Indonesia without a PCR test before or upon arrival. If you are not fully vaccinated then you must quarantine for 5 days at a CHSE-certified hotel in Bali.
Proof of vaccination can either be digital or printed. The timestamp of the last dose should be at least 14 days before your travel date to Indonesia. We laminated our vaccination cards and brought them with us as well as photocopies.
Visa on Arrival (VoA)
Visas are valid for 30 days and can be extended for up to an additional 30 days for a total of 60 days. They are bought at immigration and each VoA costs IDR500k per person (about US$35).
Peduli Lindungi App
I’ve researched that his app has to be downloaded onto your phone and the immigration agent checks if you have this or not, but this wasn’t the case. Not once did an agent check my phone for this app.
I saw many people standing around and downloading it at the immigration line. I heard lots of groaning and complaining as the airport WiFi was slow. I highly recommend downloading this app beforehand, even if the agents don’t check just to be on the safe side.
Travel Insurance (Optional)
Travel insurance with Covid-19 coverage is no longer a requirement to travel to Indonesia. We got one anyways. There are many insurers to choose from. Here’s a list that I put together if you need one:
Customs Declaration
You can fill this out at the airport. Or you can save yourself some time and fill out an electronic customs declaration online and show the customs agent the QR code.
*Online form can be filled out 48hours prior to your departure.
**Do it beforehand to save yourself the headache.
Expect immigration to take around 1 to 2 hours. I think the long wait time was due to a combination of multiple flights arriving around the same time and not having enough immigration agents to check passports. First, you will see signs to download the Peduli Lindungi app. There was a congregation of people huddled around the sign to capture the QR code to download. And then sighs of frustration as they find out the download was taking too long. Next is the vaccination check. This process only took a minute because there were so many booths. After that, we stood in another line to buy the visas. Another 5 minutes of waiting here and at this point, I was optimistic that we would be out of here quick. Nope. After we bought the visas, we stood in another line for the passport check. This line took over an hour.
Once we got through the passport checkpoint, only the custom was left. This part was quick and we were finally done! We called a grab and went to our accommodation.
Accommodation
Our budget for accommodations was between US$80 - $120. We came up with two potential plans.
Spend half of the trip in Seminyak and spend the other half in Ubud.
We found lots of places to visit in Ubud so might as well stay in the area instead of driving up there from Seminyak.
Stay in Seminyak for the whole trip.
Seminyak is centrally located. We wouldn’t waste half a day checking out of one place and checking in to another.
We decided to go with the 2nd option. We cut some activities out of the itinerary and planned for one full day in Ubud.
We stayed at the Sini Vie Villa in Seminyak. Their normal price was US$176/night but they were running a promotion for US$96/night. I just checked again and looks like their promotion is still running. Not sure if we got lucky or if they run this promotion regularly 😂. We loved this place! Everything from the front office, main walkway, to our room, was clean. The staff were very friendly and helpful. Overall it was quiet because the villa is situated off the main road.
Other places on our short list: Plataran Canggu, Shore Amora, Villa Kayu Raja
Tegalalang Rice Terrace Swing
Tegalalang Rice Terrace is about 15 minutes north of Ubud and about 45 minutes from Seminyak. It is one of Bali’s most visited destinations. And rightly so, the tall hills have been transformed and layered with rice paddies. Once you get dropped off on the main road running parallel to these hills, there are numerous viewpoints to choose from. But no matter which one you decide to go to, you will have to pay to see the view. We paid US$2 for each ticket. There are props you can sit on to harvest more likes for your social media pictures. Also, don’t forget the famous swings you can hop on for an additional $10. Plan to spend about 1-2 hours around this area. You also have the option to walk around the rice paddies.
We walked along the road and found a restaurant that ended up having the best satay chicken. It’s called Teras Padi Cafe and you can’t miss it. No, you literally can't. There’s a lady outside with a menu hounding people walking by to come to her restaurant.
Sacred Monkey Forest Sanctuary
I have never seen monkeys free roaming around like this before I visited Sacred Monkey Forest Sanctuary. The only other time I’ve seen one was at a zoo. For US$5, you can walk around this sanctuary and observe the monkeys in their element. They will be running all over the place so try your best to keep a safe distance. They keep to themselves for the most part, unless you have food or something shiny on you. Make sure your backpack is zipped up completely with nothing hanging out to the side.
Within the sanctuary, there are five separate tribes that make up the monkey population. It looks like each tribe had its own feeding station throughout the sanctuary. At one point one group of monkeys was chasing another group away from their food and the visitors got skittish because they were screeching all over the place.
Made’s Warung
A warung is a small family-owned business i.e a cafe, restaurant, or retail. I don’t take pictures of my food that often but I had no choice but to take one when the server brought out my order, Nasi Goreng Special at Made’s Warung. It’s essentially a sample platter with all different kinds of Balinese dishes.
Here’s several other suggestions on where to eat around the Seminyak area. All local, Indonesian style menus:
Warung Bohai (no website) - Jl. Camplung Tanduk No.11A, Seminyak, Kec. Kuta, Kabupaten Badung, Bali 80361, Indonesia
Cabe Rawit (no website) - Jl. Kunti I No.8, Seminyak, Kec. Kuta, Kabupaten Badung, Bali 80361, Indonesia
We called a grab to get back to Sini then passed out after stuffing ourselves.
$180 for the whole day. Or $40 per person if you don’t factor in the resort. Besides the mind-numbingly boring rides in traffic anywhere you go, Bali has been a fantastic so far. Next week I share my experiences with Uluwatu Temple and Finns Beach Club!