9 FUN THINGS WE DID IN BALI!

If I have managed to convince you to head to Bali with my previous post, then below are what you could actually do once you are there.

1.Cooking Class

Wherever I travel, I try and register myself for a local cooking class as this not only gives you an excellent insight into the actual local culture and real cuisine but also you always end up meeting an wonderful group of people from across the world. We attended the Lobong Culinary Experience in Ubud which offered a pick/drop facility, a market tour , an insight into the Balinese joint family system and ofcourse, the actual class held in their family compound. We jointly cooked every dish from scratch which went on to enjoy them for lunch. My favourite was the juicy chicken satay served with finger licking peanut sauce.

2.Sight seeing

Most major tourist attractions in Bali are temples (Puras) ranging from those on mountains (Besakih-mother temple), in caves (Goa Gajah), along lakes (Ulun Danu Beratan) to along the coast line (Tanah Lot and Uluwatu). Other famous sights/tours are the terraced rice paddy fields, sunrise trek to mountain tops or waterparks especially if you would be travelling with kids.

Batuan Temple

Mount Batur

3.Getting a massage / beauty treatment every other day. I came back completely rujuvenated as I got almost every possible treatment done at dirt cheap prices with no compromises on quality. I got a full body massage with a flower bath, avocado cream hair spa with a neck and shoulder massage, manicure and pedicure with a hand/foot massage and a hair wash again coz' why do it yourself when you can pay someone to do it ! Bali has ruined me for life since I have now become a massage addict and I genuinely fear that I can't go too long now without one.

4.Eating Pisang Goreng (Fried Bananas) every single day which is basically fried banana fritters with vanilla icecream drizzled with palm sugar syrup. There's something extremely gratifying about this combination of the textures of hot with cold, crispy with creamy, sweet with a salty edge (from the palm sugar). Yum !

5.Shopping and Haggling

You have plenty of places where you can get your street shopping done in Bali. However wherever you go, haggling is a must but definitely not to the point where the exasperated shop keeper almost tells you off and not call you back as you expected her to. Just a hypothetical scenario. Absolutely.We spent a little more than of our budget on a few knick-knacks, souvenirs and gifts from the local Batik (textile), wood and silver handicraft speciality stores. We were again able to bargain at all stores except at the Batik one.

6.Food

We sampled some spectacular local food especially the mixed Balinese platters known as Nasi Campur that had rice, stir fried vegetables, sambals, satays, tempe and more. I found the experience very similar to an Indian Thali. An explosion of flavours. Also, we relished on some delicious French and Mexican food. Being a tourist hub, you get an opportunity to feast on food from cuisines across the world.

Nasi Campur-Non-vegetarian

Nasi Campur-Vegetarian

7. Cultural performances

We were fortunate to witness 3 local dances namely Barong, Legong and Kecak. All of them were unique in their own aspects such as costume, music and narrative style. This is a must do in Bali and every accommodation/hotel could provide you with a list of cultural performances running in the area.

Barong Dance

Legong Dance

Kecak Dance at Uluwatu Temple

8. Tasting one of the most expensive coffees in the world

We visited a plantation where we got a chance to taste various teas and coffees with flavours ranging from lemongrass, ginger, vanilla, rosella, jasmine, rice to coconut. Ofcourse the ulterior motive being to sell you all these packaged products such as teas, coffees, spices among many others. However an overall good experince and I did definitely buy a couple of these with my choices being the ginger and lemon grass teas, aloe vera creams etc. The highlight of this visit was being able to taste one of the most expensive coffees in the world known as Kopi Lewak, made by processing the undigested coffee beans that are eaten and excreted by the wild civets. 

                         

9. Watersports 

Being an island, Bali has extensive beaches and offers a variety of watersports such as surfing, snorkel ling, para-sailing, ocean-walking, scuba diving among many others. Again, do not forget point no:5 as we were given a grand quote of IDR 4 million which we managed to bring down to IDR 2.2 million just because the sales guy wanted to "help" us. Inspite of all of this, we did have a blast and the watersports were definitely one of the most memorable moments of our trip.

Para-sailing

Ocean-walking