Our time in Indonesia has come to an end, and we are now ready to explore a new country! Before we do though, let us fill you in on our last week in Bali…

Back when we first flew out to Asia, we had read that customs in Indonesia would ask to see proof of a ticket leaving the country (for visa purposes). Originally we had thought that we’d book this once we’d got through security at Gatwick, however on arrival at the check-in desk, we were told we could not check into the flight until we could show evidence of this journey.

We ended up (very hastily) booking a flight from Bali to Kuala Lumpur. In hind sight, we should have looked at other options from Indonesia, but unfortunately we panicked.

But, we didn’t want to dwell on that too much, so we set to exploring new parts of Bali and planning ahead for Malaysia.

📍 Canggu, Bali

Pronounced ‘Chang-Goo’, we had never even heard of the place before our tour. However, Andre lived there and some people on the tour had been. Everyone raved about it and so we wanted to check it out.

The hotel we booked into was further away than we realised and the photos online were very deceiving. It was bleak and we should have known it wouldn’t be great when we checked in and were given one towel between us. But, it was £5 a night and so we just tried to ignore the damp patches and weird smell.

We ended up meeting some of the guys from the tour that night who also happened to be in Canggu. The bar was called Old Man’s, and was once the biggest bar in Bali. They broke Covid rules so were forced to shut down most of their setup, however they are slowly rebuilding again.

The following day we spent on the beach, and towards the evening tried to get into a beach club. You either had to be on a waiting list, or be willing to spend a minimum of 3 million rupiah (roughly £160) in order to get in.

However, we had heard of a place called Finns right down the beach, and so we gave it a try. There is no entrance fee, and as long as you don’t have a day bed, there is no minimum spend. In the end, we spent about three hours there soaking up the atmosphere. The drinks were more expensive than what we have been paying, but still very cheap when compared to drink prices at home.

In the end, two nights was all we could handle in the Oyo hotel and so we moved further to the centre of town, and to a different hotel. It was still cheap but the tap worked, the sheets weren’t stained, and there was toilet roll in the bathroom.

We spent the rest of our time in Canggu exploring and enjoying the pool.

📍 Uluwatu, Bali

Our next stop was Uluwatu. We visited the Uluwatu Temple during our stay, and booked a tour through TripAdvisor, as we had done in Ubud. Unfortunately our tour guide for this trip was really disappointing and spent most of the time on his phone. We learnt more about him as a person than we did about the Temple, so I’ve done some research so you can learn about the Temple too.

The Temple is located on the edge of a cliff, approximately 70 metres above sea level, and was established by a Javanese Hindu priest named Empu. Due to the location, it is thought to be a gateway to Heaven and the monkeys there are infamous for their cheeky behaviour.

Part of our ticket included access to watch the Kecak dance (pronounced Ker-Chak). The dance has no music, but instead has a group of around 50 men who chant and sing, whilst making various movements with their hands. For over an hour they chanted, and the ‘chak’ noise they made was in our heads a long time after. The base of the story is about a beautiful wife who is kidnapped by an evil man, and the journey to get her home. Once the sun set, they lit a ring of fire as part of the routine.

We then headed back towards the airport, and stayed in the outskirts of Kuta. For the first time on our trip we experienced the tropical rain you read about. It really doesn’t last long and it remains warm, but does mean having to apply mosquito repellent more often than before.

For our last night in Indonesia, we went out for a meal and listened to a band play until closing time.

Instagram vs Reality

Food

We had to give a shout out to food didn’t we?! Here are some of our Indonesian favourites: 

📍 Malaysia

Now we’re in Malaysia, we can’t wait to explore a new country and culture. We’ll be staying in Kuala Lumpur for a few days and then we think we’ll be heading North! Until next time,

Caitlin and Luke