Bali tour: by car to Ubud, Tegenungan waterfall and a Balinese dance

For little money, you can rent a car with a driver on Bali for a whole day. After a few days at the pool, it was time to get on the road. The four of us booked a car for €50 and got ready for an adventure. On to the rice fields, Ubud and a waterfall.

Every morning a Balinese woman came to the villa to clean and prepare breakfast. We all loved her and in her best English she answered all our questions. She arranged the tour for us. We left it to her and would see where we ended up. In the morning at 8 o’clock, our driver and van were ready and we went in our swimwear on our way to the first stop.

Balinese dance

Okay, apparently Jeroen got a receipt from the driver with the places where we would stop. Jeroen had already thrown this receipt away before we set foot in the car, so we really had no idea what was in store for us. The best man was talking about a dam the whole time. We all thought it was fine and hoped for a not so touristy tour. At the first stop, we knew immediately that the latter was not going to happen. Besides that, we turned out not to drive to a dam, but a dance!

We took a seat in the arena where the musicians were already busy playing. In the meantime, we received a leaflet describing the play. We wouldn’t understand it, because everything was spoken in Balinese. We especially liked it when the women were dancing and making all kinds of movements with their arms. The men dressed as monkeys, witches and gods were less attractive to watch. I think they made fun of us when the musicians laughed at what the actors were saying. Well, you could tell us everything, we only knew that it was about murder and love.

Tegenungan Waterval, Bali

Rice fields

Heading to the rice fields! We stopped at a large restaurant along the road where we could have lunch. Here it became even clearer that almost all tours stop here to dump their tourists for food. Smart of course, however, the food was very good! Before we could go to the rice fields, we first stopped at a coffee plantation. Our private guide took us along and told us all about the Balinese coffee. This was actually the best part of the whole tour and very interesting. After that, we sat at the table and were served 20 different kinds of coffee and tea. From avocado and vanilla coffee to very spicy ginger tea. The rice fields turned out not to be as impressive as we hoped. Everywhere we looked we saw swings on which you were pushed for about €30. Well, we skipped this.

Ubud art market
Balinese dance, Bali

Tegenungan Waterfall

After this dazzling dance, we jumped back into the car on our way to the waterfall. We first checked if he really said waterfall, but this was true. We had looked up the Tegenungan Waterfall in advance and it looked beautiful and big. We had put on our swimwear for this and were looking forward to a fresh dip in the water. I could see myself jumping from a rock into the water while Jeroen was washing his hair under the waterfall. Once we arrived in the village we only saw tourists and a path downstairs with hundreds of steps. Not yet thinking that we had to walk all those steps up again. The waterfall was, well what was it, not inviting. You were allowed to swim there, but the brown water didn’t look attractive. On Bali, you can probably find much nicer and less crowded waterfalls where you can swim and jump from rocks.

Coffee tour Bali

Ubud

The driver still had a lot of planning in his head where we all had to go, but we were quite tired especially of walking all those steps back up at the waterfall. We decided that Ubud was going to be our last stop. We took a short walk through Ubud. It looked like a cozy town where again the restaurants are everywhere! Enough choice to choose from. We walked over the market where you can buy thousands of souvenirs and then it was time to go back home. We ended the evening tired but satisfied, at the Italian Da Romeo. And the next day we just lay by the pool again.

Bali tour: by car to Ubud, Tegenungan waterfall and a Balinese dance

For little money, you can rent a car with a driver on Bali for a whole day. After a few days at the pool, it was time to get on the road. The four of us booked a car for €50 and got ready for an adventure. On to the rice fields, Ubud and a waterfall.

Every morning a Balinese woman came to the villa to clean and prepare breakfast. We all loved her and in her best English she answered all our questions. She arranged the tour for us. We left it to her and would see where we ended up. In the morning at 8 o’clock, our driver and van were ready and we went in our swimwear on our way to the first stop.

Balinese dance

Okay, apparently Jeroen got a receipt from the driver with the places where we would stop. Jeroen had already thrown this receipt away before we set foot in the car, so we really had no idea what was in store for us. The best man was talking about a dam the whole time. We all thought it was fine and hoped for a not so touristy tour. At the first stop, we knew immediately that the latter was not going to happen. Besides that, we turned out not to drive to a dam, but a dance!

We took a seat in the arena where the musicians were already busy playing. In the meantime, we received a leaflet describing the play. We wouldn’t understand it, because everything was spoken in Balinese. We especially liked it when the women were dancing and making all kinds of movements with their arms. The men dressed as monkeys, witches and gods were less attractive to watch. I think they made fun of us when the musicians laughed at what the actors were saying. Well, you could tell us everything, we only knew that it was about murder and love.

Tegenungan Waterval, Bali

Rice fields

Heading to the rice fields! We stopped at a large restaurant along the road where we could have lunch. Here it became even clearer that almost all tours stop here to dump their tourists for food. Smart of course, however, the food was very good! Before we could go to the rice fields, we first stopped at a coffee plantation. Our private guide took us along and told us all about the Balinese coffee. This was actually the best part of the whole tour and very interesting. After that, we sat at the table and were served 20 different kinds of coffee and tea. From avocado and vanilla coffee to very spicy ginger tea. The rice fields turned out not to be as impressive as we hoped. Everywhere we looked we saw swings on which you were pushed for about €30. Well, we skipped this.

Ubud art market
Balinese dance, Bali

Tegenungan Waterfall

After this dazzling dance, we jumped back into the car on our way to the waterfall. We first checked if he really said waterfall, but this was true. We had looked up the Tegenungan Waterfall in advance and it looked beautiful and big. We had put on our swimwear for this and were looking forward to a fresh dip in the water. I could see myself jumping from a rock into the water while Jeroen was washing his hair under the waterfall. Once we arrived in the village we only saw tourists and a path downstairs with hundreds of steps. Not yet thinking that we had to walk all those steps up again. The waterfall was, well what was it, not inviting. You were allowed to swim there, but the brown water didn’t look attractive. On Bali, you can probably find much nicer and less crowded waterfalls where you can swim and jump from rocks.

Balinese coffee, Bali

Ubud

The driver still had a lot of planning in his head where we all had to go, but we were quite tired especially of walking all those steps back up at the waterfall. We decided that Ubud was going to be our last stop. We took a short walk through Ubud. It looked like a cozy town where again the restaurants are everywhere! Enough choice to choose from. We walked over the market where you can buy thousands of souvenirs and then it was time to go back home. We ended the evening tired but satisfied, at the Italian Da Romeo. And the next day we just lay by the pool again.