Backpacking in Bali & Lombok

After 11 months of traveling Australia, it was time for backpacking in Bali. Why? If you’ve ever been to Australia, you can probably imagine it: the travel budget is getting smaller… and what is closer than quickly flying to Indonesia and enjoying the luxury of a single room 😉

Is backpacking in Bali and Lombok really cheap?

As always, the truth lies in the middle. Of course, the single rooms are a lot cheaper than in Australia, but depending on whether you stay in one place or not, there are a lot of costs for transfers and restaurants. In Australia you can cook yourself a cheap meal. It’s different in Bali and Lombok. There are no kitchens provided in the accommodation and the supermarkets are extremely expensive if you are not a local. In addition, homestay owners always want to earn a little more. I rented a scooter on Lombok, where the idle was set far too high. So you will slip on the dusty roads and the owner can charge you again. In my case this did not work out as I knew a local and they had the scooter repaired for 1/3 of the price.

Travel planning

I had about 2.5 weeks for backpacking in Bali and Lombok, so I also had to plan some things before. Those who have more time can also live from one day to another, but I wanted to get a lot out of the holiday. Those who comes from Germany better book a package trip and one hotel for the whole time. On site you can also book an additional hotel for several days, but the total price is usually cheaper. Due to the cheap flight from Perth to Bali I always booked the homestays a few days before. The rough plan was fixed an my plan was:

• • Sanur
  • Seminyak for the first nights
  • Ubud
  • Lembongan
  • Gili Islands
  • Lombok

The stations on my backpacking trip in Bali

My first stop: Bali

From Perth I went directly to Denpasar in Bali, where I spent the first night at the airport Hotel BaliRa Airport hotel. It is right across from the airport and is perfect if you arrive at 1 o’clock at night.

The next morning I drove with a friend to Sanur, where we arrived at the small Hotel Raihouse Sanur and spent the day at the port with coffee and Bintang. To get back to Seminyak, we rented a taxi that was available to us all day. Thus we were able to visit Pantai Nusa Dua beach, the famous Uluwatu temple and the well known surf beach Padang Padang. At the end of the day we arrived in Seminyak as planned and connected the transfer with the visit of the south of Bali.

In Seminyak we spent 3 days on the beach and visited the famous Potato Head Beach Club. This is the epitome of relaxed holidays, but for backpackers quite expensive.

After that it went on my own to Ubud for 4 days, where also my problems with the bank started. By using my credit card, my bank suspected a fraud case (Indonesia is on the watchlist of banks). So they blocked my credit card. The only way to communicate with them was the Facebook team as I had an Indonesien SIM card which wasn’t registered in my banking details. I learned that you have to inform the bank first and also take enough cash. Paying by card is nearly impossible in homestays here!

Next stop: Nusa Lembongan and Gili Trawangan

In Ubud I booked the transfer to Lembongan. I first went back to Sanur by car and from there by boat to Nusa Lembongan. There I found a very nice and reasonably priced homestay, the 221 homestay. From there the diving base and various warungs (small local restaurants) weren’t far away.

After 2 nights I went from here to Gili Trawangan, where I stayed longer than planned.  My homestay was very cozy and the island had the perfect mix for me. Gili T is small, but has enough restaurants and bars, so you can stay there for 5 days.

To reach Lombok, I took the ferry for locals and booked a car to go to Kuta Lombok, where I stayed also one week.

I came back to Kuta to meet a good friend and finish my backpacking travel in Bali. backpackingAfter that it went back to Australia, rather Sydney, to look at the east coast before it went home.

Tips for backpacking in Bali

• Inform your bank that you are flying to Bali
• Take enough cash (and think of a Packsafe for your money to be safe)
• Check your rented scooter exactly in case the idle is set too high and ask for another scooter or fix it by yourself

As you can see, I insert some affiliate links from Amazon and Booking.com.

But what does that mean? It’s realy easy: You book a room on Booking.com and I get a small commission (the booking won’t be more expensive!!!).

I’m not doing this to get rich, but to balance the expense of the blog and give you a helping hand which hotels are good.