In Bali you have two options when it comes to getting around, hiring a scooter or hiring a driver. Hiring a scooter (around $5 a day) is probably not the best idea, the roads are ridiculously busy and your travel insurance probably won't be valid for starters but it's also hot, sweaty and just a bit of a pain in the bum. Hiring a driver however gives you a locals expert knowledge of the roads, secret spots and gets you an air conditioned car for the day, a full day with a driver starts at around $40 AUD depending on how many days you book and how well you know the driver, but realistically you can expect to pay $50-60. I'd also recommend throwing in a tip and offering to buy your driver lunch. There's literally 1000s to choose from if you scroll through tripadvisor you'll find some incredible reviews, make sure you book well in advance. We used Semiton Bali Tour on our recent trip and the guys were incredible.
Knowing we were pushed for time on our trip we asked the tour company for some advise on things to do to get the right mix of culture, history and natural beauty. The driver picked us up from our hotel reception just after breakfast and we set off on our journey into Bali.
Our first stop was at a beautiful old temple, we paid the temple guards for sarongs (donation) and spent time wondering the temple grounds. I didn't take any photos or write down the name- bad blogger.
From there we set off to Tegenungan waterfall, we totally underestimated the steps to get down to the falls so decided to take the chance to grab an ice cold beer in a shop looking out over the falls instead. It was a pretty sensible choice given the heat!
From there we head out to Ubud, we made a quick stop at some rice terraces on the way however they were ridiculously busy so we were only out of the car for about 20 minutes.
Once we arrived in Ubud we decided it'd be a good idea to spend a few hours wondering around, we agreed on the pick up time and place and set off on foot to explore the town. I spent time in Ubud (Ubud, Bali blog post) the first time I visited Bali and fell in love with the mix of arts, culture and hustle and bustle.
We made our first stop at a local warung to fill up on food, from there we head to the Ubud monkey forest for a few hours and then walked in to the town centre to explore the shops and markets.
When we were finished it was almost the end of the day, so we asked to be dropped in the centre of Seminyak. We bid our driver goodbye and decided to walk around before heading to the beach..
From the beach we had a lovely walk back down to our hotel (Double Six Hotel blog post).
Have you been to Bali before? What's your top tip for hiring a driver?
xo