SOLO TRAVEL | Bali, Indonesia 2020 (1/4)

I was finally brave enough to have my first  international solo vacation trip last January 2020 and it was EPIC!!!! Definitely one of the most memorable travels as it built my confidence. I can finally say I, too can do it alone from flight, hotel, itinerary, budgeting, packing, and so forth! I've been so nervous because safety-wise, female travelers are more prone to danger. I feel so pumped up after the trip that I started checking new flights for future travels. You could say this trip is the real trigger of me becoming a wanderlust. Lol

Stayed in Bali for 4 days and 5 nights and happy to share to everyone the happenings, activities I had, and places I've been to. I will be making 4 separate posts for each day of the trip.

DAY 1

Departed from Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 3 (Manila, Philippines) early morning (4am) and arrived in Ngurah Rai International Airport (Denpasar, Indonesia) at 8am. I pre-booked my airport transfer to hotel via Klook and scheduled pick-up at 9am. I thought there might be flight delay so I made the pick-up time an hour after the expected arrival time. I immediately spotted the Klook representatives but driver was not there yet. Well, I was an hour early so can't complain on that. I roamed around the airport and took a few photos until the driver arrived. The Klook staff was nice enough to show me around and take pictures of me as we wait.

For hotel, I booked via Agoda. I gotta say, a lot of good deals and discounts there. I wanted a room with a bathroom to myself because I'm maarte like that lol. Found a relatively fair price offered by Taman Rosani Hotel & Villa. The place was quite nice with a pool view from my room except I don't think they really change the bed sheets. There's a slight stain on it and I saw it everyday of my stay. I know.. Ew. I guess it means 'you get what you paid for'? But not changing bed sheets is just... sigh. Anyway, check-in was at 2pm so I roamed around Seminyak for a little while. I chose to stay around Seminyak as recommended online for Bali first timers. The hotel was near a few must-try restaurants so not such a bad deal.

I ate lunch in Pison Coffee which was a 10-minute walk (or maybe 5-minutes coz I walk slow? lol) from the hotel then after eating went to Nook to get some dessert. I loooove Nook's Nalu bowls! You guys should try it! To get there, suggest you just book via Grab Bike. Most of my bookings were only at IDR9,000 per trip which is roughly PHP30. You can also rent a scooter for a whole day use. The rent offered to me was at IDR100,000 per day so I opted for Grab Bike. The cost is lower if you tally after end of day so didn't need to rent in my case.

I was a bit tired and had less sleep due to an early flight so after checking-in, I slept for 2 hours. Woke up at 4pm and headed to La Plancha. The beach had such a nice vibe to it. The music, the people, the food, and the sunset!!! I love it. I just sat and ordered food and drinks as I waited for the sun to go down. Surprisingly I didn't feel bored observing people. Probably because I was entertained how the guy in front of me was trying to flirt with the girl next to him who obviously was minding her own business and was hinting she's not interested. Eventually the girl decided to leave. The guy stayed for a little while looking dejected but later on left as well. And so, I finally had a better view of the sunset. Took lots of photos and and later walked around the shore. Spoke with a few locals and when it was getting late, decided to return to the hotel. 

So I booked for Grab Bike and the rider sent a message which the Grab app automatically translated to broken English. From the translation, I thought he was telling me he couldn't take me anymore because the area does not allow Grab bikes so I panicked wondering how to get back. There weren't any cars or taxis at that time but then I was approached by a motorist offering a ride at fixed price of IDR80,000. I was feeling nervous and desperate so was tempted. I haggled to IDR30,000 though lol. I hesitated at first with thoughts of possibly being taken elsewhere but it was getting really late so I pushed my luck. And you know what's funny? I saw a Grab Bike arrive seconds after I got on the motorbike and the motorist sped up. The Grab rider suddenly messaged as we were off to our destination and I had to regretfully cancel as it was too late. Sigh I don't know what face I was making but that was a major face palm! I just made sure to check Google Maps where I was and sent my family on Facebook messenger my live location. At first I let the motorist choose the route but then it started getting further than what Google Maps was showing. Turns out he also didn't know the way so I just told him when to turn right or left until we reached the hotel. It gave me a freaking mini heart attack when he suddenly stopped!!! A dark place in the middle of who knows what!!!! I was on my guard and internally freaking out and praying. Thank goodness he just wanted to confirm the place because he was having a hard time communicating with me while driving. And that's when we agreed I tell him when to make a turn until we reached the destination. So yeah... WHAT. A. DAY.

Look forward to Day 2! Will be making a new post for it. ☺