Arrive this afternoon at Ngurah Rai International Airport in Denpasar where you will be greeted by your local guide and private vehicle and transferred to your Hotel, around 90mins.Check in to your Hotel for an afternoon at leisure, a local Balinese dinner is served at the Hotel.
After breakfast, you will be picked up by your driver and transferred to the center of the island for an amazing sustainable tourism excursion at Taman Sari Buwana farm. During this excursion, you will experience local Balinese life while supporting a community-based tourism project in the village of Tunjuk.
Upon reaching Tunjuk village, meet your village hosts before heading into village home base where you will have the opportunity to learn how to make a variety of traditional Balinese temple offerings from Pandanus fronds and banana leaf. Continue through the rest of the compound and to learn more about the elements found in any Balinese home.
Next meet the older generation of the village as they show you how to weave leaves and intricate offering for the temple.
You’ll then walk to working rice fields of local farmers, referred to as sawah. Alongside the farmers, you will learn how to plant, transplant or harvest rice (depending on the season).
Take a ride on a bullock plough, still used in various parts of Indonesia taking protection from the sun with a typical farmer’s hat. Following this, create your own plot of rice in the adjacent rice field – getting a feel for the strenuous nature of the work.
After farming, you’ll visit seasonal vegetable and flower plantations. Passing through a coconut grove, enjoy freshly plucked young coconut under a traditional bale.
Next, return to the home base where you take a snack of boiled cassava with fresh grated coconut in the traditional kitchen before enjoying a delicious lunch of local produce presented in banana leaf.
Following lunch, visit the Royal Temple of Mengwi which was built in 1634 to serve as the family temple of the Mengwi dynasty. The temple is a truly stunning piece of historic architecture, surrounded by a moat with multi–roofted meru shrines and intricately carved wooden gates.
Return to the hotel for an afternoon at leisure.
In the morning, you will be picked up at your hotel lobby around 0830 by your driver and 4WD Jeep. After being greeted by the local driver, you will set off to explore Bali’s interior on this exciting full day excursion.
Start with a visit to Pura Sada, built by the King of Mengwi in the 12th century – a red brick temple with 54 stone seats in the interior courtyard.
You’ll travel along small laneways passing through Balinese villages and rice paddy fields along the way. In the village of Tua, visit a Balinese family compound. The family lives a traditional, simple life common to small villages throughout the island. Their friendly hospitality will leave a lasting memory.
Continue your drive through more fantastic scenery with some off road adventure, stopping as you wish to take photos. Your next visit is to an organic farm near Bratan lake. Start with a boat ride across the lake to the opposite shores then take a tour of the farm learning about the agriculture, processing and distribution of the organic produce.
Sit down to a delicious lunch made of the farm’s ingredients.
This afternoon, your return drive takes you through the Petang countryside. Stop in at a unique local temple where the roof is made of palm fibre. Take another off road jungle experience to visit Tirta Mampeh Waterfall. Return to your hotel late this afternoon with dinner at leisure.
Take your time to wander the streets of Ubud for the artisan ambience and the many shops offering goods from across the island.
Today you will get a true taste of the local culture, traditions and lifestyles with this authentic cooking lesson. Your driver will pick you up at your hotel to travel to the Ubud market where you will meet your host who will help you learn more about the exotic fruits, vegetables, herbs and spices that grace Indonesian plates. Returning to a traditional Balinese Kitchen via a tour of the rice paddies, you have the opportunity to delve deeper into the techniques of Balinese cooking under the guidance of an expert local Chef. Here, you will learn how to prepare Balinese signature dishes, using time honoured techniques and become familiar with the fresh herbs, spices, and other ingredients that make Balinese food delightfully tasty. Also experience the authentic coconut-oil processing. Enjoy a lunch of your creation before travelling to learn about the Hindu spiritual significance of the Pura Dalem Agung at Sacred Monkey Forest. This temple is located at the highest point in the forest and is still used for ceremonies.
Pondok Pekek, a community based library where you can take 1 hr to learn traditional Balinese activities such as Balinese dance – for the girls and playing the Gamelan – for the boys. This evening, take an early set menu dinner before enjoying a traditional Balinese dance performance in the local area. There are a variety of dance performances available, depending on your day of visit.
This morning, take an early breakfast before you are picked up by join in transport and transferred around 90 min to the site of the start of your white water rafting experience. The Telaga Waja River is more challenging with Class III rapids while the Ayung River is not as fast-flowing and has Class II and III. Upon arrival, you will be greeted by the rafting guides who will give you a helmet, lifejacket and paddle. The guides will then provide a safety briefing and also explain and demonstrate paddling techniques. A ‘dry bag’ will be provided to protect your valuables and dry clothes. Then it’s time to start paddling! (4 passengers + 1 guide per raft) You will cover 14 kilometers on the Telaga Waja River or on the Ayung River over approximately 2 hours. The trip is divided into two parts with a rest stop on the riverbanks at the halfway point.The scenery is truly breathtaking along these rivers ranging from gorges and waterfalls to lush farms. Local villagers can be seen toiling their fields, or just taking a break in the shade. Reaching the take out point, you will be treated to an Indonesian buffet lunch in a restaurant with stunning views of the river and surrounding hills. There are shower and toilet facilities available. Note: We recommend wearing shorts and swimming gear, hat and sunscreen. Bring a change of clothes for after the rafting. Unless continuing another program after the rafting – it is recommended to leave your valuables in the Hotel safe. Showers and change rooms available, plastic bag for wet clothes is supplied. Rafting not suitable for children under 7 years
This afternoon, travel to Bali Bird Park for an afternoon learning about the myriad of stunning birds that can be found across the Indonesian archipelago.
Return to your hotel late this afternoon for an evening at leisure.
Start your day with a visit to rarely-visited stone relief of Yeh Pulu. Over 900 years old, this relief is carved with scenes of everyday life during that period. Continue your drive through lush valleys to Gunung Kawi. Descend downhill among the terraced rice fields and arrive at the resting place of Anak Wungsu and his wives. Wungsu was a Raja and this 11th century tomb is surrounded by 9 stone Candi sculpted out of lava rocks. Continue to the slopes of Gunung Batur, reaching the edge of a 12 km wide caldera. You will have an incredible view of Bali’s most active volcano Mount Batur which soars over 1800 meters high and has a turquoise green lake, the largest lake of the island. Descend to the bottom of the carter and to the lava fields. Take a short walk along the black lava as your guide explains more about volcanos and tectonic activity. Return to the rim for a buffet lunch at the Gunung Sari Restaurant which overlooks the Batur area.
Travel to the peaceful seaside village of Amed on the south east coast of Bali with direct views of Mt Agung. The east of Bali has a very different geography to the rest of Bali – dry and rocky.
Arrive to Amed for an afternoon at leisure.
Arise this morning for a days snorkeling from a traditional fishing boat on Tulamben Reef, just off the coast of Amed. There’s a range of tropical fish, flourishing corals and the USAT Liberty shipwreck to discover.
Return to shore around 1500 with an afternoon at leisure.
Enjoy a relaxing start to the day to make the most of your seaside location before travelling the east coast road to southern Bali departing around 11am.
Take a late lunch of a delicious Megibung traditional feast in a bambooo restaurant with views across the rolling fields and rice terraces at various stages of harvest depending on the season.
Using scenic roads travel to the village of Sibetan visiting a Salak plantation
Pedal your way through beautiful landscapes this afternoon with a 1hour cycling tour around Sidemen, a peaceful rural area of weaving villages. The easy ride takes you past rice paddy terraces and plantations of coffee, cloves and cacao.
Continue to KlungKung to visit the ‘Kerta Gosa’, the former 17th century Royal Courts of Bali.
Continue to your beachside resort in Sanur.
You will be picked up from your hotel around 0830 and transferred to Kuta beach. The drive takes approximately 1 hour. The personal instructor will welcome you and provide safe briefing and demonstrate some techniques. The well trained instructors will introduce the basics of surfing- your equipment, how to balance, how to paddle, etc- first in a pool (15 minutes). Once you have an understanding of the basics of surfing, the instructors will take you to the beach and try out some of the surfing techniques in the ocean. The entire session lasts about 2.5 hours and is fully accompanied by an instructor. There is 2 hours free time after your session to wander the Kuta area before returning to your hotel to freshen for dinner.
Today you are free at leisure until you are transferred to Ngurah Rai International Airport or your southern Beach hotel.
Add on a Balinese beach break to get the most out of your Balinese holiday.
At the appropriate time we pick you up for transfer to the airport for your onward flight to your next destination.
