8 Lessons Learnt During Our First Two Weeks in Bali
How is it possible that two weeks in Bali have already flown by? 🥥
We’ve been based in and around Canggu during this time, and it’s been a mix of work, exploring, and plenty of learning moments.
From transport to food, culture, and daily life, here are 8 travel tips and lessons we’ve picked up in our first couple of weeks living in Bali.
1. Eating Out In Bali
Bali (well Canggu for us), is bursting with plenty cafés and restaurants, so many that it can get overwhelming when you’re deciding where to go.
Our tips?
Narrow things down based on your own preferences.
Scroll through Instagram menus, look at reviews, and pick cafes and restaurants that suit your eating style.
Since we’re on a health journey and have PCOS, we’ve made sure to focus on cafés and restaurants that serve the foods we enjoy and can actually eat according to what our nutritionist has recommended.
Bali Eating Out Tips:
Start building a list of your go-to places early on and preferably before your travels – it saves time and makes going to the cafe and restaurants more exciting when you already know what meal you will be ordering.
If you are new here, we have been on our biggest PCOS health journey yet – we have transformed our lives in the biggest way possible and sharing all about our experience on our website and Instagram page.
Follow along to see what we eat as PCOS girls and the struggles we face on a day to day basis.
2. Grocery Shopping in Bali
One of our biggest pain points while traveling has always been finding groceries that fit into our eating plan. No way we were going backwards in our health journey while being out of the country.
We will admit that we are creatures of habit… and love our familiar foods! I mean protein pancakes for breakfast until arriving in Bali. For sure missing them, but we have adapted and made do with the foods that we can source from the shops here.
We were a bit clueless and spent more money than anticipated, but we have learnt over the past two weeks.
Three supermarkets we’ve relied on for groceries:
- Frestive Supermarket
- Pepito market
- Clandys Grosir Bali
We mentioned the above three because they mainly had all the ingredients and foods that we eat on a daily basis all in one shop.
Getting around in Bali, which we talk about in one of the next pointers, is more complicated than we envisioned… We thought that we would be driving scooters around from A-B. We tried it for one day and were scared thereafter. The roads are no joke and road rules are very different to what we know.
So we made the decision to Gojek everywhere for the rest of our travels in Bali.
Bali Grocery Shopping Tips:
After speaking to some locals and expats living in Bali, we have expanded our options.
For fruit and vegetables, the best option is buying from local warungs and roadside stands – you’ll find them everywhere, and prices are much better than in supermarkets.
Yogurt has been a huge pain pointer for us. Yes, there are plenty yogurt options in all the shops we have mentioned above, but for us, it’s about finding the yogurt that works for our bodies – plain, no extra fats, not so much sugar etc etc
We eventually found a yogurt brand that works for us, and for sure stocked up in our fridge.
Bring some items from home:
There were only so many PCOS travel snacks and other food items that we could fit into our bags while travelling and super happy to have packed in
- Salty Cracks,
- Future Life Bars,
- Huge jar of Nescafe
- Jungle Oats
3. Transport in Bali
We rented a scooter for one day… and very quickly returned it.
But, we did lose out on some money… So this is a big tip for those who have never driven a scooter in Bali before. Rather rent it out for one day, see how it goes and then commit to a longer time frame.
We went and committed to 3 weeks of scooter hire, only to read the fine print when we wanted to return it. We gave away more than 50% of the rental.
Riding a scooter in Canggu is not for the faint-hearted! The traffic is intense, and for us, it just didn’t feel worth the stress.
Instead, we now use Gojek for all our transport. It’s a lifesaver, download the app before you arrive.
There are scooter (GoRide) and car (GoCar) options, whatever is more comfortable for you.
Bali Transport Tips
Always request an extra helmet if you’re hopping on a bike – it’s as easy as copy-pasting “bring extra helmet please” into the chat with your driver.
Lauren only had the app and would have to request two drivers for each of us which became annoying after some time.
Now, we both downloaded the Gojek app so that we could request drivers at the same time. Most of the time they will arrive shortly after one another.
Airport to Accomodation in Bali
Use Gojek and use GoCar.
We used the contact that our Air BnB host gave us and it cost IDR350 000. We didn’t have cash on us, so we asked the driver to stop at the ATM. Drew the cash and we only received IDR100 000 notes – so of course we gave the driver IDR400 000. He was so lovely and professional anyway that we didn’t mind giving him extra.
We looked on the Gojek app and you can find drivers for maybe half the price – depending on which area your accommodation is and how far the drive is from the airport to your accommodation.
For those feeling adventurous and have more time to explore South Africa and Africa, get some inspiration from our blogs below.
Perhaps considering a 5 day trip to the Victoria Falls, or a trip up South Africa’s West Coast to Langebaan? I am sure you have heard of Churchhaven and Kraal Baai, two spectacular beaches inside the West Coast National Park. For those who are time restricted, you can base yourself in Langebaan and do day trips from there.
4. Sweet Tooth Fix in Bali
Ouch, cutting out the Lays and Simba chips while in Bali… okay Simba no, but you can definitely find Lays chips.
If you are willing to spend IDR108 000…. = R112. Please buy those Simba and Lays chips specials back home – the one where you get 3 packets for R30 from Pick n Pay.
Our Chocolate Treat in Bali
We may have found our new guilty pleasure: Slab Crafted Chocolate.
It’s dangerously good, and we already want to go back! Might have been there more than twice in one week…
Back home we would eat lots of Lindt dark chocolate, but Slab Chocolate in Canggu, wow. So tasty, I wish we didn’t find it!
Bali Sweet or Savoury Fix Tips
You can definitely get quite a bit of delicious treats from the shops we mentioned in point number 2. They also have imported goodies, of course at a lekker price.
How bad are your cravings?
Bad enough to break your budget?
5. Embracing Balinese Tradition
One of the most rewarding parts of slow travel is taking the time to connect with local people and culture.
The Balinese community is warm and welcoming, and sharing stories with locals has been such a highlight.
Don’t be afraid to strike up conversations, ask questions, and learn more about the Balinese way of life.
During our two weeks in Bali, we have learnt to make the Canang sari which is a daily offering that Balinese people craft as a form of gratitude to the God’s who have blessed them. You will find these Canang sari on the floors wherever you go.
It really is so beautiful to see.
Balinese Canang Sari Tip
Make sure to mind your step and not walk over these offerings as it can be a sign of disrespect. So make sure you look where you are walking when visiting Bali.
Language Barrier
If a language barrier pops up? Google Translate is your best friend 🙂
Find out more about us
Read more about our travel stories and the reason behind why we started our travel blog.
6. Cash in Bali
Always have cash on you.
While most restaurants/ activities or hotels accept cards, many restaurants and cafés are cash-only and tips are usually expected in cash too.
Especially the smaller local places.
Where to draw cash in Bali?
Always remember to withdraw money from reputable ATM’s and double-check that you’ve taken your card before you walk away.
Such an easy mistake when you are distracted with your millions IDR.
PS: their currency will make you a millionaire 💰
7. Staying Connected in Bali
The best decision we made?
Downloading the Airalo app and setting up an eSIM before we arrived.
It activated automatically when we landed in Bali, and we’ve had reliable data from day one.
Having Airalo in Bali has been a game changer:
- Booking Gojeks on the go
- Staying in touch with family and friends back home
- Replying to that email “quickly”
- Finding restaurants and cafes
- Uploading that Instagram story and post
- Hotspotting when café WiFi doesn’t cut it.
- Google Translate to communicate with the locals
We highly recommend using them while travelling to not only Bali, but anywhere around the world.
8. Things We’ve Been Up To in Bali
Aside from our daily work routine, we’ve been making sure to balance things out with experiences, both big and small.
So far, some of our Bali adventures include:
- Local Balinese spa treatments
- Movie night
- Weekend getaway outside of Canggu
- Balinese purification ceremony
- Learning how to make Canang sari (traditional Balinese offerings)
- Exploring local markets and rice fields
- Testing out all the yogurt brands (PCOS life!)
- Working remotely from different cafés
- Grocery shopping to various shops has been an adventure on its own 🙂
One thing that we’ve learnt:
It’s also worth noting: Bali is not as cheap as we expected.
We visited Bali for one week in 2016 and we spent R17 000 (including flights, accommodation, transfers, food and activities). One week was way too short, hence the reason for us always wanting to explore more of Bali, besides the islands that we visited.
Yes, we know times have changed and so will the economy place a huge part in this.
Super grateful to be in Bali for the 2nd time, of course slow travel, booking flights at a cheaper price and being able to have down time when need be.
However, we must say that when we were on the smaller islands, we ate from the local warungs (small local cafe).
Being based in Canggu there are soooo many restaurant and cafe options that you actually cannot visit them all.
Eating out and groceries are definitely more affordable back in South Africa, though this may be because of our specific diet.
Still, it’s all part of the experience!
Our first two weeks in Bali have already been full of lessons, laughs, doctor visits (will still get into this) and plenty of scooter trips.
We’re taking it slow, soaking everything in, and learning how to balance remote work along with exploring beautiful Bali.
There’s so much more we still want to do, but that’s the beauty of slow travel, you get to savor each day, one step at a time.
off two wander
Lauren and Julia are twin sisters from Cape Town, South Africa, sharing their travel adventures & showcasing what South Africa and other countries have to offer. They are passionate about travel, wildlife, conservation, being surrounded by nature & holistic well-being. They are both currently working fully remotely - Lauren is a travel guru - her previous industry, before moving over to digital marketing. Julia is a qualified teacher and is currently working for a digital agency too! Lauren does the travel logistics and web development, where Julia does the travel blogging & finances (if it wasn’t for Julia, Lauren would be on holiday all the time). Their travel blog covers anything from travel tips, guides & to do’s, wine farm spots & them visiting their favourite coffee shops (they are both creatures of habit, so you’ll find them obsessing over the good coffee cafes).
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