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If you search for tours in Bali on Get Your Guide you will find a tour called Instagrammable Places in Bali. It pretty much takes you to all the main spots in the center of the island.

Downside of Solo Traveling

What I found is that most companies won’t let you pay for one person which is annoying for anyone traveling solo, like me. The option to join a group tour doesn’t really exist in Bali. It is all private hire so if you don’t know anyone else in Bali, you will be paying double to get a tour.

I wasn’t allowed to book online for one person for the central Bali tour. The option just simply wasn’t on booking sites. Therefore, I spent a day trying to get in contact with different companies to find a driver using WhatsApp and email.

I decided to book my tour with Bali Hire Driver. They quoted a price of 500,000IDR for 10 hours plus 100,000IDR extra to go to the east side of the island (it’s a lot of driving!).

This company let me customize my tour, and I just told them where I wanted to go. There wasn’t any strict time frame of how long I could spent at one location.

Buddy was my personal driver for the day. He was very friendly and helpful. He even took all my pictures throughout the day.

Tegalalang Rice Terraces

I started the central Bali tour early in morning at 6am to catch the sun rise in Ubud in the Tegalalang Rice Terraces. It took about one hour to drive there from Sanur. Once we arrived there were only a few other people there which made the terraces very enjoyable. It is a lot of hiking around and climbing up and downstairs, so wear good shoes because it can be muddy.

Luwak Coffee

The next stop was to try the luwak coffee. This is also known as cat poop coffee because it literally comes from the poop of an animal that looks like a cat. The staff will show you the process of how they make the coffee and teas. The animal is called a civet which is a cat like creature. They are mostly active at nighttime so during the day when everyone visits, they aren’t very exciting.

You will be able to have a tea and coffee tasting overlooking the terraces. If you wanted to try the Luwak coffee it is only 50,000 IDR. Remember, you didn’t come all the way here to not try it, so might as well!

Titra Empul

After spending about an hour trying the different coffee and tea, the next stop was the water temple called Titra Empul. This is a Hindu temple, and appropriate dress is required. At the entrance there will be sarongs for you to use while you’re inside.

By now it was about 10 am and it was starting to get busy with people and the big tour groups. The temple is where people can rinse themselves with the holy water that bubbles up from the ground. There is also a large pond filled with oversized koi fish.

East Side

To get to the east side of island, we had to drive about 2 hours from Ubud through the jungle. This side of the island is home to the water palace called Tirta Ganga, and the Lempuyang Temple known for The Gates of Heaven.

It was around lunch time that we arrived, and by now all the tours where making their rounds. Both of these places were filled with so many people. I waited in line for a picture at The Gates of Heaven for about one hour. Yes, that’s right, one hour! There is a local guy that takes your picture at the gates, but only with your phone to get the reflection.

Unfortunately my pictures didn’t turn out very well. None of them were straight and they were all off center. So this is a picture opposite the gates.

I have to say by this point in the day, I wasn’t really feeling it anymore. And all the people made it less enjoyable. After The Gates of Heaven we had another 2 hour drive back to Sanur to complete the tour.

In the future I would probably only do a half day tour of central Bali in the morning to avoid all the people.