Now, I'm gonna let you in on a little secret here.
The hidden gem of Southeast Asia is not here.
Bali is probably the most visited place in all of Southeast Asia, but there is a reason behind the madness, and I'm here to show you why you need to book your next ticket to Bali.
My name is Christian LeBlanc and I'm a travel vlogger from Canada.
I've been making videos for the past two years across Southeast Asia, and I've probably spent about three months of it in Indonesia.
Now without further ado, let's hop into the video.
Starting with number 10, Seminyak is probably the most developed part of Bali.
Staying in an incredible villa just like you see here could literally cost you just as much as staying in a four-star hotel in a western country.
Oh my gosh, here we are.
How nice is this?
Money just goes so much further here.
While I don't rank Seminyak High for the adventure factor, it definitely has a lot to offer if you're just looking to put your feet up, enjoy some luxury living.
But one of the incredible things about Bali is the living cost is much more affordable.
It is home to many resorts, incredible fine dining, and excellent nightlife.
And speaking of good food, Motel Mexicola is a great place for nightlife and food.
But be wary, it is quite expensive.
Number nine is Gunung Kawi.
Now, I'm probably not saying it right, but this is an incredible temple built into a hillside.
The environment is in the lush green forest of Bali and there's something very unique about being here.
You truly feel like you're experiencing some of Bali's history.
The entire complex was actually built in the 11th century as a massive tombstone for the king and his family.
The incredible tombstone is surrounded by a beautiful rice terrace.
It's definitely worth exploring.
Next up on the list is Jimbaran.
Somewhere I had one of the most remarkable sunsets of my entire life.
Jimbaran can also be quite touristy.
There's a lot of people that go here to enjoy the sunset, enjoy some fresh seafood, but that's not necessarily a bad thing.
You can definitely expect to compete with some crowds, but you'll have a remarkable night with some great food.
We had a delicious entree of seafood at one of the restaurants here and there's many to choose from.
Bali is filled with incredible waterfalls, but the two that stood out the most to me are Tegunegun and Padang Bulia.
These two waterfalls are an incredible day trip.
Tegunegun is probably the most visited of all the waterfalls, but I'm actually sharing with you a little secret here.
Padang Bulia is by far one of the most unknown waterfalls that is worth visiting in Bali.
This is truly a local secret and a Las Leblanc find.
Although it's a little smaller than Tagunagun, it is no less magical, and it is definitely a photographer's dream.
You don't have to compete with the crowds and you still get a magical scene.
If you're traveling for photography purposes, this little Balinese gate here is actually a very popular photography destination.
There's Balinese gates, just like this one here, all over the island, but this one is, in my opinion, the most iconic.
This gate here is actually kind of on the way back from Padang Bulia, so they can definitely be mixed into a day trip together.
If you're looking for someone to show you around Bali, I highly recommend Bali Customized Tours.
My friend Pancha has showed us around a couple of times and he's the best tour guide I've ever had.
Keeping on the theme of the Balinese jungle, we are now going into the depths.
This is Ubud.
Ubud is a really cool kind of yogi, easygoing town that has a very unique Balinese culture to it.
It's filled with local markets, coffee shops, incredible restaurants, high-end hotels and even low-end hotels, so it fits all budgets.
Ubud is pretty much a must visit place if you're coming to Bali.
It definitely is one of the more popular tourist attractions, so it does get busy.
If you're looking for a fun day trip, one of the things you can do is the Ubud Monkey Jungle, although again a bit of a tourist trap.
It is quite fun to be able to see all these monkeys hanging out.
Also worth noting if you're looking to do a little interior decorating with your house.
Ubud is full of these local craft shops.
The thing that I love most about Ubud is that once you get out of the proper town area, there's some incredibly relaxing hotels or villas that you can stay in.
We stayed in one place that was called the glamping resort, and essentially we felt like we were in the middle of the jungle, but with the comfort of nice amenities and great food cinnamon.
Apparently it has some of the best uploading speeds in all of ubud.
Good internet can be very challenging at times in southeast asia.
One thing I will definitely caution you on though, is that Ubud is surrounded by rice paddies, and rice paddies are inhabited by insects.
I don't know if you can see this, but look at this thing on our window.
My god, it literally just ate them off.
It has it in its mouth.
There's a lizard on the wall.
They're building a nest in my room.
They're building a nest.
As soon as night struck, there was a couple villas we stayed in, where the open concept became our worst nightmare.
Just make sure you're prepared because, you know, it might just bug some people.
We are now halfway.
Number five is actually a place that's not in Bali, but it's close enough.
I thought I would include it.
These are the Gili Islands.
I've visited countless islands in my life, and the Gilis are some of my favorite.
There's simply nothing more laid back.
There are no cars here.
There is only pedal bikes.
That basically gives you an idea of the pace on the island.
Everything is very slow moving.
Everything is very relaxed and you can stay in fairly nice accommodations to budget backpacker accommodations basically the full spectrum but definitely expect to spend more money on accommodation, on beer and on food everything will be about twice the price, if not more.
The Gillies actually had surprisingly great nightlife as well, which is something I wasn't counting on but definitely enjoyed.
A lot of people will come here with the intention of staying a day or two and end up staying a full week.
You can definitely find yourself getting in a bit of the nightlife routine.
They actually have some snorkeling tours and they're only like five or 10 bucks.
They're super affordable.
You're on a boat for half the day.
They give you a snorkel, goggles, and they even bring you to a place where you can get some food.
Now that's pretty much where they make most of their money, because there is a markup on the food, but it's totally worth the day trip.
Even if the snorkeling was very mediocre at best.
It's a great way to meet people and it often leads to a great night out.
Of course, one of the main activities of being in the gili islands is simply sitting on a recliner chair and drinking a beer.
The beer of choice in indonesia is called the bintang, and i must say it is some of my favorite beer.
Now the next on the list is Kuta.
And Kuta is actually a place that has very mixed reviews.
Depending on who you talk to.
Some people will say they loved it.
Some people will say they hated it.
Of people come here to party, get cheap food, cheap drinks.
Essentially, it's the most westernized part of bali and it's pretty much the nightlife capital of the island.
This is definitely a place that a lot of backpackers like to come, but there are high-end budget people that stay here in the nicer hotels and resorts.
It has pretty much everything for every budget.
If you're just wanting to get into surfing and you're looking for a great beginner's place, kuta actually has a beach that's fantastic for that.
The waves are very manageable and you can pretty much go down to the beach and rent a surfboard on any single given day.
There's no security deposits, no insurance forms to fill out.
You simply give a guy like five bucks, he lends you a surfboard and you're off.
Now, if you're one of those people that need your starbucks fix, you won't have a hard time finding one in kuta, because it has everything from starbucks, mcdonald's and pretty much every other popular restaurant chain similar to seminyak.
I give it about a zero on the adventure scale, but if you're just looking to chill out, enjoy an affordable cost of living, from accommodation to food, then kuta could be your place.
Now number four is somewhere I have never been before.
This is Uluwatu.
This is a place that people absolutely rave about.
Uluwatu is in the very southern tip of Bali, and one of the best things about it is that you have a much quieter environment, but you still have amazing villas hotels restaurants, and some of them are even built on the side of a cliff.
There's a few very iconic sites here, including cliffside temples, and I highly recommend you add Uluwatu to your list.
The footage you see here is not Uluwatu but it gives you a bit of a feel for the area.
I will be going to Uluwatu first thing when I go back to Bali in like two weeks now.
Number two on the list is a place called kangoo, and kangoo or changu, depending on how you want to pronounce.
It is definitely one of my most favorite developed areas in bali.
It's not off the beaten path but it has enough of a quiet side that you feel like you're outside of the busyness of bali and yet you have a nice surf town feel to it.
There's a lot of surf shops, because this is one of the best places to catch the great waves that hit Bali.
I tried it as a beginner and I got destroyed, but I will not discourage you from trying it.
Find everything from entry level to expensive villas and hotels. similar to Ubud in a sense.
It has kind of a laid back feel to it.
It's very chilled out.
It's the kind of place where you got those really hipstery, trendy coffee shops and restaurants and other beach town feels to it.
If you're looking for what I believe is one of the best places to go out in Kangoo.
I went out to Old Man's and yes, that sounds really weird, but that's probably the most popular and it's right near the ocean, so the after party normally becomes the beach.
And my number one recommendation of Bali is...
That was my really bad attempt at a drum roll.
And you've already seen the little text below, so I kind of gave it away, but Nusa Penida.
This right here is the hidden gem of Bali, and it might not be staying that way for long.
I was there about a year and a half ago, before anyone was talking about it, and this place dropped my jaw.
Within about a 45 minute ferry off the mainland of Bali, we arrived.
This place is something out of a dream.
It's been over a year since I've been there and things have definitely changed.
First off, going to Nusa Penida from when I last experienced it, it had a bit of a challenge to it.
You're definitely going to want to hire a car to show you around for the day, and I would recommend doing two days.
The roads are very rough, slightly undeveloped and quite mountainous.
You can definitely try to rent a scooter, but this is one of the few places where I think it does make sense to have a driver.
There are two very notable lookout points.
This one right here that basically looks like a dinosaur head, and on the other side of Nusa Penida there's this one right here.
Staying in Nusa Penida will definitely cost you a little bit more than the mainland, because it's not overly developed, but it is very up and coming, so be ready for more development.
I highly recommend you get here as soon as possible, because this might not be the same story in five years and these viewpoints might become a whole lot busier.
Accommodations range from budget to medium scale.
I don't believe there's anything too high-end on the island, but again, that could quickly change.
That has been my top 10, guys.
I hope you liked it.
My name is Christian, also known as Lost LeBlanc.
If you're new here, make sure to hit subscribe, because I'm doing weekly informational videos all about traveling across Southeast Asia, and I'm doing a big upcoming trip to Indonesia once again to show you parts outside of Bali, and maybe I'll dabble a little bit in Bali because I just love it so much there.
But make sure to be following me on Instagram, on YouTube, on Facebook, all of my social medias.
It is at Lost LeBlanc.
Thanks for watching, guys, and let's get lost in the next one.
