Bali is two islands wearing one name. There is the Bali of Instagram — the beach clubs of Canggu, the swings over the rice fields, the traffic that turns a ten-kilometre trip into a ninety-minute ordeal. And there is the other Bali, the one that still runs on temple festivals and irrigation cooperatives, waiting a couple of hours’ drive to the north and east.
Bali’s traditional subak irrigation system — a cooperative water-management practice centuries old — is inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List as a cultural landscape. [1]
The black-sand east
Amed, on the far eastern coast, trades white sand for volcanic black and beach clubs for fishing villages. The snorkelling starts a few metres offshore, the sunsets frame Mount Agung, and a beachfront room costs a fraction of what you would pay in the south.
Into the highlands
- Sidemen — the rice-terrace scenery of Ubud without the crowds or the price tags.
- Munduk — waterfalls, coffee plantations, and cool mountain air.
- Tirta Gangga — a royal water palace with stepping stones across koi ponds.
- The West Bali National Park — jungle, mangroves, and the island’s best-preserved reef at Menjangan.
The Bali people fall in love with is rarely the one on the postcard. It’s the one two valleys over.
— Sari Dewi
Getting around
A hired driver for the day is inexpensive and saves you from Bali’s notorious traffic and its equally notorious scooter accident statistics. For more islands and shorelines, dive into our beaches collection.
Where to Eat
Away from the beach clubs, the best meals in Bali happen at warungs in the highlands and along the black-sand east coast.
