– There are still many places in Bali I have not yet discovered and explored despite the fact that I’ve been living is this sun, sea, surf island for about 9,5 years. This is a serial of 3 blog posts of A Day trip to Northern part of Bali (trilogy!). Written NOT in an order of where to visit first, although for your easy guide, I will give an itinerary* that most people usually does. Enjoy! –
If you are going up to North of Bali, to the highland village of Bedugul, that is famous with its Botanical Parc (Kebun Raya Bedugul) and Ulun Danu Temple on Beratan Lake, your journey can continue up to Buleleng, to the splash spot of the area : Munduk Waterfall. This is not only a visit to a beautiful waterfall place in Bali, but also a short hiking deep into the rain tropical forest of Munduk Village. Very recommended for Bali visitors after 4 or 5 days with skin tanning beach days and Seminyak night life, you should definitely schedule a day trip to Singaraja area.
Munduk is a quite village much different from the south of Bali area situated at 1,500 meters above sea level, at the Northen part of Bali, Buleleng. That’s 2 hours drive from Denpasar. After passing Ulun Danu Temple in Bedugul, turn left at Wanagiri Village, Munduk is about 5 km downhill from here. A special small parking lot next to a small ‘warung’ is available right on the steep hill road of Munduk village. Be careful when you cross the road as cars and motorbike are speeding up as they enter to an extreme up hill and down hill road at the same time, from 2 ways. Waiting for you crossing the road (slowwwly…) is almost impossible at that speed level.
The path way as you enter Munduk rain forest is a mix between natural trail road and paved way. You will have occasionally to share the small path with the villagers on motorbike..Interesting hiking type!
You will be captured by the beauty of green lush tropical forest across the hill, with coffee and clove plantation around you. Stop by for a photographic moment! I was really in the middle of a pretty forest jewels having seen these giant bamboo trees, tropical colorful flowers and plants.
To get to the waterfall is actually easy, as they made the sign boards clearly enough to follow. But! at one intersection Benny and I got lost into another part of the forest area where it led us to a village with no tourists/visitors but us..and the sound of the pigs grunt! We actually missed one (OBVIOUS!) sign! haha..So I think I should just post some pics here just to give you a guidance, in case you giggle too much with your friends (like I did) you didn’t notice the sign boards to the waterfall.
Just right after you did a wooden board surfing to cross the wet watery soil, there will be a local people sitting on a plastic chair taking Rp 5,000 (50 cents) of entrance fee to the waterfall. The ticket guy was away when we got there, so the waterfall visit was free of charge 🙂
I noticed this is one of favorite destination for french and taiwanese tourists, with a big difference of attitude. The french tourists only took a picture of the waterfall, enjoy the splash, then leave. The taiwanesses took half an hour to change 20 (almost the same) poses of 2 victory fingers under the waterfall, one by one, and there were 4 of them…and that’s the only reason why Bart and I had to spend more time just to wait for them to finish their victory and ‘vogue’ pose so we could take ours…*sigh*..
You will be as happy as I was when the rainbow struck across the water right under the waterfall, leaving a shinning reflection on the river beneath it. Who wouldn’t be jaw dropped when you see this beauty of nature moment..
*An ideal and strongly suggest itinerary for a day trip to Bedugul & Buleleng area would be :
– Bedugul : Visit Ulun Danu Temple, then Botanical Garden.
– Munduk Waterfall.
– Stop at the highest point at Wanagiri Village, Sukasada sub-district, Buleleng, at this open air sitting area overlooking 2 magnificent twin lakes of Tamblingan and Buyan.
– On the way back to Bedugul, a MUST visit to : Bedugul Market where ‘warung’/stalls displaying an array of fresh colorful fruits and vegetable, harvested from Bedugul land itself. Why I put Bedugul Market at the end, because shopping should be on your last itinerary after other nature spot destinations – that’s if you don’t want to loose to much time between bargaining and spending your money 😉
Wow…it’s really beautiful. I want to visit Bali now. Maybe I can live in Bali sometime in the future. 🙂
btw, is it true that Julia Roberts just finished shooting a movie in Bali?
Hi Steven! You’re back! So nice to see you here again. Yes true! Julia Roberts shooted her EAT, PRAY, LOVE movie in Bali, based on a true story of Elizabeth Gilbert who found her true love in this paradise island! And one of the movie set was at Padang Padang Beach which is one of my top 5 beautiful beaches in Bali, here’s the post for you : http://su.pr/4NRBpL
woww…i go to singaraja often with my family but never go there; but after reading this blog, i sure will go there; its beautyfull
Com..come then!!! This is a serial blog post – trilogy of northen part of Bali trip. Stay tune for more adventure from beeamazing.com :p Thanks!!
Bee, I’ve lived in Bali for about 7 years but I never heard about this place. The waterfall is so amazing! I thought it was in Alaska!
Tourist who bored with the tropical Heat of Kuta, They should try to visit different place with different climate like Bedugul Highland. Just to refresh the mind and enjoy the beautiful natures. I wanna go there now…really!
Surfing on a wooden board sound adventurous too! Nice pose, Bee! They way you stand and move on it were like a real surfer pro;D
Bee, keep writing on more ‘secret’ spots like this one. I really enjoy reading it!
Gita! I’ll take you to the northen part of Bali when you come to the island. Many thanks for stopping by at my blog! You too, Cyber Mom! Keep on blogging! <3
amazing waterfall! i like the way u guys did not let the rain deter you.. at the end.. looked like sunshine right? LOL.. gorrrrgeous!
Seems like in Munduk Village everyday is a rainy day! Bart tried so hard to keep me out from fallin’ because I’m a clumsy girl when it comes to jungle, and off beaten paths and he had to take a good picture too! I’ll take you here when you are in Bali. Thanks!
@Bee: I saw the movie trailer couple weeks ago, and realized that the setting was in Bali. LOL I start to fall in love with Bali. Thx to you 😉
Steven! So you started to fall in love with Bali because of me? Oh woww…then you should start to read my blog, one post a day – LOL! I’ve read EAT,PRAY,LOVE book by Elizabeth.G, so was so excited to know Julia Roberts did the movie. Come to Bali, Steven!
hi Bee,
me and my husband are visiting bali in oct and your blog was really help full in deciding our tour. we also want to know if there are some quite beaches with resorts near by where we can spend some quality time with each other. we donot like much crowd.
Hi Bee
I found your blog this morning and I would like it is very informative. Great job.
I am looking to bring my partner to Bali and looking for a place to shutdown our system after a hard year at work.
I would like to ask if you could advise me any pleasant and economical hotel to stay at Pdang Padang beach location. As you know this place so well, which hotel would you recommend in order for us to meet our mode of objective as well as Sun, Sand and Sea.
Hi Steve, apologize for the delay in responding to your email. I haven’t stayed at any hotel in Padang padang area. Been spotted some surfer accommodations as well as some luxury accommodations in the area of Bingin-Padang padang-Suluban beaches. But have a look at the TravelFish Bukit’s accomodation guide on this link : http://www.travelfish.org/accommodation/indonesia/bali/bali/bukit/all Budget accommodation usually secluded and don’t have a website. You might want to check agoda.com or booking.com for Uluwatu-Bali area, search by the cheapest hotel. Hope you enjoy your holiday in Bali! Cheers!
hey bee
i found your blog very interesting, can u tell me the way to reach there?
is it suitable for elderly?
Hi Andre, yes Munduk Waterfall is suitable for healthy & fit elder people. I saw some tourists from Europe at this amazing place. But please note that the road is slippery, it’s often rain and cold. Make sure you are wearing the right shoes, and bring rain coat! Cheers!
aw..aw…so amazing…