Swastiastu from Bali, Indonesia!

For my third month of travel, I chose to spend four weeks volunteering at Sepeda Hostel in Canggu, Bali. After purchasing a visa on arrival at the Denpasar Airport ($30 for 30 days), the work exchange involved a 28-day stay free of charge (for bed and breakfast) and yoga classes for five days of five-hour work shifts during the week. 

At Sepeda, I was able to expand my creative and design skills while working with and meeting so many incredible people from around the world. Mainly the duties involved social media and in-person guest events and connections, including: 
-Instagram stories and reels (photo and video)
-food testing and photography for the upcoming cafe opening (lightroom editing)
-photography for the new merch (t-shirts) and photo/lightroom editing 
-creating videos for tiktok (tiktok and capcut editing)
-party promoter (plan activities day and night events and make sure guests are having a good time) with organizational/event focus on pool volley, family dinner, and trivia/games nights)
-creative design: designed and decorated a new outdoor beer pong table 
-chalk/marker sign decor and designs 

The location was by a rice field a few minutes outside the central area of Canggu. To get around I used the Grab and Gojek apps where the motorbikes ranged from $0.75-$5 (only if the ride was longer or with traffic for the higher prices, typically was about $0.83). I also used the apps often to order food, which ranged from about $2-6 for meals and smoothies and had a wide variety of options. I didn’t walk much around the hostel, as the streets were not all paved and could be extremely dusty with small sidewalks and even a bit dangerous with all the motorbikes around. Also although the hostel was pretty, around on the surrounding roads there was a lot of trash (on all the roadsides and in the waters) and unfortunately, the only cleaner areas were the more popular tourist spots. There was also a lot of plastic and glass, and construction was everywhere (mainly on new villas). There are also small homemade banana leaf bundles with candy and flowers on the entrances to the many temples around the island, as the main religion in Bali is Hinduism, and the rest of Indonesia is mainly Muslim.

Canggu is extremely touristy, and other than beach clubs, the beach, and shopping there is not a ton to do. The beach was a 10-15 minute drive from the hostel, and on the long stretch of coast were many ‘sections’ with different names but all connected. The main few were Canggu, Echo, and Perenan Beach. There were many restaurants, smaller bars and drink shops, surf rentals and schools, and clothing/tourist shops on the sand and the streets leading to the beaches. The main clubs were also by the beach, some right up on the sand also. 

I did go out/clubbing a lot during this stay, with new friends and other volunteers from my hostel and got to know a few promoters. If signed up on the guest list (found online) and entered before 10 or 11, entry to many of the clubs was free, and when with the promoters and the tables, drinks were free too. I often visited Desa Kitsuné, and a few times Old Man’s, Mexicola, Sandbar, and Luigi’s (a pizza restaurant with a club on Monday nights, free entry before 9:30). A bar I visited, Da Maria, also has a guest list online for free unlimited cocktail hour/free dinner every week. My favorite club, Savaya, was further south (in Uluwatu), a beach club by day with a beautiful view over the ocean and a huge dance space. Another volunteer from the hostel and I also got free VIP access to the DJ booth and got to dance behind the bar, also there at a table with our favorite promoter and later stayed in a villa for free with our own room also from our promoter. Villa parties and after parties are also very common since the clubs usually close by 1-2 am. Many birthdays (including my own) happened during this stay, and one birthday celebration took place and the second most expensive villa in the area with 17 rooms. 

A few markets that stood out to me were:
-The Flea Market Seminyak
-Canggu Center 
-Frog Market (a huge market with outdoor vendors)
and again there were many others in the streets by the beach and around the touristy areas. 

Every few days to relax I also greatly enjoyed getting massages, my three favorite places being: 
-Pramana Spa (traditional Balinese massage, $8/hour)
-Lotus Massage Therapy (facial and body scrub, also offer other specialized massages and services-combine services for a discount, a bit fancier but still decent prices) 
-Kupu Kupu Outdoor Spa (1-hour outdoor massage, unlimited sauna and ice bath use, tea and snacks for $19)

During my back-to-back days off each week, I tried to explore a bit more of the island and visited a few other popular areas including:

Uluwatu:
-I stayed in Bali Bobo Hostel for $10/night with breakfast included 
-Dreamland Beach: touristy and crowded, 10k($0.65) entrance fee but good waves for surfing and a few restaurants
-Much more local than Canggu with more small shops and walking around I saw a lot more small homes (poverty more evident here)
-Newsa Thrift (cheap secondhand shop) and lunch across the street at Tarabelle 
-Nyang Nyang Beach (short hike down to super clear water and a long beach, an overlook, and a restaurant at the top before the hike)

Ubud:
-Green View Backpackers Inn at $6/night including breakfast (ended up getting the four-bed female dorm with bathroom included all to myself!) It was near other restaurants and shops and very peaceful surrounded by trees and greenery, and in a very central in the main part of Ubud
-Suwat Waterfall, touristy but not as bad or big as most, I did have trouble getting back, and a local drove me part-way because I was unable to find a Grab to drive the 30 minutes in traffic
-cute coffee shop Istana, family owned and super nice and cheap with Candra Soa next door ($8 massage with discount from the kind staff) 
A lot more temples, seen everywhere, and some inns/hostels located within the structures 

Padangbai:
-Bloo Lagoon resort: incredible lunch with a viewpoint over the water and mountain hills (about a 1.5-hour moto drive from Sepeda)
-Lagoon Beach had snorkeling before, super clear water and very colorful fish and coral although very shallow 
-Kailash Homestay for $17 (1 night) for a private room with a balcony and breakfast 

I met some incredible people here and am extremely grateful for the experience and growth I had. I will say that Canggu did get a bit boring and the north did have much better nature and sights, but in the future, I would like to return to Indonesia and see more of the islands. It was definitely different to stay in one place for so long and I did start to be a bit too comfortable, but now I am traveling back to Thailand to see more of the islands in the east. I will consider volunteering again but not for at least a few more months of solo travel, and I think I would also prefer a stay shorter than 4 weeks. Love always and stay tuned for more adventures!

xoxo,

Ang around the World 🙂

volunteering examples: