Visiting Sekumpul Waterfall and attractions nearby, Bali

This was the day I went further from Ubud and the only day I rode a motorbike in Bali, the big island. I wasn’t really keen on riding a motorbike in Bali because of the chaotic traffic in the main tourist hotspots, but the truth is that once out of those crazy areas, the traffic is very normal and not that terrible.
I really wanted to visit Sekumpul waterfall which seems to be one of the most beautiful ones in Bali, if not the most beautiful one. If I wanted to visit this waterfall I had no choice but to rent a motorbike, or I could also join a tour, but I wasn’t really willing to do it. So, going on my own on a motorbike it was. The ride would be very long and I expected a tiring day, but it was worth it!

I left Ubud early morning. I rented a motorbike in a spot a bit further from my hostel strategically trying to avoid the worst traffic area. I did just fine. I rented a motorbike for 80K rupees a day.
I still caught up with some traffic, but it was just fine. The landscape around me was beautiful most part of the time so riding a motorbike for more than 1h straight wasn’t that hard. The view always helps.

Pura Ulun Danu Bratan

My first stop of the day was Pura Ulun Danu Bratan. This temple seems gorgeous and I was very excited to see it. It was my first stop of the day. But I didn’t visit it haha. I didn’t do any research and once there I found out that the entry ticket was 70K rupees which I found a lot. If I think of Euros, maybe it was very silly that this price prevented me from visiting this spot, but I live in Vietnam and this price sounded too high for the place. My main interest that day was really Sekumpul waterfall, so I thought to skip my visit to Pura Ulun Danu Bratan and maybe visit it at the end of the day depending on how much money I had spent before. I left it for later but it was a bad decision because later it was raining and I ended up not seeing this temple. What a shame…

Bali Handara Gate

Anyway, not very far away was another spot on my list: Bali Handara Gate. This gate somehow got famous on the internet. I have no idea how, to be honest, and I’ll explain why. Again, I didn’t do my research properly haha I’ve been traveling more freestyle recently lacking planning and research, maybe I should go back to being a more organized traveler haha
Well, I was not expecting what I found. Bali Handara Gate is really just that- A GATE. Worse of all, it is an entry gate to a golf course haha. How the hell did a gate to a golf course become a tourist attraction? There are so many beautiful gates around the island!

But it gets worse. There is a ticket counter to take pictures!! Want even worse? There was a 1h waiting line to take a picture in front of that gate haha!!! OMG! I can’t even…
The price was 50K rupees and I don’t remember clearly but there was a fee to fly a drone or whatever. Did I pay 50K to take a picture in front of a gate? Hell no! This place must be a joke. It felt like the locals decided to “plant” a ticket booth in there and started to charge tourists for pictures. They saw a business opportunity here. But the gate is just there. Who is going to stop me from simply walking in that area?
I skipped the ticketing spot, went around, and walked close to the gate. I found a spot took a picture and that was it. No one stopped me from doing it. Of course, it isn’t the perfect picture aligned with the gate and without others in it, but I still have a picture. Seeing all those people waiting got me wondering how ridiculous this scheme was. I didn’t walk very close to the gate because there were some security guys on the street. But I think they were probably related to the golf course, not the buzz around the gate itself. Honestly, I think I could have walked closer to Bali Handara Gate and no one would have stopped me. But yeah, these pics were enough for me. I took them to test the locals haha. I took them right in front of the security, posing for the camera. No one spoke to me. Got my pictures and left the place a bit puzzled haha weird place.

Sekumpul waterfall

I ate in a restaurant just near the gate and went off on my way to Sekumpul waterfall which is still far away, about 1 hour further.
To mention that near the gate and further, the weather is different. As I’m going higher in elevation, the temperatures drop considerably. If Bali is hot, then in this area it isn’t anymore. It is actually very cold and the higher and further I went, the worse it was getting. I didn’t go prepared for it! I was shivering cold most part of this trip riding my motorbike, especially later in the afternoon when the weather turned very cloudy and it also rained a bit. Luckily I had a raincoat with me that protected me a bit from the cold and rain too. I kept it on even when not raining to help me keep warm. So advice: if you decide to ride a motorbike in this area close to Mount Batur, bring some warm clothes along.

On the way to Sekumpul waterfall, I had many gorgeous views. It is a beautiful ride indeed.

Sekumpul waterfall scam

Not reading more about Sekumpul waterfall was a huge mistake, or maybe I should say an expensive mistake. Bali is the wrong destination to visit without reading about other traveler’s experiences. Therefore, another scam got me. I was on my way to Sekumpul Waterfall when I saw a ticket booth on the side of the street. Very basic structure but a big sign mentioning tickets to the waterfall. I was far from understanding it was a scam.

You will find many scammers along the way to Sekumpul waterfall. Several ticket booths. How come? Haha
I fell for the first one, but I kinda knew I was being fooled. My problem is that my trauma with motorbikes since Koh Tao was still lingering in my head, and I was not a confident rider as I am at the moment. That’s why I avoided riding a motorbike in Bali.

I stopped as the boys at this booth shouted at me from the first ticket booth I came across.
In my head, I was thinking: how can there be a real ticket counter still so far from the waterfall? I was in fact still a few kilometers away from the waterfall itself. I argued with those guys, how come I couldn’t go if Sekumpul Waterfall was still so far away? The answer was again: it is very dangerous. The road is very bad and steep they say and I didn’t do my research to know that it wasn’t true. In fact, the road is scary to ride on, but just a few meters before the entry to the waterfall, not kilometers before. They were charging 300K- about 18€- rupees OMG!!! WHAAAT! That is insanely high. Basically, I knew deep inside me this was a scam once I could negotiate the price to 200K rupees haha. I’m still not sure why I aligned with this scam…. Yes, I paid 200K rupees to visit Sekumpul Waterfall, but the price if you don’t fall for scams is 20K. What a good profit these guys have.

I went with my guide on his motorbike, I thought at least I wouldn’t be spending my gas haha. I made sure he understood I knew it was a scam from the beginning because I made some hard questions for him to answer. His answers were obviously lies, haha and I was pretending to believe. As we rode to Sekumpul Waterfall, I asked why there were so many other ticket counters, I asked why he said the street was bad because it really wasn’t, I asked why so expensive, etc. I said to his face: I know what you guys are doing! Haha, he said it is to help the community bla bla I don’t know. But I ended up liking him and his company and the fact that he was nice and answered many questions about Indonesia. Therefore I could learn from him many things. Something that wouldn’t happen if I went on my own. I had to make the money worth haha. So yeah, I wasn’t mad at him or whatever, and we actually had some nice conversations. He took a lot of pictures of me and he was a very dedicated photographer telling me how to pose and waiting patiently. That was his job basically.

I think foreigners are not allowed to go by themselves to the waterfall, or at least it felt like it. Once at the proper entry, there were a lot of locals riding foreigners down closer to the trail to Sekumpul waterfall. I’m not sure if it is mandatory or not to have a guide, but the fact is that I didn’t see foreigners on their own down there. They all had this guide taking a shit ton of pics of them just like mine did. Feels like these guides are there to take pics of foreigners, what a good job! Haha, all those girls in bikinis and the guides just have to snap shots. I thought being a guide to Sekumpul Waterfalls was a good life haha

Sekumpul waterfall is beautiful! Wow so powerful! Lush green vegetation was everywhere, and strong waters fell down along a wide area among the shiny leaves. What a scene! Majestic! There is water splashing everywhere and the floor is very slippery with all the moisture around. When I visited the place wasn’t that very crowded. The water was too strong for a swim down at the bottom of the fall. There isn’t much more to do here but enjoy the beauty around you and the sound of nature. What a place. I loved it.

Around the corner, there are more waterfalls that I’m not sure have the same name but are beautiful as well. Not as good as Sekumpul waterfalls but still gorgeous. I could have stayed and stared at these waterfalls way longer if I didn’t have a person following me and waiting for me. I don’t like it and this is why I usually like to do things on my own so I can respect my timing and not feel conditioned by someone else’s wills.

I’ve mentioned this before and I’ll say it again. Either locals think we are incapable people or they are used to tourists who are not that adventurous. Basically, I saw a staircase leading somewhere and I wondered where it was leading. If not for my guide, I would have explored this place much more, because I’m sure there is more to be seen. I asked where this staircase led and he said to another village. I asked if we could walk there but he didn’t seem very eager to do it. If I was alone I would have done it. I said that I would go by myself a bit further because there is a nice view of Sekumpul waterfall from that trail. He insisted on coming along. I said NO. You don’t want to, you don’t have to, I can go by myself. He was too scared to let me go on my own. WTF!! WHAT IS WRONG WITH THESE PEOPLE? Do they really think we can’t freaking walk more than 2 minutes OMG.
I went on my own. I told him to wait, I wouldn’t take long. The views of the Sekumpul waterfall were so nice! I stopped for some pics and maybe I took longer than he was expecting because as I started heading back to him, there he was coming in my direction hahaha

Holy crap. Like.. I told him to wait for me what was his problem? He was scared that something happened to me. Like what dude??? THERE IS NOTHING DANGEROUS HERE! I still wonder why they treat me like incapable people. I might be short, tiny, and nice but I can do things on my own ok? Dang, this bothered me a lot throughout all the time I spent in Bali. I even told him so many places where I had been. Whatever…

We headed back as it was getting late and I had a looooong journey ahead back to Ubud. After all, I enjoyed his company, even though I didn’t understand some behaviors, but yeah. I liked the fact that he was with me during that time. Guess I didn’t mind that much being scammed.

Buyan Lake- Wanagiri Hidden Hill Bali

My last spot of the day was trying to find a good view of Buyan Lake. There is a street with a privileged view of the lake and the views seem to be beautiful so I simply rode along and stopped once I found a nice spot with food because I was hungry. Unfortunately, the weather wasn’t the best so I didn’t stay longer till sunset time as I had planned to. This area is very chill with a lot of nice spots where people stop to enjoy the view.
Then, followed a long motorbike ride to Ubud. When I reached Ubud it was already dark. It was a long but very exciting day. Loved it!