Not the Bali You Know: Exploring the Island by 4×4

Not the Bali You Know: Exploring the Island by 4×4

Our 4×4 camper has made it all the way from France to Bali. Yes, that Bali. The one on every postcard. The beaches, the resorts, the iconic coastline, the spiritual vibes. Everyone knows it. You look different. But that’s not exactly where we’re going. We want to see the real Bali. Not the version made for Instagram, but the island as it truly is. Show us the full bal way. Matild. We want to meet the Balines people. Learn about their lives, their traditions. How you doing? Good. Nice. All right. Ro, spiritual, tropical. They call it the island of the gods. Let’s discover it. We are Nick and Matild and we’ve left everything behind to travel the seven continents with our Land Rover Defender, the Albatross. Europe, North America, South America, Antarctica, Australia, Asia, and Africa. A world tour for real. We want to see it all. This is day 1,166, and we are in Bali, Indonesia. This is the next Meridian expedition. Stuck behind the scooters. So many lot of scooters. Welcome to Bali. We just made it off the ferry. The ferry was much busier than any other ferry we took. Uh, and now as we disembark the island, we also feel like a lot more people moving around. The truck behind us was like to to when we were not going fast enough. Uh, everyone knows Bali, so we’re really curious about experiencing the island. And we hope we can reach some places that are maybe like a bit less known than the traditional Bali everyone talks about. Let’s see how it goes. [Music] For the past two months, we’ve been making our way through eastern Indonesia from West Teor to Sumba, Flores, Sumbawa, and Lombok. It’s been a journey filled with genuine encounters, untamed landscape, and deep culture immersion. Now, we’re on the most famous island of them all. We make it our challenge to avoid the crowds and get to the island’s original beauty and culture. Let’s explore Bali. We’ve just driven down into a volcano. We were able to drive down to it because there’s tons of roads and it’s actually three volcanoes in one location and there’s a whole lava field that we can drive on. So, we’re going to go do that. And right here there’s Mount Bur which is the volcano that is still active and uh that a lot of people go hiking on. We are not doing it because tomorrow we’re going to go hike another volcano which is a lot higher and I think more impressive called Mount Aong or Volcano Aong. This is why here all we’re going to do is lava driving. [Applause] We begin with Mount Batur, an active volcano that rises from the heart of a vast caldera surrounded by villages and farmlands. Its last major eruption in 1963 left behind a vast sea of black lava on one side. And that’s exactly where we’re headed. This trail from the drone probably looks very smooth, but in reality, it’s some of the bumpiest terrain we’ve we’ve encountered. It’s really nice, but the lava rocks just make it like super bumpy. Um, it reminds us a lot of Iceland. It’s super cool cuz you have the lava fields and then in some areas you can see moss growing on the lava rocks and you know that the terrain is slowly transforming. Uh the eruption for this field happened in 1963 and I don’t know in another 50 years maybe all of this will be like super green land super nice. [Music] This place is awesome. So the rocks I thought were going to be volcanic and meaning light. So, they are volcanic, but they’re heavy. So, I don’t know what uh the geology of that is, but these ones are not super light. [Music] [Applause] [Music] We’re right in the middle of the lava field, the temple. So, we’re going to go check it out. Thank you. Do you speak English? I have a question. Why do you come till here to pray? Pray is actually a clan temple. A clan temple. Clan temple. Okay. Or family temple. [Music] [Applause] [Music] Thank you. It’s crazy how distinctive Bali looks in vegetation because it’s much more tropical and that’s normal. Apparently, there’s a real fauna and flora uh del limitation between Lumbok and Bali, which makes Bali just a a different type of environment that is much closer to Southeast Asia than it is to the eastern part, which is closer to Australia. Now, we’re going to check out the temple because all of the architecture change is mostly influenced because it’s a Hindu island. So, you can see like family temples everywhere in each houses. So now we’re going to check out a big temple. So we’re going to go in there. But to do that, we need to wear a saong. The first thing that hits you in Bali is the architecture. It’s unlike anything we saw on the other islands. Temples, getaways, family shrines. It’s everywhere. Bali is the only Hindu majority island in Indonesia. And you feel that difference the moment you arrive. It feels like stepping into a completely different country. Curious to see more after our first temple visit, we continue down south to the city of Ubud, known for its temples. That was our first mistake. So, we’re in Ubud right now. There’s so much traffic and so I literally put myself at times on first gear, low range. Now it’s going a little bit. So I’m on second gear already. But it’s really really really really full of cars and tourists and uh but we’re just like them cuz we’re tourists and we’re right here in Ubud. So but we’re quickly getting out but we’re stuck in traffic. First gear lower range. Look at this thing. You look different. Thank you. Hey, Mel. We’ve been interested, but we have a series of great uh picture to share of us dressed up like that in a very posed environment. [Music] Our next goal, a much bigger one. Climbing Bali’s sacred volcano, Mount Aong. [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] All right, we just made it to the base of the volcano Aong. We are at 400 m altitude. I think we drive up to 1,000 8. I guess we’ll find out when we get to the top. We were on an off-road bumpy start, but now it looks like the asphalt has come back. The reason why we want to do this volcano is because from the very top above 3,000 mters, you have a view on the whole island and all the seas around. I think it’s going to be an epic view. Plus, from photos we saw, it looks like it was still smoking a little bit. Just had a little mist coming out of it. So, I think it’ll be a crazy experience to get to the top. Now, the only thing is it started raining. So, I hope that tomorrow it is clear blue skies. And when we get to the top, bam, it’s going to be awesome. Fingers crossed. Over there in the corner. This corner or that corner? This corner here is good cuz we don’t have the feet in the mud. Perfect. Arrived. So, here it is. Just an empty parking lot, little shops all around and some sort of registration office on this side. And there’s some guys that came up local guide, but they didn’t speak English. They told me that the registration office opens at 8:00 p.m. tonight. So, I suspect it’s because everyone climbs during the night to get to the top of the volcano for sunrise. I’m going to tell you that I love you 100 times a day. You’ll get tired of my voice. That’s how much I’m going to tell you that I missed you. I’ll miss you if you go. Yes. I’m going to let you know just how much I tell your mama. I love you so. I tell your papa, too. I’m going to let everyone know about my love. So, I really hope you love me. Me, too. Yeah. I really hope you love me, too. I’m going to tell you. Going to tell. I’m going to tell you. I’m going to tell you. Time for bed. It is now 8:30 p.m. Tomorrow we wake up at 3, right? I’m ready. You’re waking up at 3. I will try. Okay. Well, I’m waking you up cuz at 3:30 our friend’s coming and we’re going to go up. So, he’s going to be ready. Boom. Boom. It is now 3:40. 3:40 in the morning. Our buddy has arrived. His name is Awan. Awan. Awan. And he just arrived. Good morning, Awan. Yeah. Ready to go? Yeah, we are ready to go. All right. Cool. This time we finally woke up. This time we’ll get to the top. ready to climb Mount Au is registered. Our friend Owen came to guide us to the summit and it’s 3:40 and it’s a bit early and it’s raining, but I think it’s going to be beautiful. Aong is more than a mountain. It’s sacred and you don’t climb it without permission or a guide. Enters Wan, a friend of a friend recommended to us. He’s an ultra trail runner known for mapping race routes on the island and accepted to take us to the summit. Before we start, Wyan kneels to pray at the temple. Then the three of us step into the darkness, up steep slopes, and into the lush forest. How you doing? Good. Nice. All right. [Music] We’ve just arrived to past 1,900 m. They have a little trash, which is great. Okay, nice. Good one, team. Hey. Hey. High five. Bam. Bam. Okay, let’s go. We’re now at 2, and 600 m and we’ve been walking for the past 2 hours and we should be there in the next 30. That’s cool, huh? We’re walking now on rocks. So, it’s really steep up, straight up. Got a star over there. And we can see the sunrise about to come. We’re going to make it just in time, huh? Uh, yeah. I think we missed the nice car. So, let’s go. Yeah, we’ve got Awan over there leading the way. All right, let’s do this. [Music] Just made it to the top. Just made it for the sunrise. And Matild still has a little bit of time to get here because the sunrise has not come up just yet because it’s a part of the crater that is blocking the part of the sunrise. So, um, Matilda has probably five minutes to get here, and she’s right there. I think she’ll just make it in time. Boom. How was the climb? The climb was uh steep, but honestly, real good. Is very good. Yeah, the two of them were running in front and I was trying to catch up and then Nick was like, we have 15 minutes till the sun. I was like, but we made it and it’s gorgeous. Actually, the crater is so beautiful. It’s more beautiful than I thought it was. Yeah, this is one of the nicest craters we’ve seen. And I love it how it goes. It’s full of colors. It’s great. But sometimes you think like it erupted in 2019. You don’t want it to erupt right now. Too early. Too early. We just made it to Mount Aong, the volcano. Yeah. It’s right behind us, the crater. We got here for the sunrise. It’s 2,800 m here, 3,200 up there. But we’re happy here. And we came here with our guide and his name is again Wine. Wine like the Wayne Rooney. So you got to remember that way. And why is this place uh so special? Yeah, because the Mont A is a big mountain in Bali and then very very sacred mountain. Sacred mountain. And it’s tough to come here. So it was really really really steep. It’s only 3 km to come up but it take it took us 3 hours. Yeah. Um so we woke up at 3:45. We got here by 6:20. Good. But this guy climbs in 1 hour 30. Yeah. Yeah. Exactly. Yeah. Okay. Nice. Look how cool this is. The shadow made a cone out there. All the villages here are like, “Damn it, we got shadow.” And all the villages here are like, “Yeah, we got sun.” Anyway, so look how bam straight down. We got to hike or run down or walk down and then boop, really flat. And then the ocean’s right there. Freaking funky how this looks like. Looks so steep. [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] literally at the level of the cloud right now. [Music] The last staircase. [Laughter] Wayne is happy. Nick is happy too. We have two happy people here. One eating noodles, one driving a defender. Guys are guys are simple creatures. Guys are simple. Simple creatures. Wan isn’t even from the mountain community. the only group usually allowed to guide here. But he’s given special permission. Why? Because he’s the headmaster of the local public school. And most of the young guides on the mountain, well, they were once his students. An ultra runner, a mentor, a quiet force of nature. Why’s passion and humility truly inspired us at his school. Preparations are on the way for the new academic year. 163 students, some walking miles to get here. Wan leads a team of six teachers, most of whom don’t speak English. So, every year he calls out to the world, inviting volunteers to teach for 2 weeks just to give these kids a better chance. If that’s not dedication, I don’t know what it is. [Music] We are now walking to uh Wayne’s house and um we have to walk through this tiny little alley. People all around the world are so nice. Very curious to see what his house looks like, his setup, uh his kids, everything. It’s very, very fun. So, now we’re walking and because we just did the hike, we’re bringing all of our shower and take a shower at his house. Nice. All right. It’s really a maze. We’re just walking left and right. And we’re like really discovering Bali in another way, you know? Yeah. I think Bali is like very touristic on some parts, but this is real Bali. Exactly. Tons of motorbikes. This is the house. We have bikes. You cycle it. Oh, also cycling. Oh, because you do warm showers. Oh, yeah. Very nice. Amazing. Very green. Clean. Lots of buildings. Cool. [Music] Wyan lives on ancestral land with two uncles and their families. He welcomes us like his own. His cousin cooks for us. It’s the kind of hospitality you can’t buy. Wyan, thank you. We hope our path cross again soon. Bye-bye. Bye. Bye. Okay. I see you. See you next time. Yeah. See you next time. Yeah. See you on YouTube. [Music] From Wyan’s place, we head south and meet another incredible soul, Andy Pu. Another Land Rover enthusiast. He once helped us fix a broken sensor in Lumbok. Bali has been good to us. We’re now meeting with Andy, our Pu Andy or Pandi, how people call him, and he has a traditional restaurant from his father who does beautiful food. So, we had a second lunch here and now we’re talking about the defender. We’re going to camp here. He helped us a lot with the part and we’re meeting his family. Um, they all love traveling. So, it’s super super nice. I don’t know. Excellent vibe here in Bali. We’ve been welcomed like family by everyone. So, thank you, Bali. Andy invites us to his family’s restaurant. His parents, professors of Bellan cuisine. They built this place as a gathering spot for the local community and welcome us like longlost friends. Like that? Yeah, like that. Show us a full bal way, Matild. Yeah. Plate closer to the mouth. Okay. Drink a little soup. I didn’t get any wine. Some wine. But my end up doesn’t matter. It’s part of the game. Yeah. So, she’s got her elbow on the on the leg here. Leg up. Plate closer to the mouth. Yeah. Plate closer to the mouth. Good. Okay. Lick your fingers. Yeah. Keep keep it clean. Thank you so much. Thank you. Full experience. We spent three days there eating, cooking, laughing, and sharing stories. Indian family, thank you for keeping the heart of Bali alive. I think we now we live here now. We don’t have a house anymore. We arrived in Amed and that’s the public beach. It’s very small. Uh starts here at the wall, finishes here at the wall. That’s where we parked. And actually all the rest is built up. All the rest is built up all through here and all through there. Uh the it was a series of fisherman village the ameda and it slowly is transforming into the me of free diving and diving in Bali. So getting busy. Lots of hotel everywhere around us is hotels and restaurant and an aging volcano. Today we’re going free diving in the morning. That’s going to be a killer on the lungs. And a second thing this afternoon we’re going scuba dive. We stack up activities. Exactly. Today is a stacking up activity. and we’re gonna go out there and see a shipwreck with tons of corals because this is the coral triangle. So, it’s a big area in the South Asian Sea that goes all the way to the Philippines, West Papua up until here. So, it’s an area of the ocean with a very, very high marine biodiversity. So, we had to dive. We had to go do all the the scuba diving and all that stuff. We’re going to be late for free diving. Let’s go. Let’s go. [Music] Matild is on a personal mission to get down to minus 15 m um on the free dive. Last time was 10 m, now 15. Let’s see. Oh, by the way, my uh personal best 2 meters, but I have a sis pain and so I’m blaming it on that. But also, Matil definitely found her sport. It’s definitely her thing. So, I think maybe I would have done the 10, but I wouldn’t have held the breath as long. Definitely not as long as it took power out. [Music] [Music] Wow. Nicely done. Nice. Good job. So nice. Was that 15 m? Yeah. No pain, no nothing. Perfect, dude. 16.6. 16.6. [Music] [Laughter] For our final adventure in Bali, we go underwater. Down here, Bali’s transformation fades away. Nature has reclaimed what’s hers. The wreck of the Liberty sank more than 80 years ago now rests covered in corals and teeming with life. It’s breathtaking. And in that silence, we understand why Bali stands out. It’s not just the beauty, it’s the spirit. The temples, the architecture, the culture, the people. Yes, the island is changing fast, but its essence is still here, fiercely preserved by the Balines themselves. And for us, the road calls again. Time to pack up and head to the next island. [Music] Private shuttle straight to Albu. Look at that. We’ve arrived. And Albatross is right there. Wow. Lucky us. The last spot we wanted to check on Valley is a national park and it’s closed at the moment. That came up as a surprise. So, we were right next to the ferry to Jawa Java. And so, we decided to take the ferry. It’s raining anyway. So, yeah, we buy a fairy ticket and we take the ferry to Java and we say goodbye to Bali. And it’s super busy this ferry. It’s like by far the busiest ferry we’ve seen in Indonesia so far. Big lines. Thank you. Lefty. I don’t know if you know this game. It’s called Monopoly Deal and it’s our new passion with Nick. We play it at the restaurant and now we decided we could also play it in traffic jam at the ferry. At the ferry, it’s time to leave Bali. Uh I’m actually quite excited of what we’ve done in Bali. I was a bit stressed because I thought maybe it was going to be like super touristic and there’s some zones where we felt like yeah it was full of photo booth and people playing dress up and things like this but eventually thanks to the friends that we got that recommended us to people on the island and thanks to uh I don’t know I think just good tips from locals I felt we got quite a good local experience of the island very different from everything I was expecting so Sure, we didn’t hit the super like places, highlighted places, Nusa Penita and all the rest, but I love what we’ve done. Did you like it? I actually like Bali. I thought it was going to be over touristic like Matild said, and it kind of was, but we were able to find the places that we actually look for, which is wild campsites, uh, volcano hikes, middle of the night hikes, and not too many people. We met locals. We went to their houses. Um, good food. Good food. Yeah, we were still able to find local food on the side of the road and even at uh Andy’s house, we ate very local Balanese food. Even showed us how to cook it and everything. So, for me, I feel like I got the Bali experience, the real one, not fully because I think you can even go further, but at least the outside of the most outside the main touristic areas. So, I’m I’m happy with my lap valley. So, now we’re going to the island of Java. We’re in the queue and we’re about to get onto the ferry, but the traffic has gotten even worse because we’re getting now on the main island and closer to the capital. All right, let’s let’s go to Java. Let’s get the ferry. Bam. No stop. No stop. Yeah. Until until tomorrow morning. Yeah. Yeah. See you, Nick. Okay. Good. Okay. And I never stop. Never stop. Oh my god. I can’t let you go, baby. I just want to tell you that. No. No. No. No. All of my friends say, “Girl, you better take care. [Music]

Bali Beyond the Tourist Trail 🇮🇩 | 4×4 Camper Adventure Through Authentic Bali

After an epic overland journey from France to Southeast Asia, our 4×4 camper has finally reached Bali, Indonesia—but we’re not here for the beaches and resorts. In this episode, we explore the real Bali: the local villages, spiritual rituals, and untouched landscapes that most tourists never see.

This is Bali off the beaten path.

Whether you’re into travel documentaries, van life content, or planning your own trip to Indonesia, this episode offers a rare look at Bali’s hidden heart.

🔔 Don’t forget to subscribe for more overland travel adventures through Asia, and hit the bell so you never miss an upload!

#BaliTravel #VanLifeAsia #RealBali #OverlandAdventure #TravelIndonesia #4x4Camper #CulturalTravel #HiddenBali #IslandOfTheGods

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Episode 148 | Filmed 15th June 2025 | Bali, Indonesia

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WHO ARE WE?

Join us as we travel the world on an expedition throughout the 7 continents, crossing about 88 countries, making new friends, meeting the locals, exploring cultures, traditions, foods and every corners of the continents. Join us!
We are traveling in our Land Rover Defender, our tiny home on wheels for the next 5 years.

5 Years | 88 Countries | 7 Continents | 300 000km
Nick; 31 y/o, French/Italian. 🙋‍♂️🇫🇷🇮🇹
Mathilde; 31 y/o, French.🙋‍♀️🇫🇷
Albatross; 12 y/o, UK. 🚙🇬🇧

We are incredibly grateful to be able to continue doing something we love every day. 😊🎥🌎 Thank you to everyone who has been a part of our journey!

@NextMeridian.Expedition

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