Handara Gate : That Iconic Balinese Gate That Took Instagram By Storm

Besides beaches, temples and the recently crazed Bali swings, Balinese gates is yet another thing that Bali is famous for. Thanks to social media (yes, again!), taking a photo in front of a Balinese gate has becoming an it-thing. The most famous gate could potentially be Pura Lempuyang with the beautiful Mount Agung in the background, but making your way there from Ubud or Seminyak, where most travellers based themselves is a long painful journey that could take up to 4-5 hours. 

As I didn’t have enough time to cover East Bali, where Pura Lempuyang is, I ended up having mine taken in Handara Golf & Resort, the perfect substitute to Pura Lempuyang. As the name suggests, Handara Golf & Resort is a fully functioning golf club, with a very tall and picturesque entrance gate. With the lush green scenery on the side, and smokey green hills in between, the gates create a picture-perfect opportunity for travellers seeking to snap the own version of Balinese gate profile picture. Located right next to the main road on the way from Pura Ulun Danu Beratan to Wanagiri Hidden Hills, the gate fits perfectly into my itinerary.

According to Joe, our driver, this place had only started gaining popularity some time around late 2017. However, as you may have guessed, like any booming tourist attraction in Bali, the owners have taken advantage of the gates popularity by chucking a price on the famous Bali gates, since February 2018. As of August 2018, the price is RP 30,000 per person for foreigners and RP 20,000 per person for locals. As I speak a little bit of Bahasa Indonesia (I’m from Malaysia and we speak Bahasa Malaysia which is quite similar), the lady mistaken me as a local and only collected RP 40,000 from me for 2 persons. Hahaha! Am I lucky or what?

As we arrived at mid-day, there is a queue there where people lined up to take that instagrammable shot in front of the gate. Don’t be put off by the queue as it’s generally quick and easy to capture a good photo and once you’ve got the shot you can move out of the way for others to step in. However, if you are unlucky, you may run into some people who try to hog the place for far longer than they should. Just politely tell them to step aside for others and you will be good to go.

I saw one couple who just couldn’t stop taking photos after photos and after being told off by another tourist, they stepped aside and got behind the line again for their second round. Well, fair enough I guess?

The gate is near Pura Ulun Danu Beratan, so you can do it right after your temple visit before proceeding to the waterfalls and Wanagiri Hidden Hills. Our driver, Joe suggested to head to the waterfalls first to beat the crowd, as we only required little time here.

Doesn’t it also feel better to end our trip with a beautiful Bali Gate to seal our romantic getaway? With one final shot in front of Handara Gate, we bid goodbye to Bali and headed to Ngurah Rai International Airport for our flight back to Malaysia. 

Cost

It is used to be one of the free thing to do in Bali, but starting 15 February 2018, tickets are issued for RP 20,000 per person. However, when we visited in August 2018, the ticket price has increased to RP 30,000 per person for foreigner and RP 20,000 for locals. The parking is free of charge.

How to get there

Handara Golf & Resort is about 2-hours drive from Ubud. The trip here can be combined together with Pura Ulun Danu Beratan, Wanagiri Hidden Hills, and some of the waterfalls around the area. If you are interested in dolphin watching, you can head further north to Lovina first thing in the morning, then cover the rest after your dolphin watching. 

While renting a scooter is a wonderful way to see the Ubud, if say, you are staying in Ubud, it’s a lot easier to explore other areas of Bali (like Bedugul for example) with a private driver. Price varies between RP500,000 to 600,000 per day, including petrol and parking fees.



We hired a driver for RP 500,000 on the last day of our trip to cover the area of Bedugul. Do contact our driver, Joe for more information - Facebook:  Bali Driver & Tour Organizer | Whatsapp / Wechat: +62 813-3741-2185

Best Time to Visit

The gate is there 24 hours, and while there is a booth selling tickets, they are probably not opened too early in the morning. Some bloggers came here as early as 7am and there was no one manning the area. So, if you are really keen to save the money, be here before the ticket counter opens. However, if you are here too early, the sun may not be shinning as bright and you may end up not getting a clear shot after all. 

Epilogue

Taking a photo with a Balinese Gate has become a must-do thing in Bali, with many travellers going as far as Pura Lempuyang for the insta-worthy shot. Although I originally wanted to visit Pura Lempuyang as well, I had to scrap it off my plan as we were short of time. In the end I chose Handara Golf & Resort since we were heading to Pura Ulun Danu Beratan anyway. As for Pura Lempuyang? I’ll keep that for next visit when I will also add in Mount Agung hike into my itinerary.