Korean Job Discussion Forums

[mcgeezer]

Hey folks,
I've made up my mind about summer vacation...Gonna be a trip to Bali in August for a couple weeks...
Whose Been There????
I'm looking to just bum my way up the south/west caost starting in Kuta, and heading up from there....
I'd just like to hear anyone's experiences/advice about that area...looks beautiful and tonnes to do!
Cheers folks!

[Xian]

Been 5 times. The first few times were for fun with a group of mates. We stayed in Kuta and just partied and shopped (super cheap stuff - barter though).

Get info about prices when bartering before you go, usually they will ask for 100% - 500% more than you shoul pay.

Nice places, nice beaches, nice mountain (or was it volcano), you can pay someone to travel cheap, (are you alone or not????)

Got the monkey forrest in Ubud.

Great food, but be careful where you eat, if not one is there, I wouldn't go there. People always say watch out for 'Bali Belly', but I was always fine, except when in my pre-God days and went over board on the Jungle Juice. Stronger than you think.

[mcgeezer]

cool man, thanks
I'm travelling alone, so i'll be able to do whatever...
looking forward to renting a bike and just cruising around the island for a couple of days....It's also nice not needing a VISA to travel there!

[Xian]

Not sure about your social lifestyle, but also be aware of people trying to sell you illegal substances. Everytime I have been there, even in busy Kuta, people try and sell hash or women. I have heard of people being watched and busted in these situations. I could be wrong, but my understanding is that some places (or at least Australia) do sometimes have undercover police there).

When I was going into the hills (with a Balinese driver) police pulled us up for the usual bribe/fee to continue past them. We had the impression that we had no choice. It wasn't a great deal though.
I was a bit unsure about gonig to new places alone with the driver as I wasn't always trusting and not knowing where I am going. They are lovely people though, too bad the island isn't as busy as before the 2 bombs. Noticably different on my 3rd, 4th and 5th visits.

Its a great place to buy cheap stuff, lounge at the pool while McDonalds deliver some fried chicken and rice or pasta or actual western McDonalds food.

I guess you have looked into it a bit and know what there might be in various parts of the island. Most of my experience is in Kuta.
I believe most of the water sports occur around Nusa Dua and Sanur.

Regarding the visa, the last time I went I believed there was some issue with visa, by not usual. I am a little vague, but I recall having to pay some fee to leave the airport, maybe it was 100,000 Rupiah. Not much, but the North American guy ahead of me put up quite a show about this. 'This is an outrage' (It was something like $15US Anyway, might want to check out that type of thing to be sure. . .

[paintman321]

Went to Bali back in February. It was awesome. Prices are really cheap there since the bombings, buy from the stalls is ridiculously cheap. We headed out to the Gilli Trawangan (Sp?). Nice relaxing really small island where there are no cops.

We needed a visa as we were Canadians. They only took US dollars at the airport for it so be sure to get some before you go.

[mcgeezer]

right on!! ya i won't be buying too much illegal stuff over there, wouldn't want to get el-busted for a 20 bag of hash, not worth it...
I imagine i will spend the first few days in Kuta and go from there....
What kinda places did you stay in when you where there, cause there is quite a variety!! Did you book somewhere to stay before you left? How much were you paying?

And about Rupiah, I guess you just changed some U.S. cash when you got to the airport, or is there a smarter way? Sometimes rates are better in certain places!
Thanks for your two cents!

[mcgeezer]

VISA??
I'm sure that i read in a couple of different travel websites that Canadians did not need a travel VISA there....But if you are Canadian and you went, then you would know better than me!
Thanks for the advice!

[paintman321]

Only change a bit at the airport, there rates are crap. I changed it as I used it, check around in town. I did book a place first before we went, but that's only because we were arriving quite late. It was $20 US with airport pickup. There are a ton of nice places to stay that are cheap. Expect about $15 US a night for A/C or maybe $7 for no A/C. I recommend if you aren't carrying too much to wonder around looking at places. The taxis there are all metered and cheap. Watch out for the porter guys standing beside your luggage in the airport. They'll carry it a few feet for you and ask for a $10 tip.

The VISA was for sure, can't remember exactly how much, $10 to $25 US

My two cents. The people there are really friendly and are hurting a lot from the bombs. We kind of felt bad in the end for bargaining so much with the vendors.

You'll have a great time. Enjoy

[Xian]

I am not from Canada, but countries like Can, Aus, UK, NZ etc would all be similar with their rules. The person I saw complaining from was North America, I realize now that it was departure tax.
Here is the visa information for you.

You have to pay for a visa on arrival as a Canadian.
http://www.balihotelsassociation.com/arrival-info/
A number of sites have this info. It is $10us for 7days.
Its no real hassle.

Here is something talking about the departure tax. Its the final post in the link. Read them for some good tips.
http://www.airlinequality.com/Airports/Airport_forum/dps.htm

It reminds me, you will have all types of guys wanting to take your suitcase for you (for a tip). Its like only 25 meters to the front of the airport. Be aware, if people help you, they will want a tip for it. Generally be firm, but polite in your saying no. I say that simply because it was overwhelming with just so many people wanting to sell you something. At least compared to my travel experiences. Sometimes you just have to ignore everyone who calls out.
If you will stay in Kuta after arriving, exit the airport (a bunch of guys will then try and be your driver), look to your right and you will see a prepaid taxi booth that has a standard far to take you to your hotel. The best option for the newly arrived.

Have a look at this link for a few more tips. Really worth a read, including the other headings above the article.
http://balihotels.com/info/tips.php
It includes a section on getting about (the roads are crazy over there also) discouraging renting a vehicle. For $10us a day you can hire a driver. It also stipulates what you need to have with you if you want to drive yourself (inc a 100,000 rupiah fee). Its got essential information for those who want to hire a motor bike also.

IMPORTANT TIP WITH MONEY

There will be money changing places everywhere, at the airport and then around Kuta and in many shops also. But . . . do not change it in places that charge commission. There is plenty of places that don't charge a commission, just straight out exchange. I would recommend you count the money carefully every time you change it (I know it is terribly obvious), but 'accidents' in handing out the paper money occur or you might have a bunch of 10,000 notes and some substituted for a 1,000. While it never happened to me, I hear that some of the calculators might be slightly off the mark too. Little things like that are not uncommon,but probably not the majority.

As another person said, dirt cheap in the markets. I feel sorry for them as so many have the same products and are competing. We naturally get into the bartering situation as that is what you do in Bali, especially as their first price is way over usually, but in the end we are usually having a major discussion on a price difference of about $1 or $2, not much to us, but I guess plenty to them. While a lot of it is cheap to buy, so the quality is cheap too (not everything though).

[/b]

[Xian]

[mcgeezer]

i'll be going there for 7 days...
how much money is about enough??
I don't wanna take out too much cause it sucks converting back to won (U.S. $ i mean)
and not enough well....
Any suggestions, you guys have helped a lot so far thanx!
Scott

[WanderingDolphin]

I was in Bali for about two weeks back in '99. One of my highlights was diving in Tulamben on the northeast coast. Not sure if you're a diver or not, but there's a shipwreck there. Pretty cool if you're into that.

The north coast has black sand. Pretty cool.

Anyway, my 2 cents. Have fun!

[wking]

FYI there ia a 7 day and a 30 day visa available on arrival. The 7 day is 10$ and the 30 day is 20$ if I remember correctly and I think they only take U.S. $ as payment (seems crazy, but thats how I remember it when I went to Indo 2 years ago).

[wking]

I forgot to mention that the Australian govt. recently issued an advisory about terrorism in Bali.
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/JAK294962.htm