Bali 2019
In 2019 we went to Bali (May-June) for a month. We visited our youngest son Sam who lives there and works in a Dive centre, we also met up with our son Matt who lives in Australia.
Anyone wanting to visit Bali can go down the route of a pre arranged trip inc flights etc but we did not.
Flights from Newcastle were £600 return each and a villa with pool and 2 bedrooms were £700 for a month in high season, if you were staying longer then the price gets cheaper, in fact you could probably get a full year without a pool for near to that price or even less.
You can stay 30 days on a tourist visa or longer with different visa's.
We stayed in Sanur which is NOT a party area (thank goodness) there are quieter areas in the mountain regions or busier in other areas. Where we stayed in Sanur was a good place to stay as its a 15 min walk to the beach.
Don't bother going to the supermarket apart from essentials as meals out are mega cheap.
As an example a meal would cost 55000 idr rp which is at todays dire exchange rate £2.98, local beer which is Bintang is around £1.50 for a big one.
At the time of writing this: June 5th 2019, the exchange rate gives you 100,000 idr rp for £5.
We used Gojek taxi's which are like Uber, you can download an app to book them, prices are ridiculously cheap, as an example we paid 28000 idr rp for a trip to the abandoned theme park, quite a decent ride (around £1.50) and there were 4 of us in the car.
Bear in mind that local taxi's don't like Gojek so getting to the airport you will get dropped off at a very near car park, not at the terminal.
Local taxi's are more expensive so just take your choice.
Shop around for day trips, we had a full day out with a guide for 1 million idr rp £50 and the guide came in to each place we visted and explained everything, that was a cultural tour and went right across the island. We did have another day tour but the guide wasn't so good and he tried to sell us other tours but the cost was £25, these tours are not organised tours, you just have the driver for a day and decide where you wnt to go, the price is per car not per passenger and they are all air conditioned.
ALWAYS use official money changers and be the last one to handle the cash and count the cash, there are scams like anywhere else.
I would not recommend hiring a car or motorbike as the driving is erratic, the driving is like the UK on the left but the drivers overtake and undertake at will plus the Police may stop you and find something to charge you with (a bribe!)
The people themselves are friendly and welcoming but guard your wallet like anywhere, not just from local theives but from theives who are visitors.
There are plenty of tours but either shop around or book a driver for the day, we haven't found any trips anywhere near the price of a driver for the day.
If you want really cheap clothes or bags etc, head down to Baruna beach markets (Sanur) where you can haggle or better still go to either Tootsies (28) or Indurah as they are fixed price shops and air conditioned, as an example i got a really nice shirt for £3 and Ruth got a bag for £4
Trip advisor has plenty of recommendations, here
Just a few links are where we have been, there are too many places but here are just s few.
Badan Pengelola rice terraces (rp 40000 entry)
Sacred Monkey forest Ubud (rp 80000 entry)
Pedang Galak abandoned theme park
UNESCO World Heritage Jatiluwih Rice terraces
Pura Taman Ayun Temple
GWK Cultural Park
Wood carving (Hibiscus particularly good) Ubud area
Kites all over the island
Stone carvings all over the island
Where Sam works
Blue seasons website
Blue seasons pro facebook
Sams pages
Feel free to contact me via the contact form if you need specific help.
