Intro to Bali

Bali is an island – not a place

I know to some this must seem strange but when you live halfway around the world and are looking for somewhere Bali sounds amazing and it is. From the lush emerald jungle to the white sand and blue pristine seas its just out of this world.

“Don’t talk about heaven if you’ve never been to Bali.”
Toba Beta

Plan

If you are like us and want to see as much as possible, we would definitely have a plan and within this plan we would have days off. The reasons for this are

To acclimatize yourself with the heat and if like us you have travelled for 24 hours to aid with the jetlag, trying to go straight into more travelling will take it toll.

Although we saw some restaurants or warungs offering to top up you water bottle there were not as many as you may think. Still hydration is key, go to local supermarkets and buy bottles from there, if you are on a budget you will appreciate this tip as in hotels it can soon add up.

In the unlikely event you get ill, you can swap you days around, if you do get the dreaded ‘bali belly’ or a hangover there is a place called renew me bali, that is run by doctors and nurses who can sort you out (we were lucky enough not to need to use them but have read a lot about how good they are and how quickly they can get you better).

So location is key with this trip, so carry on reading and hopefully you can make a good choice. While lots of people come for the party/beach/club scene which will get in places such as Seminyak, Kuta and Legian, we will guide you to another kind of trip, the one for the experience of natural wonders, temples and adventures.

Gather an idea of what you want to see, go and or experience, check out where we went on another guide.

Where to stay

In the title you were probably thinking we know Bali is an island, what a silly thing to say. We thought we would need a couple of places to stay, however we can say from experience we would have stayed central if we had known what we know now. What we mean by this is we stayed in South Kuta and Ubud.
On discussion of this we would have stayed in Ubud. Ubud is about 1hour and 30 minutes car ride from the airport, depending on traffic. As you will experience once you read this, as it will become a must visit place.
Ubud has a range of accommodation from homestays, hostels, hotels and our choice of place to stay Airbnb. Ours was charged at £50 a night, a villa with its own pool, and breakfast included, we stayed in January so prices may change.
The reason we say Ubud it’s central on the island of Bali and you can get a tour or driver easily and they pick you up at your accommodation and drop you back there, for the nervous of traveller, this is really easy.
We will explain more about tours and drivers another in guide.

Health

Travel Insurance – yes its boring and fun sucking but make sure you have a good cover. Unless you are lucky enough to have money to burn or bank of mum and dad. This is key don’t leave home without it. Ideally you should buy your insurance when you have booked your trip to cover for unexpected cancellation and ensure it covers medical.
We read before we left to take pro biotic for two weeks daily before travelling. (We did this, we didn’t need to call out a doctor so who knows if it was because if this, but hey better safe than Sorry.
Check for any inoculations you may need.
Check your government website for any restrictions for travelling the FCO is the one for UK travellers.
Hydrate, Aqua, water what you want to call it, make sure you are drinking bottled water, consider where you are eating from, if you would not eat there at home, why are you eating there now. Also, salads we were warned about and whether they are washed in bottled water. People will say they have drunk water from the tap, however when we have paid lots of money for our holidays and have well earned time off, why risk it! You will read this again in one of our blogs just to keep you thinking about it, we want you to have the best time like we did.
Mosquitos – we were told by the local chemist to take selenium tablets twice a day, which seemed to work. I would suggest to use spray repellant and also we used sun lotion with repellent in as well as after sun lotion with it in. Nothing worse than big red bites all over the place. The area is jungle based and if in rainy season well, I we don’t need to tell you!
Wash your hands, use anti bacterial lotion, this seems like common sense, but you have been out touching different handles etc, this is key.. I know it seems like we are being over dramatic but let’s stay healthy!
Sun protection- use a good sun protection with high spf, you can still go home like a bronze goddess/god. Lots of deals on sun cream before you leave home that’s when we would buy it.
Medication – if you are taking any kind please sure you have a prescription or note from your GP/doctor.

Miscellaneous

Money – probably one of the only times you may be you will be a millionaire…we would suggest to change up some money before you leave and change it up when your here. The exchange rate is better here than in the UK. Whether using cards or cash.
Visa – at the time of writing this you only need a visa if staying over 30 days, if you are lucky enough to be staying 30 days and over you can now do this online or at the airport as you go through their is a desk to go too, it had two people at it when we were there.
Luggage- make sure it is quite sturdy before you leave. Strange but we have seen many people trying to drag broken Luggage around. Who wants to spend their holiday looking for a suitcase/backpack
If you like your home comforts make sure you bring them with you ie teabags or a favourite cosmetic etc. The options are very limited.
Budgets really tricky to advise depending on what you want to see drivers range from £45 upwards per day. Entry to most attractions have a fee/donation like a temple maybe be a £1 or two where as the bali swing maybe be £10. Also there maybe multi fees depending on what you want when you’re in the attraction. Normally there are only a few pounds each.
This is the same as the Warungs/restaurants it all depends on your budget and where you want to eat as with most places abroad there are service and taxes on after the price check the bottom of menu. £20-£30 get a couple a drink and dinner maybe dessert.

Other Things to Know

Currency – indonesian rupiah
Weather – we stayed in January it was over 30 degrees even in the rain
For the perfect selfies or photos of attractions you need to get up early to miss the crowd we did a 6am wander and it’s so worth it, however there are already others out doing the same thing
Tipping – if you feel you had a good service then tip.
Getting Around – bluebird taxis is recommended, or a private driver. Remember to get a price before you get in.