When deciding where to go on holiday think about what you want to do and who you are going with.
Hard when you've never been to the place before, ask friends, family and check out the internet.
If you are going with friends, decide between you what you want
Young, party place?, all inclusive resort?, near nightclubs?, near activities?, activities included?, breakfast included?, family atmosphere?, posh and expensive?, budget but clean?, hot water?, air-conditioning?, pool?, tea/coffee making facilities?, room for more than 2?, security safe in room or safety box at reception?, the needs are endless and everyone will have their opinion so be prepared to make compromises.
We are older so this is our list, location, budget price, airconditioning, hot/cold water, safe or safety deposit boxes, quiet for sleeping, double/queen or king size bed, nice pool with pool loungers available, International TV, wireless internet or access close by and close to restaurants.
It really doesn't matter what hotel you are at as you are probably only going to be sleeping there, maybe a day by the pool. Restaurants are every 2nd shop, market stalls, every 2nd shop, internet cafes, every 2nd shop, laundry every 2nd shop, tourist info booths every 2nd shop and if you can't find something someone will know where you can find it.........other tourists in your hotel are good sources of information, if they've been there a few days or visited before.
Be wary of prices that hotels offer you for anything, you can pay as much as 3 times what your laundry is worth to get it done, still it can be convenient also. Tours/Activities to anywhere and anything will always be dearer in the hotel, check out tourist booths and their discount vouchers. Transport will be dearer if organized by your hotel, walk 10 steps and you will be asked transport by 10 guys if not more, and taxis are everywhere. If organizing transport get prices first up before taking off. Taxis must use meters but check that they do.
When on the street you will be asked 'do you want massage, scrap heel, plaited hair, manicure' etc. Etc. Etc.. you will get used to it, you will be handed flyers with prices, you will learn to just say no thankyou. It is all very intimidating, very scary at first but remember that all these people are fighting for your business...............There is no Social security in Bali.
You will be called beautiful, you will be asked are you on your honeymoon, you will be asked do you want Viagra, you will be asked if you want other drugs, just ignore those and laugh at the others. Remember that the police plant guys to sell drugs just to catch you out!
Now I've really scared you, hope you love it as much as we do, you either love it or hate it, Dave and I took 10 years to go back, now we go twice a year. Remember to take things in your stride, if you wouldn't do it in Aus don't do it there.
Some of the scams you will come across:-
I've already mentioned about the money rip offs but there are a few more. The most annoying is the people in the streets that ask you to scratch a scratchie or fill in a survey. Just say no thankyou, unless you really want to do one and in turn the person asking you will get paid, sometimes up to $50.00 for getting you in! It works like this, if you fill in the survey they will phone you at your hotel and ask you to come along to a hotel because you have won a prize, usually a weeks paid holiday. You can go along and spend the day at a flash hotel, get a nice lunch, sit by the pool BUT you must listen to a seminar or be shown around the hotel by someone else and it's all a sales talk usually into timeshare. If you can say NO it is worth it for the freebies and you are helping out a few Balinese earn some very hard earned money. The scratchies are the same thing, you always win, could be a holiday, a camera, steak knives etc.....same thing they want you to go to their hotel to collect. There are literally hundreds of these survey/scratchie people on the streets. Of course you only get the weeks holiday if you are close to signing on the dotted line most of the time, BUT I have heard of people getting there weeks holiday and not buying into it. If you want timeshare buy resale, loads cheaper.
The other one is the $2.00 coin gold bracelet.....Megan has one, has had it for years now, it's great, doesn't discolour and is always a talking piece. BUT it is not made out of $2.00 coins. You will be asked to hand over $2.00 coins and some rupiahs and the next day be given a bracelet with your name on or whatever you want on the design. The $2.00 coins are not melted down, they are collected up and sold onto the workers at the airport who in turn sell them back to the tourists flying back to Australia. You may be offered a roll of 25 $2.00 coins at the airport on leaving and pay over $50.00, that's good no scam there at all, and real good if you need coins! The scam is that they are telling you that you are getting a bracelet made out of the coins in the first place and you are not, the bracelets are okay, made out of some cheap metal that they can get readily and made up quickly.
The other one is you may be looking at some stuff on a stall and they haven't got exactly what you want, someone will say to you I have it at my stall, so begins the walk to his stall and in the end he hasn't got it anyway but will try like crazy to sell you something/anything off his stall!
Bargaining/Haggling is the way to go at the stalls that are not fixed price. The stallholder will start at a ridiculous price, just laugh and say you are not Japanese! Japanese will pay the high prices! Divide the price by 3 and start a little lower and build up to what you are prepared to pay. Remember it is very poor form to start haggling/bargaining of something if you don't intend to buy. You can work out prices by using the fixed price stalls for the first days or by checking out a price guide. Remember to have your calculator or cheat sheet near so that you can check how you are doing with the conversion.
Cheat sheets:- You can get these off the net, just google or make your own up......
7500 = $1.00 20,000 = $2.66
10,000 = $1.33 Of course this will depend on your exchange rate whilst there.
Travel agent:- book package deal, usually cheaper, guaranteed and one lump payment. Usually can only get into the more frequented touristy type hotels. Can spread payments out.
Do it Yourself:- book airline fare online or over the phone, online cheaper, can't do online with Garuda, can play about with dates and get very cheap fares, okay if you can go at anytime (retirees), can book your seats with most and excess luggage if you think you'll need it. Book direct with hotels, through an online agency or through the airline. Can have the pick of the Island, as a lot of hotels are not bookable through travel agents, can pick up some really good deals with non run of the mill hotels, okay if not your first time and you have an idea what you are doing.
Your passport must have at least 6 months before expiry left on it to be able to enter Bali, it must also have a blank page in the passport for the Visa to be stuck into.
Take Aus cash with you, an ATM card for extras and if you have a credit card for an emergency. It can cost a lot of money if you need medical attention and they will want to see your travel insurance papers or your credit card up front first! The exchange rate is much better in Bali than in the banks here or Perth airport. If using a taxi from the airport in Bali you will need to exchange some in the airport on landing, there are many exchange places in the airport and also ATM's. Count your money once you have been given it, do not leave the counter unless you are sure it is correct, Bali is known for it's corrupt ways and money exchange is the easiest way to get extra. Bali money is all 00000's, all paper mostly too. 10,000 Rupiah is just over $1.00 so you can imagine how many of these notes you will have when you change $100.00. The notes are in 1,000, 5,000, 10,000, 20,000, 50,000, 100,000 (which looks like the 10,000) denominations. Sometimes at supermarkets you are given lollies in lieu of change! Ways they can cheat you is to fold the paper note in half and it is counted twice, use 10,000 notes instead of 100,000 notes, use a dodgy calculator, count it last yourself, as another ways is they count it last and drop some into their lap! Try and use reputable exchange places, usually Kodak type shops and banks. If they are offering a higher exchange rate than anyone else then there is usually a reason for this and that's because they are going to win by cheating on you.
If using ATM's try and use ones that give out the most money in the one transaction as you will be charged by your bank for the exchange and the withdrawal, some give out as much as 3 million in the one go and in larger notes such as 50,000 and 100,000. Your atm card will come out last of the machine, do not walk away without it as your money can still be accessed by the next person coming along. Guys will be watching for this to happen. When you put your card in the atm it will ask what language then you just follow the prompts, same as here except it will ask for the amount to be withdrawn in Rupiahs so you need to know how much you want in Rupiahs not Aus dollars.
Don't book transfers, they can charge up to $60.00 for a 5 minute trip. Taxis are readily available in Bali all the time, if a plane is landing taxi's will be there. Taxi booth is at the airport, leave the exit and immediately to your right is the booth, you tell them where you are going, you pay, they give you a slip and a taxi driver will appear and show you to your car. No haggling, flat payment. Or you can use one of the many transport guys available all over Bali, this needs to be arranged before you leave Australia.
You need $25.00 United States Dollars to get into the Bali, you can pay in Aus dollars but they will try to rip you off with the exchange rate and you can be longer in visa waiting for change, meanwhile everyone giving you dirty looks for holding up the queue. Also can pay with credit card, again, exchange rate problem and your bank will charge you as a cash advance. Best idea is to go to Post office in Australia and order it in, needs 3 days, you have to get a set amount, no problem if going with friends share it around. Fee is free but probably included in the exchange rate. If you have too many US dollars no problem to get changed in Bali, really good exchange rate for US dollars there.
Do not go over your luggage limit it can cost up to $15.00 per extra kilo to take out of Australia, coming back is even worse. Take as little as possible with you, refer to earlier notes.
When booking flight see if you can get as close to the pointy end of the plane as possible (the front), first off means first in line and you can queue for up to 2-3 hours in Bali......you will notice there is rubber time in Bali, no one is in a hurry. When you leave the plane you queue up at the visa on arrival booth, pay your us dollars, get sticker in passport. Then queue in the immigration line (very intimidating) this is where they check you out, stamp your paperwork and then shoo you through to the next immigration guy who may or may not say hello, check you out again, hand back your passport and you are through. There are many booths but usually only 1 or 2 open, even when busy they don't bother opening more up, it makes it a very boring place to be if in a large queue. The officials are all very intimidating and usually will not even say hello........so different to what Bali really is.
Next you walk through the x-ray machine, your hand luggage goes along a conveyor belt and through an x-ray. You will notice little rooms around the perimeter, this is where you will be taken if anything is amiss. Once through this you are in the arrivals hall. Try and get a luggage trolley or 2, say no thankyou to the many official looking guys that want to help you with your luggage. Once you see your luggage grab it, try not to point it out as a porter will get it and want paying for the privelege of handing it to you! Trolleys are usually located as far away as possible from the luggage carousel, this is so that you use the porters, if you want you can but they will ask for money more than they are supposed to ask for. It's 5,000 rupiah per bag at most and they only take you through customs check, not all the way to your taxi! Once you have all the luggage you then go through the 'to declare' booth or the 'nothing to declare' booth. You may get asked to open your luggage or just one bag or nothing at all, depends on the moods of the officials. If you have white chalk marks on your cases it probably means they will want to check what is inside, you're a pretty girl they will want to check you out, believe me! They are in search of extra bottles of alcohol, don't be silly only take in the allowed amount, it's not worth the bribe, the hassle and is illegal.
Once through here you will follow the road/crowd to the waiting area, this is where the smell/heat of Bali will really hit you. This is where your waiting driver will be, also many Balinese waiting for family or customers. If you are getting a taxi just keep walking to the outside.
When you get to your hotel you can tip your driver if you wish, it is not necessary. If paying a fare usually round off to the nearest, so if the fare is 26,000 then pay 30,000, the drivers hardly ever have change and you'll waste your time while he tries to find change. Always be careful getting out of taxi's as bikes can be ridden up the inside of all vehicles......actually they can be ridden just about anywhere.......and can take the door off you and run you down. When using taxi's always ask for the meter to be turned on and make sure it is working. If using a transport driver then always have the price worked out before you leave your hotel. All day trips are usually 400,000 if travelling far and you can buy the driver his lunch if you wish. ½ day trips around 250,000. A driver can just go shopping with you, stop, start, wait etc. He will look after your gear while you shop, he will be there when you are ready to move to the next place. This will usually include parking fees, about 2,000 wherever there is a guy collecting it. Always nice to offer it up if you have some small change handy.
Don't give to beggars, especially the ones with babies, and not to the kids. These are paid workers, they hire the babies from mums that need the money, they collect all day and nights and then hand in to the 'boss', they get minimal wages in return. You can try offering an icecream to kids or a meal to adults if you are so inclined. Of course seeing someone with no legs and only one arm is a different matter but they probably get more than the hotel staff get paid too! There is no Social Security in Bali, family is everything and all you have next to your religion.
Religion.......it is the be all and end all in Bali, mainly Hindu with a sprinkling of Muslim. Temples are everywhere, offerings are every 2 feet on the floor, ground, the walls, the shelves everywhere, try and be respectful and step around or over them. Mornings it is most prolific as all of Bali offer up something for good anything...luck, business, health, whatever. Incense is burning everywhere also, as is rubbish, you'll get used to the smell. It's the drain smell you don't get used to if you catch a whiff of one of those...phew. Most drains are underground now and that is why the pavements are so up and down, mismatched and have gaping holes in them, do be careful. Don't forget also that some motorbike riders will take the shortcut by being on the pavements as well as you!
Remember this smell, this heat, it will knock you out, BUT it is the one you will want to go back to.