JBR- 7 weeks in Bali May-June Part1
These are hopefully some useful observations from our latest trip to Bali. First went there in 1984 and this was our 11th visit. We wanted plenty of time to wander around and go to some places we hadn't been before.
DRIVING IN BALI My husband Rick has driven in Asia a lot over the years and it doesn't faze him (I wouldn't do it) but he did admit he was a little worried in case he'd lost the knack (last time 5 years ago) Anyway, it was no problem, although there were a few hairy moments. However, if you want to do what we did, that is drive right around Bali at leisure, the only way to do it is to hire a car and drive yourself. We wanted to hire a 4WD vehicle as usual, but we couldn't seem to find any suitable for hire, so we hired a Toyota Avanza for 5 weeks. At least it has some road clearance but we found it had little power or traction for some of the rough and steep tracks that we encountered. This meant that we were unable to explore some of the places we wanted to as we had little confidence in the vehicle. However, it was a new car and probably the most comfortable and in the best condition of any vehicle we've hired in Asia before. Next time, if we seriously want to explore, we will definitely have to find a 4WD.
TRAVELLERS CHEQUES- Don't bother! Because we were there for 7 weeks and only the first few days booked and paid for, we needed quite a lot of cash. We have a credit card, but we got caught once before with extra fees because we extended our holiday and didn't get back in time to pay it off. We also have a debit card, but with all the stories about scams etc on cards we weren't very keen on using it, plus the exchange rates on cards are often not very favourable. We were concerned about carrying a lot of cash, so at the last minute decided to buy some travellers cheques. They were difficult to get, a lot of banks don't keep them now, which should have told us something. But in Bali the only people that changed them with no dramas were the Maspintjinra Authorized Moneychangers at Sanur. Most other places we went to had nowhere which would change T/Cs and often no ATMs either so cash is definitely king. In Ubud the money changers told us to go to a Bank to change them and the banks told us to go to the money changers, who finally reluctantly changed them, but no more than A$500. For the extra hassle and the extra cost, it's just not worth it. Most places we stayed at had room safes so that was OK, but in Ubud the 2 places we stayed at didn't, so we just had to carry some cash with us and lock the rest in our suitcases.
COSTS- If we exclude the first few days at Nusa Dua, which was our indulgence, the average cost per day, including accommodation, car hire and all food etc, was A$150. This was quite reasonable we thought, considering that most of our accommodation was very comfortable with AC, TV,frig,safe etc.
PRESCRIPTION GLASSES- The first morning we were there my prescription sunglasses broke. They were 5 years old and had been bought in Langkawi Island,Malaysia, where we have had many glasses made without any problems. We expected to be able to do the same in Bali, so went to Discovery Mall to Optik Melawai (just on the left as you walk in the door) The girl was very helpful but all of the frames were too small to be very useful for sunglasses. Finally, I chose some sunglass frames which she said were suitable for prescription, she did some eye tests and checked my old prescriptions, took a deposit and said they would be ready in a week. This meant that we had to hang around the south of Bali while waiting. A few days later she rang and said there was a problem, that Jakarta said they didn't have lenses big enough for the frames, I would have to choose smaller frames or get a single vision lens, neither of which were what I wanted, so we went back over and, rather reluctantly, they gave me back the deposit. She had already told us that they could not make multifocals for my husband who has a stigmatism in one eye and needs a prism-this is done no problem in Langkawi. Now, maybe we were unlucky or went to the wrong place, but we now don't have any confidence in Bali Opticals. Rick managed to somehow sew the broken frame together and it actually held together till we got home. Interestingly, I just had new sunglasses made at OPSM and with the health fund rebate they were $150 cheaper than I had been quoted in Bali!
SIMPATI SIM CARD-We took over an old mobile phone and purchased a Simpati Sim card. We had this phone unlocked in Malaysia some years ago and have used it with a Malaysian Sim card very successfully. We were very pleased with ourselves and sent 8 SMS off to our children and family so they could contact us. We received about 4 answers to these. One of our daughters was expecting a baby just after we returned from Bali so we kept sending her messages asking how she was but she never replied. Weeks later when an emergency cropped up and we actually called home, we discovered that only a few of our SMS were getting through. It is very strange but it seems like every second SMS we sent went into a black hole never to be seen again. So, next time we go, if our SMS are not replied to, we'll just ring, as the calls are so cheap anyway.
HEALTH- Rick has a chronic condition and takes a lot of medication, so we were laden up with pills plus things for every contingency. Our typhoid and cholera injections were up to date so didn't need them, but Rick's specialist had scared him by saying, if you get malaria you could die. We did think we might go to Lombok, so we took Doxycline as an anti malarial. We think this might be why we didn't have any stomach bugs or indeed any health problems while in Bali. We brought all our emergency medications home with us, but as luck would have it I came down with a high temperature a few days after we got home. I was worried I might have dengue fever, but it was just a nasty virus which I probably picked up in the plane on the way home. As for mosquitoes, we did see quite a few in some places where we stayed and we notice that these days they don't put mosquito coils everywhere in the hotels and restaurants like they used to. We ended up buying our own, but I did have quite a few bites in spite of precautions, but I wasn't sure if they were mozzies or something else.
I hope that some forumites might find these comments useful. I will write more details as soon as I can