Posted by Lucien Zalcman on Saturday, 10. October 1998 at 15:59 Bali Time:
We (myself, wife and 2 children 12 and 15 years old) have just come back from 3 lovely weeks in Bali. Here are some hints - all dollars are Australian dollars, we got, on average 6200 rupiah per Australian dollar.
1. We come from Melbourne at the bottom of Australia. Today's maximum temperature in Melbourne is 15 C. The maximum temperature in Bali was at least 30 C every day we were there. Take the minimum amount of winter clothes you can get away with. Take warm clothes for the plane trip there and the plane trip back. Take no other clothes - except underwear and bathers. You can buy shirts, shorts, dresses etc. on the street for 30,000 to 40,000 rupiahs - $5 to $7. These items of clothing may cost $30 in Australia.
2. Don't take rigid suitcases. Take collapsible bag(s) that you can put into another bag you buy in Bali. Take 1 bag if possible. You can buy lovely big "Bali bags" for under $10. Make sure you check the zips before you pay. Alot of them are already broken. Ansett Australia (the airline we traveled on) went by weight - they tell you 20 kgs per person and will not charge you excess baggage (from memory $6(US) per kg) until you exceed 30 kgs per person. We left Australia with 5 bags under 40 kgs and come back 9 items weighing approximately 90 kgs.
3. Don't book cars to pick you up from the airport from Australia at high cost eg $50 per person. If you are going to places near to the airport (Seminyak, Legian, Kuta, Tuban, Nusa Dua etc.) there is an official taxi stand as you come out of the airport to get transport. It cost us 20,000 rupiah ($3.25) for a taxi for 4 people to Legian.
4. Get some rupiah before you arrive in Bali. $20 (120,000) will get you a long way before you have to deal with the moneychangers. Hotels generally accept rupiah and US dollars. Some only accept cash. Hotels charge in US dollars and then convert to rupiah at rates you are unlikely to get anywhere. Bring US dollars in cash to pay for your accommodation unless you are staying at plush hotels. They are more likely to accept travelers cheques and/or credit cards at reasonable rates.
5. Unless you get a good deal on a package tour or someone recommends a particular hotel we suggest that you pre book your first one or two nights accommodation and then see what is available. We did this and it worked out fine.
6. As a family we were warned to avoid Kuta (for Australian singles looking for a raging good time) and go somewhere quieter like Legian or Tuban - good advice.
7. Some suggestions for Legian. The Three Brothers Inn - phone 62 361 751566, Fax 62 361 756082. It is conveniently located but awkward to get to. It has 2 entrances. The main entrance (go there with your luggage) is down a lane of Legian Street. Don't be alarmed when you come this way - it is not as bad as it looks. The back entrance - much more convenient - is near to the Garden View cottages. The Three Brothers has lovely gardens and a nice pool. We had an air-conditioned room (a double and single bed with an extra mattress) for $35 US dollars per night no breakfast (its not worth it) including all taxes. When we came back from Ubud we got an idealic traditional 2 storey room (no aircondioning) everything open. Lovely except the gardens have ponds and it had started to rain and we were eaten alive by bugs. The double bed upstairs had something like mosquito nets but nothing downstairs, unfortunately - $30 US. The staff at the Three Brothers were with the fairies - it was difficult to get them to do anything. I had to Fax and ring 3 times before they would confirm our booking by Fax. They would not take messages from Australia. They actually hung up on phone calls from Australia. Everyone else was nice except the front desk staff. We left here, because of the bugs, and went for some luxury for our last few days. We went to the Legian beach hotel nearby and got a lovely family room for 4 with air, fridge, TV, all those decadent things, for $80 US per night - it was lovely. The $80 US we bartered for - the normal price for a family room was $140 US (+ 21%) but I am not sure who pays this price. Our time at this hotel was lovely - very relaxing. phone 62 361 751711, Fax 62 361 752651, http://www.indo.com/hotels/legian_beach. You can get package tours for this hotel eg Ansett Great Deals. Another hotel highly recommended was the Rum Jungle Road hotel - Br Legian Kaja phone/Fax 62 361 758 460. We did not try this but Terry (see below), whose opinion we trusted, said he stayed there and it was good. They have double rooms, cold shower (you can have this in Bali - not in Melbourne though) fans from $12 US up to Penthouse doubles hot water, bath, air, big room etc for $30 US plus $3 extra per bed. We ate at the hotel restaurant and it was excellent. http://www.indo.com/hotels/rumjungle/index.html.
8. These hotels are all conveniently located. You can step out of the hotel into the hustle and bustle of Legian life where you can eat breakfast for $1. Just up Melasti Street (come out of the Legian Beach hotel turn left away from the beach) is Uncle Norm's Bistro, continue up 200 meters on the same side to Taman Legian - Legian Garden restaurant and then across the road up a few meters to the Balitoo. All these places had lovely food - breakfast for around $1 and main courses at night for 2 or 3 dollars - delicious food. A bit up market just up from the Balitoo is the Gosha Bar and Restaurant - an excellent dinner for 4 (Seafood platters etc.) on our last night was $30.
9. For a treat we went to Jimbaran Bay for a fresh seafood meal on the beach at sunset. We caught a blue taxi and asked to have the meter put on - it cost 4000 rupiah - about 70 cents. We actually went around 4:30 pm before sunset and asked to be dropped off at the pier where the fishing boats were. It was lovely to see the colourful boats and the fishermen selling their fish on the beach next to the pier. We walked to the restaurants further along the beach. We walked about 500 to 700 meters to the Intan Cafe - recommended on internet as the best of the bunch. The seafood is sold by weight - at Intan lobster is 150,000 ($12) per kg, prawns 140,000, snapper 40,000 etc. It is barbecued and the price includes salad, rice, spices and fruit for desert. Drinks are extra. Having a delightful meal whilst watching the sun set over the sea with the fishing boats out was absolutely delightful - a real treat. Intan was probably the most expensive restaurant on the beach. You can walk along look (and barter) at the prices at the other restaurants. The tables and chairs are actually on the beach. If you are early you get the tables closest to the waves.
10. Balinese people appeared to be extremely honest - we saw no evidence of any crime whatsoever. Their version of Hinduism is part of their life - it is a living religion and makes Bali and its culture what it is. They appear to have a good sense of humour as well. The only dishonesty evident are the moneychangers in Kuta and Legian. There are honest moneychangers. The more "boffer boys" behind the money changing desk the more they will attempt to distract you and remove "your" money. Always make sure you count the money last BEFORE you hand over your dollars. Generally woman moneychangers did not attempt to cheat us. The moneychanger(s) on the corner of the little market (there are actually 2 moneychangers sitting behind 2 desks) directly across from the Legian Garden restaurant was (were) always honest and never attempted to cheat us. Always ask for 50,000 rupiah notes - the moneychangers rely on a large number of notes eg 60 10,000 rupiah notes for $100, to confuse you.
11. We stayed in Legian for a week. During that week we called a driver recommended on internet - Dewa Adiwisma - phone 0361 975704 (business), 0361 975140 (home) and Fax 0361 975188 (you use 62 361 975188 when ringing from overseas). We rang him from Legian and he picked us up at our hotel and took us on a day tour of the holiest and biggest of the Balinese temples, the "Mother Temple" - Besakih. He showed us a lot of things on the way. It was a full day activity and he charged us 250,000 rupiah - approximately $40. I can thoroughly recommend Dewa. His English is excellent and he is talkative and he will give you all the tourist, historic details you require but he will also tell you about the political, financial situation in Bali. Those sorts of details were all of interest to us. He was very knowledgeable and scrupulously honest. He lived in Ubud and when I did not have enough rupiah to pay him on our first outing (I was going to change some money and pay him when we got back to Legian at 7 pm) he gave me back some rupiah I gave him (so we had some money as well) and told me to pay him back the 100,000 rupiah we still owed him when we came to Ubud. Try to avoid the "tourist trap" restaurants which are near or on the way to tourist attractions as we found them expensive and we were unwell afterwards.
12. The night before we left Legian for Ubud I rang Dewa to tell him we were coming and asked him to get us a hotel in Ubud in the range we wished to pay - $40 US for 2 rooms. He told us that since Ubud was in the hills you did not need air-conditioning. We wanted to be near a pool for the kids and if possible have a view of the rice paddies and be near the monkey forest and the main part of Ubud. He told us that he would do this for us when we came to Ubud. We used a driver from outside our Legian hotel to get to Ubud. We did not use Dewa simply because we were not sure when we would be finished in Legian. The driver dropped us at the Saren Inn (it is not a hotel just a shop) where Dewa works from. Dewa then drove us and our luggage to the hotel he booked for us - he refused payment for this. The hotel was the Pande Permai Bungalows in Monkey Forest Street, Ubud - phone 0361 975436. We stayed in rooms 9B and 10B next to each other above the pool, we had a view of the rice paddies and it was a short walk to the monkey forest. The rooms were kept very clean and ALL the staff were lovely - all for 400,000 rupiah (for 2 rooms) per day - less than $40 US. It was exactly what we asked for and we would thoroughly recommend the hotel. If you want something different get to Ubud at 9 am in the morning start at the Pande Permia Bungalows and work your way up Monkey Forest Street (Road?) towards the Main Road and check the hotels to get what you are after. Alternatively get Dewa to get what you require and save yourself alot of trouble like we did. He probably makes a few rupiah out of it but he will save you alot of legwork.
13. Ubud is delightful. It is completely different to Legian. Dewa told us that their equivalent of our local council had decided to make Ubud attractive to tourists. There are very few street hawkers, the money changers never tried to cheat us and the products on sale appeared to be be good quality and the prices were reasonable - subject to a bit of bartering. We walked and did a day trip to the volcano from Ubud (with Dewa at 200,000).
14. Our Ubud hotel was much quieter than our Legian hotel - we slept in some days and had a very slow, relaxing time. The kids took themselves off to the monkey forest to feed the monkeys whenever they wanted to. I think the Bali we saw was much safer than the Australia we live in. The kids hired a bike (10,000 per day) and rode through the monkey forest and beyond. We walked around Ubud. Sometimes we caught some transport. All through the streets people ask you if you want transport. You barter and once a price has been established they drive you where you asked to be taken. On several occasions we flagged down someone (ie at night when we were out of the main part of Ubud) bartered a price and they drove us where we wanted to go - they were were not "professional drivers" they happened to be driving along the road. At no time did we feel unsafe or threatened. As I said before the Balinese appear to be extremely honest and trustworthy.
15. The restaurants in Ubud are fantastic. In the Monkey Forest Street, on the left hand side going up towards the Main Road, you have - there is a Thai restaurant (whose name I cannot recall but you cannot see the restaurant only the entrance from the street), Cafe Lotus (Lotus Lane?) and Cafe Wayan. These restaurants are lovely inside and serve delicious, excellent quality food at extremely reasonable (compared to Australian) prices eg. 120,000 to 200,000 rupiah ($20 to $35) for four people. Along the Main Road you have a similar situation - Casa Luna, Cafe Lotus, Beggars Bush further along the road etc. There were probably many other restaurants we did not come across. Beggars Bush has a lovely view from the top floor. In some of the smaller restaurants you can eat main courses for 1 or 2 dollars.
16. We were careful - we only drank bottled water, brushed our teeth using bottled water, did not eat anything from street vendors etc. We still got the "runs". Emma, our 12 year old daughter, started to get very sick in Ubud - fever, stomach pains etc. When we met Dewa in the street and told him this he bundled us all into his car and took us to the 24 hour Ubud Clinic. Again he refused any payment - do you wonder why I cannot recommend him highly enough !!! The doctor said she had a common ailment - a bad dose of Bali belly. Some antibiotics, 220,000 rupiah (I am not complaining (we were very relieved as a matter of fact) just giving you and idea of the cost) and a few days later Emma was okay. We appeared to get settled down after 2 weeks - everything sorted itself out.
17. We went to some cultural performances in the evening in Ubud. Traditional dancing, puppet shows etc. Cost about 15,000 or 20,000 rupiah per person.
18. The views around Ubud (and further out on our day trips) are spectacular. The temples, terraced rice paddies and rainforests are beautiful. If you walk down the Monkey Forest Street from the Pande Permai Bungulows the other way (away from the Main Road) past the main entrance to the Monkey Forest up the hill you will see a big sign for a French restaurant (I think) on the left. Directly across the road from this sign there is another restaurant on the right hand side of the road up some steep stairs (the Tropical View restaurant I think). The views from this restaurant are beautiful and spectacular - out across the rice paddies. Eat lunch there for a dollar or two. This was a lovely way to end our 8 day stay in Ubud - the kids wanted to go back to shop and go back to the beach at Legian.
18. Before we leave Ubud. At our Ubud hotel we met semi-retired Terry from Sydney. He has "discovered" Bali this year and was there for his third visit of 5 weeks. He had learned some of the language and was very friendly with the staff. Between Terry, Dewa and ourselves we found out the following. Some hotel workers earned a monthly wage of 75,000 rupiah ($12 Australian). Some of the workers in the fixed priced shops in Legian earned 120,000 to 150,000 rupiah ($20 to $25) monthly. From what we saw the stallholders in the markets would earn alot more than this - some of them could easily make this or more in a day. All these people work long and hard - much longer and harder than we (in Australia) do. Once we realised this we bartered for things as bartering appears to be part of the "tourist culture" but we tipped liberally. If we took a taxi and the fare was 2000 rupiah we gave the driver 5000 rupiah, if the fare was 5000 rupiah we gave him 10,000 etc. Dewa owned his own car but was still paying it off - at 5% per MONTH - we insisted he take a big tip at the end. Remember if you are lucky enough to be going to Bali as a tourist, no matter how you are going, you must be doing much better than most hard working Balinese. Count your blessings and share your wealth !!!
19. As I said previously we went back to The Three Brothers at Legian to be eaten alive by the bugs. We then ended our holiday with a bit of luxury.
20. I wrote this very long report because I got a great deal of useful, interesting information from this forum and I am returning the favour. To end this fairly long report, in summary, we had an absolutely delightful, relaxing family holiday - probably the best holiday we have ever had and we have traveled as a family extensively. We would recommend Bali to anyone.
21. We have saved the worst for last - sorry. On our second last day at the beach in front of the Legian Beach Hotel we saw a German tourist drown. We go on holidays every January and camp in front off a patrolled surf beach. Most Australians are aware of the perils of the surf. They respect the power of nature. The point of this section is that the only medical help that this unfortunate tourist had once he was hauled out of the surf by the Balinese lifesaver was the artificial respiration applied by the Australian tourists on the beach at the time. The hotel staff had no idea what to do. The ambulance arrived from Denpasar some 30 to 45 minutes later. There was no medical backup whatsoever. The hotel staff plus the hawkers on the beach told us that this was a common occurrence - Europeans, Japanese tourist are, not even aware that crossed flags mean that the beach is unsafe and closed.
BE CAREFUL and have a SAFE holiday.
I hope this information is useful to you.