Hope this report is not too long, but hopefully it will help someone. This was our 8th trip to Bali and the only things that had changed from our last trip in August 2002 was the introduction of the visa on arrival "tax" and the erection of a large Bali bombing victims' memorial in Jalan Legian near the corner of Gang Poppies II. Many people visited the memorial during our stay.
CARRIER
Australian Airlines. About 80 passengers to Bali so service was good and movie was Ladder 49. Free drinks. Dinner was chicken and rice or lasagna with salad, cake and tea or coffee and/or alcohol. Flight took 3 hours from Perth.
BALI AIRPORT (Ngurah Rai International)
The procedure when you arrive in the terminal is to follow the signs to the Visa On Arrival booths where you queue to pay your US$25.You then take your receipt along with your passport to the next booth. From here you proceed to a third checkpoint (immigration) where you present passports and immigration card. You are then given one final check by a guy at the back of your booth before you head in the baggage collection area to grab your suitcase/s. From here you will be met by porters who, uninvited, will take your suitcases and escort you to the final checkpoint (quarantine/customs). If you want to carry your own luggage tell them so.
A final checkpoint where a government official will either check your baggage or let you pass through unchecked. If you are carrying more than you are allowed (1 litre) in alcohol it may pay you to use a porter to take your luggage through, as it seemed that the customs' officials take a positive view to you using the local labour. But don't rely on it. Liquor is not as expensive as some make out to be in Bali. You can pick up local whiskey and gin, vodka and brandy for about 50000 Rp a bottle and wine can be purchased for 75,000 rp upwards. See below for comments. The Money Changer at the airport was offering a rate of 7100 Rp for 1AUD so we were able to change a $50 to get a taxi from the airport to our hotel (the Adhi Dharma) in Legian. The taxi booth is in front and to the right of the airport exit doors and you can pre-pay your taxi fare there.
WEATHER IN FEBRUARY
We stayed two weeks and it rained twice during the day for 20 minutes one day and the following week for about 10 minutes with two nights experiencing a short shower. The best I can sum up February was mostly very warm and humid. Rain wasn't an issue.
TAXIS
The Blue Taxi charges you 4000 Rp flagfall and 2000 Rp per km. We used Bali taxi, white taxi and found them all good. If you barter with Bali or white taxi's you have an idea of what it normally costs before you haggle. Airport to Melasti Street cost approx 16,000Rp. Kuta Square to Melasti cost approx 8000 Rp. Kuta to Denpasar cost approx 26,000 Rp.
PRICES
It seems that in 20 years coming to Bali, inflation is non-existent as we were paying AUD$3 for a watch or tee-shirt back then and were paying the same in 2005.Even the price of food has remained unchanged except for a few upmarket restaurants- and even then it is still cheap. You can get a decent size Nasi Campur, Mie & Nasi Goreng for 7,000 Rp and beer for 6,000 Rp. Mind you this is the cheapest we got, but around 10,000 to 20 thousand Rp for a main Indonesian dish was the norm. Shoes for men and women are still good ranging from $20 - $50 for good men's leather and still cheaper (to the delight of my wife ) for latest fashion womens shoes.
BALI BELLY
Both had a dose of the Belly but took Norit activated charcoal tablets. We took 4 doses X 7 tablets over 24 hour period and good as gold. Norit come in small yellow and orange box and cost about 6500 Rp. One box has about 5 doses - 6 doses.
MASSAGE
I tried the Jari Menari in Seminyak and it was good. Paid 165,000 rp for 75 mins. Mainly works the spine. It relieved that full feeling I had and gave me a lot of energy. I think you can do just as well with a normal 70,000 Rp massage in Garlic Lane (Jl Sahadewa) or any of the places offering masage. My wife tried Salon Made in Jalan Benesari (where Poppies II and Benesari join approximately 400 metres from the corner of Poppies II) It cost her 121,000 Rp for 3 hour massage, foot scrub etc. She was very happy with the results. The masseurs claim they only get 700 Rp an hour so she was more than happy to pay a good tip to the three of them that worked on her.
MOBILE PHONES
You can get mobile phones brand new from the phone shops around Kuta (mainly near the Gelael Dewata shopping center in Jl Raya Kuta which is just east of the bridge. There is a Nokia shop just before the bridge on the north side who to me were honest and reliable. Found the Nokia shop near Gelael a mob of shady dealers. There is a Nokia shop at Super Nova (Graha Dewata) who sold me a new phone Nokia 3200. It works in Australia no problem but has a month guarantee in Indonesia and of course the charger is the two pin Indonesian type. Prices of phones are fairly close and I don't think you can do much better by going to Denpasar. Some examples of mobile phone prices:
Nokia 1100 775k Rp 1108 - 800k Rp 2600 1,150k Rp 3200- 1,450k Rp 6230 - 3,350k rp 7200 - 3,200k Rp 6260 - 4,050 k Rp 7610 - 4,800k Rp Ericson K500i - 938k Rp T610 - 1,625k Rp J200i - 925k Rp Samsung E700 - 1,850k Rp.
Mobile sim pre-paid cards range from 15k Rp for an Ace of Hearts (25k Rp credits) to 30k Rp SimPati. They are only able to phone nationally in Indonesia.ProXL have dearer cards which enable you to SMS and call Australia from your phone, provided your phone is not a pre-paid from Australia as it will not work unless you can get the Balinese to un-lock it with special software. They also have plenty of second-hand phones which in some cases ar nearly as dear as new ones. A call to Australia costs about 7,000 Rp per minute and SMS about 600 Rp per message. My tip is bring an old unlocked phone to Bali. Get a 15k Rp Ace of Hearts card available from any mini shops that sell phone accessories. They are everywhere. Very handy for communicating with restaurants, taxis, shops, wife when she gets lost in shoe shops etc. Cost 300 rp for sms. Local calls are cheap. Cards valid for a month.
TAILORS
We used one tailor in Sahadewa (Olga) who did some cushion covers for us and made my wife a suit top. We were not happy with the results. Firstly the zips for cushions were of very poor quality. Secondly the suit was the wrong length and although they made her a new one, they used a different material than was chosen.
RESTAURANTS
We tried a few restaurants, mainly up Legian way. Kori Restaurant in Poppies II had nice decor, popular music to jazz playing, but not too loud and clean toilets. Food was okay, but pricier than most, but sufficient in quantity. They charge tax and service on the meal.
The Indo in Sahadewa (Garlic Lane) is popular (get there early) with Aussies (owned by a couple from Sydney) and the chilli crab and the spring rolls were excellent. One clean toilet shared by all and prices were moderate to reasonable. Warung Brazil is still one of the best places for value and taste. Located in Jalan Benesari opposite the old Midnight Oil Bar (which is now located 50 metres south in Benesari Lane). Has two toilets that are reasonable. Jimbaran Bay restaurants are still a good spot to eat as long as you are prepared to accept that your fish, prawns and lobster are weighed before you purchase. One of our mates ended up paying over 1million Rp for a lobster that wouldn't blow wind up an Australian crayfish. It was an expensive meal for he and his wife. Our bill totalled around 280k Rp (two grilled snapper with condiments and rice including two big Bintangs and a glass of wine). The experience of dining on the beach was great and I will do it again. There are toilets there which are just passable and you can pay by credit card. Also you will find there are pearl sellers and the guys selling the fancy light toys. Tried the Legends restaurant in Sahadewa Street and found it reasonable foodwise and they usually have a band playing. I had Nasi Goreng and Gado-Gado and both were large meals.
We tried the food hall on top of the new Discovery Mall in Kartika Plaza and found the food and prices excellent although you have to pay tax on your food at most stalls. Had the best Nasi Campur (a dish consisting of fried fish, egg, salad, tofu, sambals) at the warung Jegeg Bulan in PoppiesII lane next to the mini marts.
The Legian Restaurant on the corner of Melasti and Lebek Lane provided great cocktails, cold Bintangs and seafood dishes that cost us less than 80k Rp for two. In all, most restaurants are struggling and we were made welcome at all. A small warung in Benesari lane is Enhay Cafe who serve good cheap meals and terrific desserts. The Warung Kita and one next to it with the statue out front serve cheap and tatsy meals. Across the road the two warungs Ika and and ? serve good Indonesian dishes at moderate prices. Our last night was spent at Wayan and Friends in Jalan Padma. Mainly serve steaks and chicken dishes about 30 - 40k Rp. Nice decor with clean toilet. Mama's (the red and white checked waitresses) on Jalan Legian charge tax.(not Mama Lucia's Italian restaurant).
MOTORBIKE HIRE
If you hire a motorbike then you enter into a different arena in Bali. It cost about 25,000 Rp per day to hire a bike. You are up for the first US$1000 if you break damage or injure someone or something. Some Insurance is supposed to be included in the price but I wouldn't rely on it. If you have no licence just be very careful. Merging and cross traffic won't let you go to sleep behind the handle bars. Noticed a few pillion passengers with muffler burns on their outer calves (mainly girls from western countries)Beware of coppers in the light brown uniforms. Some will try and ping you if they get a chance. Make sure you have driver's licence, international licence and bike rego papers with you. Wear your helmet and have your lights on at night. They hang around Kuta and Legian at night on motorbikes. During the day they are just outside Kuta in north Seminyak, the road to Sanur and roads to Uluwatu and Nusa Dua. Also jalan Diponegero between Kuta and Denpasar is another haunt for the boys in brown and the blue patrol jeeps.
MARKETS
The morning markets on the corner of Legian and Melasti start early (4:00am ) and finish at 10:00am. They sell most products and produce from veges, fruit, fish and meat to kitchenware, sandals and DVD's. The Kuta Art Markets are still as they were two years ago. Items such as Billabong (without the cardboard label) sell for around 25k Rp whilst the good ones with label sell for 80k plus. Singlets, shorts, tee shirts, watches (not w/proof) still selling around 15k Rp - 30 k Rp (w/proof sell around 50k Rp). DVD's and CD can be bought at 10k Rp each with most offering 1 free CD or DVD with every 10. I bought DVD's off MCSHOP and it wasn't worth the time as he could only provide ¾ of the order an dsome DVD's were badly markes or pitted. Windows software at the Matahari Kuta Square in the front foyer selling around 25k Rp per disc. Blue movies are everywhere. The "hasheesh sellers" are still trying to sting you into buying some and of course the time share hawkers are everywhere. If you like beads and stuff they have tons of it. We went to Denpasar and found it almost a waste of time as the styles and fashions are outdated and they do not cater for big people. There is one store that had shirts that would fit me and that was a place called Millenia. It is on the same road as Matahari as you go past the set of lights heading towards Kuta. The Discovery Mall consists of some large shops such as Centro (2nd floor-fashions and shoes), Electronic City (top floor) Gramedia 2nd floor (bookstore and art supplies) and Club Store which is a huge supermarket under the main building. They also sell liquor and wine at reasonable prices as does the Gelael Fresh (Raya Kuta near the fuel station). Went to look for Makro Store but it was too far out of Kuta (approx 5 km from big round about along Jalan Ngurah Rai road to Sanur).
PERTH AIRPORT
Leaving Bali airport our two cases of luggage totalled 54 kg, which was no problem. A little sign on the check in booth said that upto 32 kg per person was not a problem. My hand luggage was just over 7 kgs and I also had a camera case plus a large bum bag attached. No problems.
Arriving back in Perth, just about everyone stocked up on their duty free liquor which is now 2 litres, but you must declare it. We went through with a little more than 4 litres in total, plus some wooden carvings and plants but were allowed to keep the lot. Because we declared we went through quicker than those who didn't. Quarantine were looking mainly for anything that contained egg and excessive quotas of alcohol. Bali is still the cheapest and best place that we like to travel and have a holiday. It is cheaper to have two weeks holiday in Bali than one week in my own state. The Balinese seem to be struggling at the moment and a lot of restaurants were empty. There seemed to be literally millions of stalls selling tee shirts watches, souvenirs, beads, etc but not many tourists to patronise them. Although the Japanese are doing their bit along with a few Germans, Americans and Scandinavians hopefully more Aussies will get up there as we are still keeping the place going and our dollars are very welcome too. For some latest pics please email me for info wher etio view them. riptov@yahoo.com.au