Hello,
My wife and I are planning to spend six months or so in Bali with our five-month-old daughter, beginning as soon as this February. Before our daughter was born, we spent two weeks in Bali (one on the beach, one in Ubud), so we have little bit of context, but we still have a ton of work to do and hope this forum can help us answer some questions. Thanks in advance for any help, and, regardless, best wishes for 2010!
Location/Lodging:
We're focusing our initial search around Ubud, but only because we loved how relaxed and friendly and pretty it was where we were there earlier in 2009. But we're very flexible. Maybe another village within maybe a 15/20 minute drive of Ubud? Maybe Sanur? Maybe someplace totally different we haven't discovered yet? With such a young baby, we'll just be hanging out at home with her in the bale/garden/pool most of the time, so more remote/quiet/family style than nightlife/bustle/crowds. We're not big beach people, so up in the mountains / rice paddys is great too. Not especially remote, but we don't mind walking into town or having a driver help us run errands a few times a week.
We're planning on around USD 1500-2000/month, ideally for a 6-month term. At least one part-time staff would be great. 2 bedrooms. AC. Pool. Comfortable/clean but needn't be fancy. Is that possible?
What's the best way to look for a place? I've seen many of the villa websites, but they tend to be nightly rates, and often much more elaborate than we require.
Do you know anybody local that could help look for us? Are the agents you'd recommend? Are there physical listing on telephone poles or bulletin boards that somebody local to look at for us? (I think i saw one at Bali Buddha when I was there).
Can I do it remotely? I could come for a few weeks to make plans, but it's a long flight and I don't want to leave my family (or drag them along on a fact-finding mission), so do you think it's reasonable/safe to make these plans remotely?
Other questions:
1) Visas: We have American passports. What is the best visa to get? Is there a way to stay for 6 months without needing to periodically leave the country? Looks like the Multi-Entry Visitors visa is good for 60-days at a time before you need to leave and re-enter. (What's the cheapest place to travel to to meet that requirement?)
2) Doctor: We'd like to find a pediatrician for our daughter. Any recommendations? How much do visits cost? Any tips on health insurance in general? (We're coming from San Francisco -- do you know if our existing insurance might cover anything in Bali?
3) Internet: What does broadband internet cost in a house? How fast can you get? Is there an unlimited plan, or it is always metered (GBs/month, etc)? How reliable is it? How reliable is the electrical supply in general? I didn't notice any power outages while we were there, but I wasn't paying much attention during that trip.
4) Taxis/Drivers/Transportation: What does it cost to use drivers as your primary means of transportation? Without our own car we'd need to hire drivers to take us grocery shopping, down to the beach, to the doctor, etc. When we were there for just a week, it seemed like about USD 30/day -- is that what it costs always, or would we find cheaper options once we'd been there for a while? For an hour, an afternoon, a day?
5) Budget: If you're staying there expat style instead of tourist style, how much should we budget for a month? How much is groceries if you're cooking simply at home most of the time? How much is a month's worth of laundry? How much is a monthly cell phone? TV service? I'm hopeful that 1500 for lodging and 1500 for other expenses is reasonable? Will it be more? Less?
6) Money Management: Is there any need to use anything other than ATMs? Any need for a local bank account, or to think about taxes during a 6-month stay?
7) Finding more information: Are there web sites, listservs, local papers, or other communities I should know about?
Thank you so much for reading this and helping!
Sincerely,
Nate
nate at koechley dot com