Evening all,

The other half is off working in Borneo at the minute and will be for the next 4 weeks or so. After though she wants me o fly out and meet her in Bali for a vacation after her work secondment has finished.

i have never been further than Hungary so i have no idea what to expect, where to book, travel arrangements, flights, changes etc. i have found what i think is a good website called "Trail Finder" which seems to have some good deals but obviously they only show the nice parts of Bali.

Has anyone been there before? where is best to stay? Where is a definite, No No etc. what scams do i need to look out for. i'm after a nice holiday so don't want to be in mega busy touristy areas (where there are loads of drunk lads/prostitues) or club 18-30 type resorts, somewhere peaceful and beautiful so we can have a great time together.

The main places that keep cropping up are Nusa Dua, Sanur or Ubud which all "look" nice. Budget is about £2k for the whole trip, 10-14 days ideally.

All advice welcome

Alex

My mum went last year but stayed in a private villa so cant really help with where to stay, but she did say that if you go to the markets haggle a lot.

she also did a flight change in Singapore and said it was really nice and she would like to go back there even though she didn't have much time there.

Nusa Dua peninsula is just enormous luxury hotels with huge grounds that feel as if the have been beamed from outer space.
We stayed at the Putri hotel about 16 years back looking at pictures of it on TripAdvisor it hasn't changed a bit, huge rooms colonial style furniture, room staff stationed outside your door to change the towels and change the bed every time you go out. Nusa Dual has a proper medical centre for tourists.

Things to watch out for. ... local currency Rupea is in free fall US dollars or Australian dollars are the real currency only change a few Dollars a day into local money.
Due to Japanese in WW2 they drive on the left. but don't have proper traffic law or driving tests. Roads are mad a bit like "Good Morning Vietnam" full of Honda 90s , Suzuki Jeeps and tourist buses. Road signs are either non-existant or point to roads that haven't been completed and just stop after a couple of miles.
You really have to drive to see the island far north and the cliffs and temples in the west are worth seeing.

Other thing is don't fly by Garuda.

[Edited on 19/3/14 by britishtrident]

I have worked out in Indonesia a fair bit with the hajj pilgrim flights and visited Bali on a few occasions and visited quite a few resorts

Kuta - nice but lively
Ubud - up in the mountains, stunning views nice and quiet but plenty of trips/excursions/adventure sports if that takes your fancy.
Nusa dua - if you want to lay by the pool in a posh hotel go here
Sanur - beach area but nowhere near as lively as Kuta - lovely place.

I stayed in various locations from hostels to 5 star hotels and had a great time at each. Locals are very friendly but do be aware if you venture out of the touristy bits it is a poor part of the world.

Make sure all your jabs are upto date and as BT said don't take a lot of rupiahs just take US dollars. Enjoy the weird and wonderful local beers. I've still to this day not found a beer that gives me a headache like Bintang does

Unless you are flying direct it's well worth scheduling a day stop in either Singapore or Kuala Lumpur, both are excellent cities to visit (although Singapore is about 10 x dearer).

With regards to the local airlines BT has it massively wrong about Garuda. I'm an aircraft engineer by trade and we worked alongside Garuda and they have very high standards and skilled engineers and maintain their aircraft to the same levels as the Europeans and are the only Indonesian airline I would recommend.However DO NOT FLY with Lion air, merpati airlines, swirijaya air or any other Indonesian airlines. I won't go into detail why but just don't!!

Steve

Also you will need an International Driving Licence to hire a , the AA supply these for a small fee.

When we were there it was in pre-GPS days an we took a good paper map and compass with us, the compass turned out to be very usefu. If going back today I would still take both even with GPS. We hired a Suzuki Jeep which was well suited to the road conditions, a car with AC is essential. If leaving the car parked cover the steering wheel, gear lever knob and seats to avoid burns, and open the doors to let air circulate before getting the car.

The map was the the one that comes with The Insight Guide to Bali and Lombok which I would highly recommend.
Take a basic medical kit with you to deal with bites and minor cuts.
Take water with every time you leave the hotel area.

The airport porters are self employed, a bit of a scam not quite organidsed mugging but a dollar tip will feed their families for a couple of days.


[Edited on 20/3/14 by britishtrident]

Alex - Jo and I honeymooned in Bali and Malaysia. Give me a call if you want and we can give you some advice. Also worth going to the library and getting the Rough Guide/Lonely Planet, as they are full of useful information.

Bali was amazing - we travelled round a lot of the Island, so we can give you feedback of several places worth a look (we went to each of those three places you have found). You need to decide what sort of holiday you want - if you are looking just for a beach to sit on, or a nice pool to laze by, then that is very different to a holiday where you sail, water ski, jet ski etc... Both types are available, but not normally in the same place!

Scams - not a lot - the locals will try to sell you everything. Watch out if you decide to hire a scooter, as the local police do love to pull over the tourists with a made up traffic offences to make a bit of extra cash!

My mum said it's the best place she has ever been and she has been lots of places.

She struggles to walk long distances so that was a slight issue with most roads looking like the run offs at cadwell ....

Oh and the food is great particularly. Nasi Goreng for breakfast --- a sort of spicey fried rice usually containing chicken and topped with fried or scrambled egg.

[Edited on 20/3/14 by britishtrident]