Bali

[aaron80]

I just went Bali in April, I quite like the Babi Guling too! Anyway I found the taxis quite cheap leh. did you take the Blue Bird taxis? They charge according to meter.

you should try the famous babi guling (roast pork) in ubud, bali if you can.

[babi guling, its essentially roasted pork stuffed with spices. the most famous would have to be ibu oka's 6-hr roasted babi guling in ubud. a pity it was closed when we got to ubud. this one was not bad which was at a roadside stall we spotted while driving to ubud and it's not bad really. slices of pork, a crisp slice of skin and some innards, served altogether with rice. taste? not bad, although a little spicy and oily.

its funny how we discovered this dish because on the first night in bali, anthony bourdain was on travel and living introducing ibu oka's babi guling. the driver who picked us from the airport also introduced this. if you're wondering why pork (like i was), was also told that bali is made up of 80% hindus, 10% christians and 10% muslims. great, i learn something new everyday. ]

we got a car at about SGD 30 a day too. its cheaper if you can drive, and its quite easy to get around. cabs in bali are really exp man...

 

[Cashmere]

i'm sure there are, just that I have not had any experience booking such villas... How many people in your travelling party, by the way? Perhaps I can ask some of my friends. I remember them mentioning staying at villas.

There's 7 of us... 7D6N. The prices I saw on the web are pretty much quite ex including all applicable taxes and fees.. :bigeyes:

 

[ZerocoolAstra]

There's 7 of us... 7D6N. The prices I saw on the web are pretty much quite ex including all applicable taxes and fees.. :bigeyes:

I think if you stay at any of the established villas, prices aren't cheap. Bali isn't a cheap place

 

[HougangMan]

I have returned. Saya suda pulang.

Wrote a short description of my experience in lovely Bali here

Hope is useful for people.

 

[sethgoh]

yea it was so nice that i didn't realise the meat i ate had pig's hair. aha

i cant rem which taxi i took but i think i was overcharged. probably was something like S$10 for a 15 mins short ride.

so we decided to rent a car for onli S$30 for the entire day and we could drive anywhere we wanted. pretty good road signs they have

I just went Bali in April, I quite like the Babi Guling too! Anyway I found the taxis quite cheap leh. did you take the Blue Bird taxis? They charge according to meter.

 

[derrick tong]

yes bali isn't a cheap place and careful went u change money if u see very high price, sing dollars is better then us dollars.

 

[Cashmere]

pictures not ready yet.... :bsmilie:

for the private car, i got it at one of the travel agents in legian. there is at least one travel agent every 30m, you can enquire there. some offer package tours, but i prefer not to, because package tours brings you to spice gardens, silver shops, etc to purchase things. I'm not a fan of purchasing stuffs, so I hired a driver for Rp450,000 for 12hrs (inclusive of petrol, driver, car) and directed him to where I want to visit. tips is up to you, its not compulsory. I paid deposit of Rp100,000 upfront, and the remaining at the end of the trip.

Do you happen to have their contacts and their company name that you can pass to me?
I've asked around and it seems like the price are about 400,000-450,000 for 10 hours.
So your deal is pretty ok..

 

[ktay07]

Hey all... Bali is a great place for photo taking... Especially the building structures and decors...

sharing some of my travel pics from Bali over here:
http://photography-kara.blogspot.com/2009/08/royal-experience-in-bali.html

 

[ZerocoolAstra]

digging up this thread coz I'm headed there again in end-May.
Heard that tourism has been adversely affected by the lack of Japanese tourists to this lovely island.
Some good deals for accomodation.
Take the chance to sappork their tourism industry in whatever small way.

Contacting the driver which I got during my previous trip. Waiting for his reply.
Any comments on a 1 day trip starting at Tuban/Kuta area in the morning, then heading east to Klungkung and then north toward Kintamani? Finally ending the day at Ubud. I think total journey might be about 150km or so, but with the roads and traffic, probably will allow 3.5 hours just for the travelling.
Any recommendations on places to stop and check out in the Klungkung/Gianyar area?
Don't think I have time to detour to the Bersakih temple complex.

 

[ZerocoolAstra]

Any comments?

Has anyone spent much time around Klungkung area?
I read that it was the seat of power in Bali a few hundred years back, but has dwindled in importance. Just wondering if there are any places worth checking out there, which I can add to my planned trip.

 

[flowerpot]

Anyone had experience bringing a 15 month old infant to Uluwatu and Tanah Lot for sunset shoot ?
Basically i will be carrying my girl plus shooting which i doubt i can manage so was comtemplating if i should just skip most of the places and just relax in my hotel for the entire trip...

 

[ZerocoolAstra]

Anyone had experience bringing a 15 month old infant to Uluwatu and Tanah Lot for sunset shoot ?
Basically i will be carrying my girl plus shooting which i doubt i can manage so was comtemplating if i should just skip most of the places and just relax in my hotel for the entire trip...

No personal experience, but I imagine it'd be quite a handful to juggle baby-caring (well, perhaps 15mths no more considered baby) and photography.
Still worthwhile to go around, in my opinion, but probably better to manage expectations with regards to photography. Perhaps just bring a point-and-shoot?

 

[Stuffed]

Anyone had experience bringing a 15 month old infant to Uluwatu and Tanah Lot for sunset shoot ?
Basically i will be carrying my girl plus shooting which i doubt i can manage so was comtemplating if i should just skip most of the places and just relax in my hotel for the entire trip...

Don't think it is a good idea for Uluwatu as the monkeys there might be a great nuisance for you and your infant.

For Tanah Lot, becareful of the uneven stone ground by the waters around the temple as they might be slippery when wet.

 

[KT1031]

Hi Guys,

I am going to Bali for 5D4N in June.
Interested in their dolphin trip.
Have anyone of you went for this before?

 

[Big Kahuna]

Anyone had experience bringing a 15 month old infant to Uluwatu and Tanah Lot for sunset shoot ?
Basically i will be carrying my girl plus shooting which i doubt i can manage so was comtemplating if i should just skip most of the places and just relax in my hotel for the entire trip...

My girl was around 9mths + when we wrere there in end 2009. Me and my wife....It's is do-able, just hire a car with driver and tour at your own pace, we have no problem at Uluwatu and Tanah Lot etc, in Uluwatu....we were there in the morning and there are not so many monkeys around.....most of the time we carry the baby and another person take care of backpack and stroller

 

[DarkLord79]

Just came back from a 6 day trip to Bali. Didn't do anything much as both of my kids were sick. They are 3 and 1 respectively. Can check my blog for pictures.

 

[scramblur11]

Don't think I have time to detour to the Bersakih temple complex.

If you are really going to this Mother Temple of Besakih, most probably it will be the most expensive temple to visit in Bali. According to the driver, the temple's tourism was managed by a group of local villagers. At the entrance, there is this "tour counter" which is managed by an "ah beng". First, he will ask you rent the sarongs there (other temples we been to provide it FOC). Our driver try to bargain for us and got scolded by him. In the end, we pay around rp 5000 each for the sarong. Initially was rp 10000 I think. He will then pass you a notebook and ask for donations. He will ask you which country you from and point out how much the people from the same country has donated. The amount donated by these so called "tourists" doesn't look realistic as the amount can be quite high (I saw some guy from Jap donate rp 750000). As we do not have small change, we give rp 50000. Afterwhich, we must hire a local tour guide to bring us around the temple. The driver has told us beforehand that the tour guide will ask for rp 400000 but we can bargain till rp 100000. The tour guide actually tell us at the begining that it is up to us but in the end still ask for rp400000. We manage to bargain till rp100000 though, keep saying we got no more $$. During the tour somewhere near the top of the temple, the tour guide will invite us to pray. After praying under the guidance of the tour guide, he again ask for donations to the temple. We got no more small change and actually wanted to just give coins (around few hundred only) but the tour guide say the amount is too small. This is the first time that I heard temple donation got minimum amount. In the end we got no choice but to give rp 100000

All in all, I think we spend around rp 260,000 at this temple. Actually the driver has warned us before but I guess this temple most probably is worth visiting at least once but you got to prepare to folk out big amount here. Remember to bring small change (10,000 notes or something)..

The places I been to are the usual tourists areas. Maybe if you pass by ubud, you can go to Tegallalang Rice Terrace. Nice place for photo taking.

Anyone had experience bringing a 15 month old infant to Uluwatu and Tanah Lot for sunset shoot ?
Basically i will be carrying my girl plus shooting which i doubt i can manage so was comtemplating if i should just skip most of the places and just relax in my hotel for the entire trip...

I think should be ok. My bro also recently brought his two kids (1yr old and 3yrs old) to this 2 places and got no issues. But got to take care of your items when you are uluwatu. The monkeys there will really snatch anything (bottle, slippers, hotels keys, glasses etc).

 

[ZerocoolAstra]

Thank you scramblur11 for the info on Bersakih temple complex. Yes I've read that it's the biggest one in Bali, but didn't know abt the high prices. Will take note.
How long was the journey there when you went, and where did you start from?

Thanks again

 

[scramblur11]

Thank you scramblur11 for the info on Bersakih temple complex. Yes I've read that it's the biggest one in Bali, but didn't know abt the high prices. Will take note.
How long was the journey there when you went, and where did you start from?

Thanks again

I stay in Ubud. Our driver brought us out for a full day tour. Based on the time that I took the photos, our tour for that day should be as below. Hope the timings help in your planning? .... Do remember to bring small change for the bersakih temple visit. We pay quite alot as we only have the bigger rp100000 notes only. ...This temple is really "chop" tourists ones....think really bad for bali tourism....

Left Ubud, Tegallalang Rice Terrace (9am) > Barong Dance at local village (945am~1045am) > Stop near a cliff for photo stop, view of rice terrace (12pm) > Bersakih Temple (1230pm~145pm) > Lunch near Kinatamni Volcano (220pm~335pm) > Coffee Plantation (4pm~430pm) > Pura Tirta Empul Temple (440pm~510pm) > Monkey Forest (550pm~610pm) > Dirty Duck Resturant at Ubud (635pm)

 

[diver-hloc]

I stay in Ubud. Our driver brought us out for a full day tour. Based on the time that I took the photos, our tour for that day should be as below. Hope the timings help in your planning? .... Do remember to bring small change for the bersakih temple visit. We pay quite alot as we only have the bigger rp100000 notes only. ...This temple is really "chop" tourists ones....think really bad for bali tourism....

Hi… my family plan to stay at Ubud for 2 day this coming june. My question is regarding the temperature in and around Ubud, as I believe that Ubud is above sea level… is it advisable to bring a sweater for the elderly ??

Also… is the sky above Ubud, fill with Stars at night, since Ubud is located at a more Ulu part of Bali ??

Thxs for any info… :thumbsup: