myself and 2 other girls in our 20's are travelling to Bali
in june for 6 weeks,we can't wait but we have a lot of
questions.
1. How safe will we be travelling around on our own?
2. we plan to stay in Bali and Lombok for a while but are
there any other islands aomeone can recommend with beautiful
beaches we can laze around on?
3 is anywhere off limits?
4. is beer cheap?
5. will i need a sleeping bag?
6. will i be poisoned from the food?
7. how cheap is it at the moment?
8. what are the best things to buy?
i hope someone can answer these
see you thereXXXXX
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You will probably get many responses to this question, but
here are some answers. No food poisoning at all on Bali,
but on the Gili Islands off Lombok I have on 2 occasions
been the victim of food poisoning from toxins eaten by fish
I ate. I believe this was the cause.
You should not bring a sleeping bag to Bali. You don't need
it. You can rent a sleeping bag if you decide you want to
trek up Mt. Rinjani on Lombok. On other islands you might
need a sleeping bag, if, for instance, you want to do some
overnight treks in the TanaToraja region of Sulawesi, but
you could always rent a sleeping bag for that. It's not
worth bringing the extra weight with you from home. Beer on
Bali is about $ 1 for a large bottle at budget cafes, but
more at restaurants, hotels, and clubs. One bottle should
get you zonkered enough, and 2 bottles will make you easy
pickings for the numerous Indonesian giggolos who prey on
western women.
There is little if any personal violence against tourists on
Bali. There have been a few reported incidents of physical
violence associated with robberies in the interior rural
portions of Lombok south of Mt. Rinjani. The real risks are
theft from your room and purse and bag snatchings. Wear a
money belt at all times. Take your camera with you at all
times. Near leave it loose in the room. Lock it in a big
bag if you can as nobody ever steals a big bag that weighs
20 kg. Public transport is also a favorite place for
pickpockets working in teams. The Parama Shuttle around
Bali and Lombok is convenient and reasonable. Be careful of
money changers shortchanging you. The odds are that
somebody will try this. Change all of your money in Kuta
Beach where there are the best rates. Never change money in
a clothing shop because they will shortchange you. Their
calculators are also rigged, so use your own calculator to
calculate the amount of money you should receive. Don't be
taken-in by the charm of the numerous Indonesian giggolos
who will come-on to you. They are up to no good and will
steal from you whenever the opportunity presents itself.
They also deal in scams to fleece you of your money. Best
buys are clothing items, but be aware that quality varies
from garbage to high-end fashion. Never pay more than 40
per cent of the first price. Always ask for "morning price"
before any price is even mentioned by the shopkeeper.
Always walk away and into the street when the bargaining
comes to a stalemate because then the shopkeeper will
quickly drop the price for you and you will instantly save
money.
Em,
In answer to your questions:
1. How safe will we be travelling around on our own?
You will be really safe. Just use your brains and don't
trust the local boys. They'll charm the pants off you
(literally) if you give them half the chance. As mentioned
above, Perama is a good travel company to use when going
any sort of distance (Kuta - Ubud etc).
2. we plan to stay in Bali and Lombok for a while but are
there any other islands aomeone can recommend with
beautiful beaches we can laze around on?
Try Gili Trewangan. You sound like you want a bit of fun,
and that's the place to get it. The beaches are really
nice, and you can just veg out all day.
3 is anywhere off limits?
I wouldn't say anywhere is actually off limits, but I would
recommend you use common sense wherever you go.
4. is beer cheap?
Beer's really cheap, and the best place in Bali for the
best cold beer is Pub Bagus on Poppies Lane 2. Best place
in Lombok for cold beer is Lina Cottages (say hi from me).
5. will i need a sleeping bag?
Forget the sleeping bag. Again, as mentioned above, you
will only need this if you plan on trekking Rinjani. (If
you do this, don't leave any of your belongings for 'safe
keeping' at a womans house called Oki. She'll take every
last cent you may leave in your bag)
6. will i be poisoned from the food?
Food's great over there. Go to the chemist before you go
and get some imodium and also some rehydration stuff in
case you need it. But you can also use the chemists
(apotik) over there. They can give you the best advice and
drugs to help you if you do get sick. I would strongly
advise you to take out a good travel insurance. "If you
can't afford the travel insurance, you can't afford to
travel".
7. how cheap is it at the moment?
It's pretty cheap by our standards. Just remember if you
are arguing over 1000RP, it is only 20 cents, so just keep
on smiling and don't get too stressed over such a small
amount of money.
8. what are the best things to buy?
Depends on what you want. Clothes are cheap (and some are
really nasty, too). You basically get what you pay for.
You can get some lovely ikat blankets in Lombok which look
great on a sofa. Silver is really cheap there, but you
should go to the more expensive looking shops and tell them
that you want some 'samples' to take back home for your
shop. They will always drop the price then, but you will
have to be buying a fair bit of stuff for them to do that.
Overall, if you go there ready to experience different
things, it will happen. As previously mentioned (and I
know I sound like an old mother hen here) don't trust too
many locals. They all sound sweet and lovely, but they
WILL take your money and anything else they can get their
hands on. Yes, I am generalising here, but you can never
be too careful.
If you'd like to email me direct, you can do so on:
murphy.donna.d@bhp.com.au
Have a grouse time.
Donna.
6 weeks ! How jealous am i ? Aside from the obvious tips that you've got and the good advice above, here are a couple of random ones that never go astray.
1) Restaurants - Do not miss La Lucciola in Seminyak (15 mins nth of Kuta) . A little bit more pricey than the rest but on of Bali's best.
2) A really picturesque and fun beach to hang on in Bali is the little beach outside the cave at Uluwatu. If it's smallish surf you can always give surfing a bash too! Guaranteed to be plenty of surfing guys from all around the globe who'd be keen to help
3) Clubs - About the only thing to be a bit careful about is the smooth talkin' Balos spiking your drinks. i actually had a gay guy spike mine and thank bloody hell i realised after one sip. This is far from as prevalant as some people talk it up to be though so don't really srtess about it.
4) If you're not all bali'd out by 13th of July , i'm coming up with a friend for three weeks. If you wanna catch up for a Bintang ( the local beer ) send me an email.
Either way, have a filth time.
1. Very safe you will be, if you don't try robbing banks
without a helmet.
2. If you have a spare two weeks, try to make it to Tim-
tim, it's a long ferry ride past lombok but many Indonesians
have settled there in the last twenty years because of it's
location and beauty. Also the hotels and fresh seafood are
wonderful.
3. I'd keep away from kuta, it's not really as developed as
other parts of Bali and the local people can be really
primitive.
4. I think you will find beer can be 10,000 in some places,
still cheap though. try to make sure one of you is sober so
that she can spot the cute guys.
5. If your really worried about this, remember to say
'tolong tanpa rancun' when you order your food, they will
know you want fresh and cleaned ingredient with bottled
water.
6. It may wake up at any time.
7. see donna no. 7
8. see Donna, Mike could be a buaya darat.