Planning, planning, planning....

Bali trip, mid of sept, 6d5n, kuta beach....

Hope everything going smooth....

Pls keep on providing any latest info....

Just thking, september is fasting mth, shd b not so crowded n more choice.... , any idea ??? or recommendation

Btw...Seldom See Muslim There.

Bali are 93% Hindu, 4% only Muslim. I guess it should be no problem at all.

I saw that in Bedegul area more Muslims Balinese? Could differentiate from their tudung.

whoever who wants a tour guide, please contact Mr. Agus..

Agus
+6281337359168

Hari Raya Blockout Period, All Hotels Fully Booked...

my clients want to go also no room

Hi Guys,
i just got back from bali with my girlfriend. awesome place to go if you want a romantic and relaxing trip.
i am here just to share some experience and advice for you guys.
here are some tips and advices for you :
1) make sure you get a good hotel as the highlights of my trips are the hotels there. its simply beautiful. and just for your info, you cant get any hotel like that in malaysia with that kind of price you pay.
be sure to check out vila lumbung ( cheap and good ) 10 minutes from kuta and legian. very beautiful. around rm200 per night maybe cheaper.
skip hard rock if possible as i find it really overpriced for an old hotel.
another one not to be missed and its just next to the beach is santika beach superb to the max. trust me no regrets on this one. best location. i got upgraded to a bungalow that day so nice. other days are private villa. dont stay in rooms like hotel unless very budget. if you have more money go nusa dua hotel, but i think the location not so good. no night life and you wont have anything to do after dinner. generally be sure to get kuta or legian area.

2) get a guide if possible if you want to travel to different parts of bali. but my advice is not to cramp too much activity into the itinerary if you days there are short. for example, i went there for 5 days 4 nights, i went to ubud, kintamani and tanah lot , nusa dua and kuta area. i only find kuta,legian and tanah lot worth going as for example the kintamani trip is wayyyyy to long, take around 3 hours from kuta. lets say back and forth you have wasted half day traveling in car. a guide will bring you around to silver factory, batik making , painting shop etc on the way, but seriously, nothing great, its really an rip off if you were to buy things from there. so my advice is if you were to buy souvenirs, buy in geneva which is just 5 minutes from villa lumbung.
try my guide, awesome and cool guy, very very cheap rate. he is brother of johny, the popular guide in lowyat. lol . johny is like the boss there and he just arrange other driver for you even if you call him earlier as he is busy. try my guide, WAYAN +6281338612213
he drives safely and speaks good english. very nice guy. he will bring you to anywhere you want to. and he stays in kuta, so, fast service.
he charges me Rp 300000 for full day 10 hours - 12 hours up to you. and rp 175000 for half day 6 hours.

3) skip kintamani and the besakih temple if you want. nothing great. too much time spent there. but if you want be sure to stay nearby like ubud.
santi mandala is a good choice. the other places are ok. nice view.

4) when leaving make sure you have rp175000. hahah.. i have to borrow from gf , finish my money. airport tax .

5) bring a good camera and takes lotsa pictures. tanah lot is like heaven. of ya. book hotels at least 1 month in advance to avoid disappointment. you wont believe how popular are nice hotels. try booking by asiarooms.com or pyotravel.com.my

6) a good place and fun place to drop by is water bom! its a place where the wave hits the stone. huge wave like tsunami. so awesome.. see people wet. a must go in my opinion.

7)go to bebek bengil at night for dinner. so nice the duck, missing it. only rm 20 like that. cannot remember. nice ambience.


have a good trip. remember only shop in ubud market and geneva. cheaper. anything ask my guide, he will advice you.
bali ultimate place to go for romantic and unforgetable trip. my gf and i definately bond a lot closer when we are there.

Have fun!

Kintamani is far & yes 2.5-3hr journey but the view up there is something u can't find in M'sia - Double Volcanoes in bigger Kintamani Volcano rim. (If not misty) must go there in the Morning!..U probably went there in Evening & thus can't see anything ..Well Bersakith I do agree..really far & slaugthering temple guide!!

maybe you are right. but to me travelling 3 hours there and back 3 hours just to see a mountain view like camerons just doesnt justify the time i spent going there. nothing else to do really.
i would rather spend my time relaxing on the beach in kuta.

Normally ppl dun goto Kintamani only...they probably stop at Tegalalang , Bedugul, Tmn Ayun & Goa Gajah or even Ubud b4 going back to Kuta..Thus the journey to/fro well spent (1 full day)...but Really..Must be early to Kintamani before the whole area covered by mist..and it's not Cameron Highland view! It's double volcanoes + lake view ..I think I hv posted twice the photos of Mt Batur in this thread....The view is surreal & stunning..nothing of that in M'sia or even CH...After seeing Mt Batur..CH is actually so-so only

AirPort Tax 150,000 Rupiah Only

Yep...it is only 150k Rp.

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Added on August 12, 2008, 12:46 pmHi guys,

Here's my tried and tested itinerary in Bali:

1st day
LCCT to DPS airport (the Airasia crew was nice to point out to the passengers that there was active volcanoes on the right of the plane)
Kuta (lunch)
Pat-Mase villas, Jimbaran (very cozy and private villa...relaxation to the max. The chef comes in the morning to cook our breakfast in our private kitchen. No noisy kids nor rowdy crowds at the whole resort.)
Jimbaran Bay (Recommended by taxi drivers to Blue Marine for sunset and drinks after finding out that the menu is uninteresting and expensive. Do try the spicy grilled corn by the seaside and remember to bargain)
Kuta for dinner (at Warung Made, so-so food at tourist’s price. Perhaps should have tried the food market in Kuta.)
Walk around Kuta shops and beach. (went back to villa about 11pm+.)

2nd Day
Benoa (watersports - parasailing at 70k per person)
Nusa Dua (our guide brought us to the beach near Grand Hyatt where there's an attraction called Blow Point, you can see the waves hitting the rocks and gush up about 1 storey high. We stayed there for quite a long time taking photos and enjoying the amazing view. We also sunbathed at 12pm at the Nusa Dua beach )
GWK (not yet completed. Project stalled due to insufficient funds. They still collect RM6 for that! There is a Barong and Rangkha there and seems like they got a free show at a certain time. Other than that nothing much to see there but weather was good for photography with the huge Garuda and Wisnu statues against the blue sky. This place is rather big!)
Blue Point (pass by only, there was a surfing competition on. Head to Uluwatu as we did not want to miss the sunset.)
Uluwatu (we were early and walked around. Didn't watch the kecak dance as I was more interested in taking the sunset photos. Beware of pesky monkeys, they'll grab anything at all including glasses and handphones. We were there from 4.45pm to 6.20pm.Sunset was at about 6-6.15)
Jimbaran (dinner at a small restaurant by the roadside on our way back to Pat-Mase, Chinese cooking very very cheap n tasty. 6 of us had a big fish-fresh n sweet, some prawns, squid and 2 other dishes for only RM50-with drinks!!! Tapow some sate kambing, a few Bintangs and some nuts to our villa and enjoy by the pool)

3rd day
Batubulan for Barong dance.
A batik factory. (too expensive to buy, but get to see how they weave and make batik)
Tegallalang rice fields
Kintamani (had local buffet lunch, so-so taste but worth the 50k. Great view of the volcano peaks.)
Coffee plantation (famous for their musang coffee, where the musang eats the coffee fruits and output the undigested coffee beans which in the end ground into coffee powder. Sell for RM50 for a small bottle. Expensive! Bought their soothing cinnamon tea instead.)
Tampak Siring, Tirta Pura Empul (also bought things from the art market. Not too cheap but should be able to get some bargains.)
Transfer to Suly Resort, Ubud (this resort is like an ancient city. Not too posh but a different kind of experience! Near a paddy field and about 3 blocks away from Bebek Bengil.)
Dinner at Bebek Bengil (didn’t try the smoked duck, just had the crispy duck cos guide keep saying no need pre-order, was thinking to come back another day to try the smoked duck but none of us were ducks fan so we gave it a skip. Environment was good though and it’s huge. The next night, we went to Ayam Tulang Lunak, next to Bebek Bengil. The food was much nicer and cost ½ the price. We were joking about the name cos we didn’t know wat lunak meant…and we said that they serve chicken bones there. To our surprise, we really can eat the chicken bones!!! It is cooked at high pressure till the bones are so crispy that is it edible.)

4th day
Besakith Temple (80k for guide, divided by 6 persons. Need to get sarong to enter, we end up buying the sarongs (for women) for 35k a piece as we wanted to bring back as souvenirs. Nice view and get to see the actual rituals. I think a guide is useful to explain the cultures and rituals at the temple else it’s meaningless for you to get to the temple without understanding which is what.)
Lunch at roadside babi guling stall in Ubud. (we wanted to try the taste of the common babi guling and the famous ones. We were charged 25k for a plate of not so tasty meals. We had some goreng stuffs like tofu, tempe and pisang. It was nice that we had it for 3 days straight! It was cheap…about RM1.80 for 12 pieces. End up with sorethroat from all the goreng stuffs.)
Ubud art market (quite a lot of stuffs here but one of the seller said she took from Sukawati also can’t get the price we bargained for. Sukawati is the wholesale place.)

5th day
Spa @ Zen Spa, Ubud (1 hr 45 min lulur treatment and bath 115k Rp. served tea & fruits at the end of bath)
Ibu Oka babi guling (really much better than the roadside stalls. Must be there by 12+. During our lunchtime, 2 new pigs were brought to the stall within that hour. Imagine the volume!)
Bedegul (cool weather, long journey to the top. Stopped at the keropok market. Got some nice handmade photo albums for 10k each, good souvenirs. Strawberries there were cheap n sweet at 20k per kg.)
Tanah Lot (amazing seaside…it is very wide and the view of the temple against the sunset is spectacular. While I was busy shooting, my friends ventured the pools of trapped water on land, they found many creatures there.
Dinner at Nuraini Restaurant, Ubud. (Row opposite Bebek Bengil. price and taste is reasonable but food was served very very slowly. Even the slowest restaurant in Malaysia can’t beat it. Definitely can't go when you are super hungry. Has a view of the paddy fields.)

6th day
Depart from Ubud to Kuta
Sukawati Art Market (drive good bargains all around)
Look see & lunch at Discovery Shopping Mall. (behind the mall leads to a beach where some surfers are. We had KFC there. Many varieties like spaghetti and rice. My bento was OK but the spaghetti wasn’t nice. Fried chicken was so-so and saltier than Malaysia’s one. They also have Coffee Bean, Dunkin donuts and a Krispy Kreme outlet! -Wish Msia would have one too.)
Kuta shopping and beach area. (with around 170k left to spend, hubby and I went for body massage again. Tried Sole Massage, it was pretty good at 75k for 1 hr for whole body massage. The place was clean and service was good. I saw there are cheaper ones like 60k per hr as well.)
Shopped around Kuta and got great deals on some handbags and DVDs as well as games.
Left for airport at 5pm. (shopped at the DFS, more choices but more expensive than the other smaller liquor shop. LCCT was cheaper I think but with lesser choices as well. At DPS duty free you can get some exclusive Bali liquor. To my surprise LCCT duty free shop still opens at 11pm+. It is probably open 24 hrs?)



Overall, we were satisfied with the trip as it wasn’t too rushed and managed to cover most of the attractions. Bargaining was fun. To get carvings, it’s best to go to Sukawati. Try looking for I Made or something like that, the father and son are willing to give good discounts. For stone carvings, go to Batubulan. My friend didn’t get the stone carving that he wanted there and thought could get it at Sukawati but found out there wasn’t any on sale there. Managed to drive a reasonable bargain for it at Kuta last minute shopping though.

Like jaaway, I booked Jhony as our driver but he assigned us his bro Wayan. Jhony drove us on two days cos Wayan was on leave. I don’t think he really meant brother cos Wayan actually told us to not tell the boss that he drove us more than 10 hrs on the 1st day. And Jhony was complaining that “these village boys” will simply take leave whenever they like. Either they r not related or they don't really see eye to eye. Anyway, both of them spoke pretty good English. We tip the driver on all days. He told us that he earns only 50k per day, the rest were given to the boss and 100k for petrol per day. We tipped cos we were satisfied with their service. One drawback is that they fail to understand our statement of “cheap food”. They will drive to some places where tourists usually eat. Of course you can always survey the place yourselves and decide where to eat. They are obliging in driving you to your choice of eateries if you find the place they suggest is not suitable. They drove Mitsubishi Colt vans comfortable for 6 adults, if you have a lot of luggage then would be slightly more packed. I personally would prefer Wayan as he’s more humble and helpful. Just tell them the list of places you want to visit and they will plan the timing and itinerary for you.

This is really long-winded so if you want to skip the details, just look at the bold wordings.
Enjoy your trip to Bali!


This post has been edited by kshereen: Aug 12 2008, 12:46 PM

fasting mth meaning less indon local tourist

is he good? wats the price, with transportation? hes a agent or freelance?

Bro, try my guide, wayan 081338612213
you wont regret. 300000 rp full day 10-12 hours and 175000 for 6 hours half day
you can sms him. he will surely reply.
just tell him where you want to go, he will bring you. speaks english and friendly.

Hi guys!! i'm planning a trip to bali .
does Bali has raining season like msia? When is the "Big No" time?
May i know how much is the airfare for go-return air fare per pax (inclusive air port tax), please?
Thank you in advance

I Think All The Eldest Son, Also Called 'Wayan'

Coz The Hisbiscus Cottage Person In Charge, Also Called 'Wayan'

Haha I thought so...but the guy told us that he's No 2 in the family...hehe...

BTW, almost booked Hibiscus Cottage but didn't get much reply from them so booked other hotels instead...mayb can try next time as seems like it is quite OK budget accommodation.

The airfare do not really have a fix price. I bought it half year ago, it was rm370 return after tax. Now the price for the flight for next month costs rm910 return after tax. So if you want to get a good price, it is better to plan it earlier. Unless, money is not an issue for u

Thanks rethselei!!
i went to Mitm travek fair last week to survey the fair...find it vary according to the flight company.. for malaysia airlines it cost RM700 for the tax only

so will aim for the air asia promo . hahahaha..

Hi there guys and gals,

Next month I'll be visiting Malaysia and Bali (and Gili).

Do anyone of you know where I can book a fishing trip? Me and some friends from Holland want to go sea fishing around Bali or Gili. Any suggestions are welcome?

Ty