bersakih temple or tanah lot temple better?

don't go to besakih temple. full of scam. those people want to take your money away.
tanah lot much better to go

Hi,

Thanks for the contact! Still haven't finalised the driver yet. Been contacting couple of drivers, but they are now charging IDR 500k per day.. not sure if this is the market price now..

Planning to go one day trip to bedugul only.

I will be bringing my wife & daughter to Bali. Not sure if I need to prepare IDR 200k per headcount when passing by the immigration dept (IDR 600k x 2).

Thanks

I would recommend him to bring you around. My last trip there was in October and the price was IDR350,000. But due to the oil increase in Indonesia, they also increase the price to IDR450,000. I will be going again to Bali August 2015, and will still use his service to bring me around. Which hotel are you staying?

Staying at Kuta Central Park Hotel..

We just came back from Bali 8 days trip. Quite fun. A lot of people promote their drivers. Before i say something about ours.
Does your driver?
1) Help you on bargaining?
2) Under table entrance fees, pay 1, 4 ppl went in ?
3) Bali has like small toll where villager collect fees, does he able to skip all that for u?
4) Historical explanation like a pure tour guide of places.?
5) Help you get cheaper Simpati Sim card ? some ppl here asked me to get from airport lmao,that cost like double/triple.
6) Take care of your kids.
7) Help you carry stuff
8) Shoot great photo

Well, thank godness ours has all the above.

posting this from Denpasar airport, going back to KL after 5d4n trip Weather has been okay, hot in the morning and will rain for few hours in the afternoon.

afterall the 6 of us enjoyed our first trip to Bali. Definitely a different and unique place compares to other Indonesia cities. It is like a country on its own.

Dear travellers,

Me & wifey will be travelling to Bali on 21 - 25. As it is our first time, can anyone please comment on our itinerary below?

We will be renting a car throughout this period.

Also, does anyone know which telco prepaid sim should I get? Mainly for internet and waze. Some friends recommended Telkom Indonesia but unsure if that is the best choice.

Thanks in advance.


Canggu (21.12.14)
- Arrival at hotel
- Dinner at Warung Taulan
- Echo beach

Canggu (22.12.14)
- Pura Petitenget
- Pura Rambut Siwi
- Tanah Lot & Batu Bolong Temple
- Echo Beach or Rock Bar or Kuta Beach

Ubud (23.12.14)
- Ubud Art MArket
- Sacred Monkey Forest Sanctuary
- Blanco Renaissance Museum
- Ubud Water Palace

Ubud (24.12.14)
- Agung Rai Museum of Art
- Pura Taman Saraswati
- Peliatan Royal Palace
- Pura Tirta Empul
- Tegallalang
- Kecak dance uluwatu

Kuta (25.12.14)
- Kuta art market
- Shopping
- Balik

I just returned from Bali traveled early Dec.

Some updates which may be helpful

MPV rental - 450k idr /day for 2 days , RM500k idr (Bedegul,Mengwi,Tanah Lot,Legian, Kuta) . Other quotes obtained ranged from 500-700 idr per day

Most drivers advised against going to Bersakih. But having been there previously, I like the place too much to give it a miss. Following some advice by other travellers, we managed to get pass the touts at the temple Only paid the official entrance fee and nothing else.

We brought our own sarongs ( for ladies without long skirts and men not wearing long pants) and sash (men wearing long pants). They all seem to know we came prepared and we were left on our own to explore the temple complex - no guides, no umbrellas sellers/rentals, temple offerings,etc

Also, our driver parked at a car park which is like 2 minutes walk to the temple. If we face the temple entrance , the car park is to the left. During my previous visit, our driver parked at a car park, much bigger but at bottom of hill, and the walk is quite long. Hence there were ppl offering to take u on motorbike for exorbitant price.

Walked all the way to the top and discovered 2 temples which I din notice before.
One of the temples was being used by the locals for a ceremony and we were welcomed to go in and witness the going-ons without all the 'no entry for non-worshipers" (unless u pay some $$) rule at the more regular temples at the complex.

One more temple seems abandoned and deserted.I find it extremely beautiful with nice view of the valley below. Here are some photos

Bali Trip 2014 Summary

*continuously updated*

After my 2 week stint in Jakarta, my friends and I then headed to Bali at the end of January for a short getaway before heading back to Malaysia. Since we wanted to take this trip slow and steady as well as making it as relaxing as possible, we made it a 6D5N trip. Personally I feel it is not enough as we still spent a lot of time moving around and sight seeing and not actually enjoying the scenery at the places of our stay (eg. Ubud & Kuta).

January is actually one of the best and the worst time to visit Bali. Why? If you haven't know, January can be considered the rainy season in Bali, which also means that there were less tourists in Bali, equating to less congestion at tourist sites and traffic jams on the road. Fortunately for us, most of the time when we are out visiting it was not raining. Having said that, there are still lots of clouds and a lot of sunset moments were not so pretty. Oh well.

Considering that there are thousands of blog posts out there about Bali so my posts this time would be based chronologically of my itinerary if you are interested to follow my travel pattern. Enjoy!


Day 1 - Ubud, Tegal Sari Villa, Bebek Bengil (Dirty Duck Diner), Laughing Buddha Bar)
Day 2 (Part 1) - Goa Gajah Temple, Tirtha Empul Temple, Kintamani (+ Tepi Danau Restaurant), Sebatu Agrotourism (Luwak Coffee)
Day 2 (Part 2) - Tegalalang Rice Terrace, Naughty Nuri's Warung, Anomali Coffee, Tegal Sari Villa
Day 3 - Zen Bali Spa, Pizza Bagus, Krisna Oleh-oleh, Tanah Lot Temple, Bamboo Corner Restaurant
Day 4 - Yulia's Kitchen, Taman Ayun Temple, Bali Strawberry, Ulun Danu Temple, Pacung Restaurant, Ultimo Italian Restaurant
Day 5 - Eden Hotel Kuta, Turtle Island (Nusa Dua), Padang-padang Beach, Uluwatu Temple, Fat Chow Restaurant, Hard Rock Cafe
Day 6 - Alleycats Restaurant, Beachwalk, Hard Rock Hotel, Ngurah Rai International Airport

This post has been edited by zstan: Dec 28 2014, 05:16 PM

Bali Trip 2014 - Ubud, Tegal Sari Villa, Bebek Bengil (Dirty Duck Diner), Laughing Buddha Bar)

*more pics at my blog *

Our flight to Bali at Jakarta International Airport was about noon after a slight delay from Air Asia. So this was a local flight we need not cross immigration. The airport itself is rather small and messy as there were no proper displays indicating which gate is for which flight. At the end we had to be transported to our plane via a shuttle lol.

Upon arrival at Bali, we were a bit lost as we had landed at the domestic airport section instead of the international side. The driver we engaged was supposed to meet us at the international arrivals. Hence we had to drag all our luggages over there while we wait for his arrival.

DSC00907 by zstan, on Flickr

The driver we engaged was with our accommodation in Ubud, which was none other than the famous Tegal Sari Villas which was located right in the middle of the paddy fields. Prior to this I have read many rave reviews about this place and I was not going to give it a miss. It was rather tricky to book this place as it was really popular. To secure the rooms for 2 nights I had to call directly to reception via Skype to ensure my booking was confirmed (the usual way was to make a reservation via an online form submission). Even then, I was given two different rooms for two different nights. The Wooden Deluxe Room was simply too popular.

Paddy Field @ Ubud, Bali by zstan, on Flickr

As I stepped foot at the place I could finally see why this place was so in demand. The scenery was indeed breathtaking. The service was amazing as well. All of our luggages were carried to our rooms while we waited to be checked in. The Ice Lemon Tea reception drink served was also one of the very best that I've tasted before. Apart from that, the price for the rooms was considerably cheap too.

Iced Lemon Tea, Bali Style by zstan, on Flickr


There were only a limited number of rooms available that's why it's booked up pretty fast. During my stay the people were busy renovating and building new rooms to accommodate more people. As mentioned, our room of the night was wooden theme based. It's a very unique design and feels like a tree house. The room itself was relatively small and there was no TV nor any WiFi reception. This is the place to be if you want yourself secluded from the outside world and just relax and stare at the paddy fields.

DSC00534 by zstan, on Flickr

After settling our stuffs, we then headed out to explore. Behind Tegal Sari was Bebek Bengil, also known as Dirty Duck Diner. This was one of the recommended eateries in Ubud. The whole restaurant was really beautifully designed.

Bebek Bengil by zstan, on Flickr

There were ample seats on offer but the best ones has got to be verandah styled seats facing directly against the paddy fields. Fortunately for us, we managed to grab this seat even though there was a 'Reserved' signage on top of the table as we were early for dinner.


DSC00547 by zstan, on Flickr


I ordered the mixed rice version whereas my friend ordered just the Crispy Duck set. Essentially the whole duck was not very meaty. I didn't really like it that much as I still prefer our Roasted Duck back in Malaysia. It's worth to try though, something different. The 'brem', or rice wine , however, was delicious.

Dirty Duck Diner, Ubud by zstan, on Flickr

After dinner we then explored the nearby areas as this area was essentially a huge rectangle with many shops and eateries lining across the roads. We walked up to Ubud castle (which we didn't bother to visit) and then turned back.

DSC00578 by zstan, on Flickr

We ended the night at the Laughing Buddha Bar for some cocktails as well as enjoying some live band music before calling it a day.

DSC00588 by zstan, on Flickr

just came back, weather was quite poor honestly.

somehow don't really fancy bali.

can u ride motorcycle go around without license in bali?

Was it raining most of the time? I also will be going to Bali in 2 weeks time. Hopefully the weather will be good

when i went, it was raining everyday, and it was exceptionally heavy on 29/12.

but the good thing is, the rain is heavy but short duration, rain for 10-30 minutes, stop then rain for 10-30 minutes, repeat...

Day 2 (Part 1): Goa Gajah Temple, Tirtha Empul Temple, Kintamani (+ Tepi Danau Restaurant), Sebatu Agrotourism (Luwak Coffee)

*more pics in blog*

Banana Pancake by zstan, on Flickr

Our day today started around 7.30am with breakfast delivered right to our doorstep. I ordered Tegal Sari's signature Banana Pancake set. Basically its just banana wrapped with pancake and coconut slices with honey as the dressing. Not bad.

DSC00652 by zstan, on Flickr

As for our driver I found someone on Google who was highly recommended by mostly ang mohs. The rate was at a staggering 500,000 rupiah per day which was not cheap at all. But I was a bit too lazy to find another driver and my friends agreed to the price so there was no issue there. The Toyota Innova was huge and comfy and is worth the price I guess. However the subsequent days he sent his brother instead using a Toyota Vios. He made up a lot of excuse on why he was unable to pick us which was really annoying. At around the 3rd day I requested for a discount instead and he agreed at 450,000 rupiah. Service wise the brother was quite good. No complaints there. So to be fair I won't promote or demote his services here.

DSC00634 by zstan, on Flickr

Our first stop of the day was Goa Gajah Temple which was located in Ubud. Verdict: Waste of time. Avoid if possible. This was also the place that we almost got conned to buy sarong to cover ourselves. Sarong's are rented to visitors for free at most, if not all places, after you have purchased the tickets.

Our next stop was at Tirtha Empul Temple, or also known as the Holy Garden. Here you could really see the religious rituals of the locals as they bath themselves in the holy waters and offer offerings to the gods. The temple is really holy in a way as it still maintains the pristine, crystal clear waters despite the throngs of visitors coming here. Really beautiful.

DSC00659 by zstan, on Flickr

DSC00666 by zstan, on Flickr

DSC00672 by zstan, on Flickr

From this temple we then headed to a higher altitude which is the famous Kintamani. This was essentially an inactive volcano and there's a beautiful lake formation next to it. The environment here was really cooling and relaxing.


DSC00711 by zstan, on Flickr

Our driver brought us to this restaurant called Tepi Danau which has seats facing directly at the scenery. All 3 of us had the buffet lunch set which cost less than RM35. Food wise it was okay but you are not here for the food anyway. Do come early though as the best seats were filled up pretty fast. The seats inside the restaurant was not too great with the view obscured.

DSC00719 by zstan, on Flickr

We spent close to 2 hours here just sitting and slowly eating the food while enjoying the great view.

View of Kintamani by zstan, on Flickr

hye, plz recommend me nice hotel with price range rm200-250 per night. at kuta maybe. thanks

We are going to Bali for 6D5N in May. Our group consist of 5 adults, so have to split into 2 rooms (hotel or villa also can).

Can I get some suggestions which location to stay? Ubud? Seminyak? Kuta? Tanah Lot?

How should I split my accommodations? 2 nights at the beach and 2 nights at the padi field? Appreciate some advise.

check agoda

err depending what kind of holiday are u going there for.. tanah lot is the most out of the way..should consider here if u just plan to stay in the room most of the time..otherwise its pretty pointless i think. ubud is the most relaxing place IMO.. away from the hustle and bustle at the paddy fields but still with things to do at night.. seminyak is next.. but still within distance of the beach and nightlife.. kuta is for partying and nearer to most malls and shops..

We are going there to explore Bali, so we will not be in the rooms. We are also trying to keep things to a budget. Preferably, we would all live in a villa together, rather than hotel rooms.

I will take up your suggestion on Ubud and Kuta. Are these place safe at night?