3d2n is very short le..if i were u i wont want to spend time on travelling from place to place..

i would rather just stay and chill in places like seminyak, kuta..

yeah agree, i go 5 days also belum habis explore all places

I'm going for 3 nights. Only have 2.5 days to explore some of it haha

Hi everyone,

I found Ketut Galung contact through LYN as well so thanks to the original poster who had provided his contact. Had to weed out a few greedy and nonsensical drivers before confirming Galung's service two days before our trip!

As tynloo posted, see spoiler, we paid the amount as listed. Since we were in Ubud, our half day excursion was charged as a whole day because our driver had to travel to our place.

The recent trip was my third so everything was planned prior. I like the fact that Galung was honest when he revised the itinerary to suit the best driving route and rearrange the places on different days. He didn't add anything at all which is good! He speaks English so communication was a breeze via WhatsApp.

The driver we had, Gede, was fabulous - his Facebook profile: https://www.facebook.com/adi.darma.904108. At 19 he really kept us entertained throughout the trip and was very patient. Mind you it was a van full of four girls! At one point, I was short of credit and needed to top up and he made up the balance no questions asked. Such a gem this one! He refused to sit and eat with us, which is the norm from my observation, so each of us tipped him generously on the last day.

He's interested to learn English so talking in English with a bit of Malay helps. We played Taboo in the van and he really enjoyed it

Gede was also nice enough to go out of his way to find us some durian and manggis (Balinese mangosteen is soooo small but juicy!) and obliged our request for some home made chili paste (green and sambal bawang)! Galung's wife made it for us and we bought a bunch so do inquire with him if you feel that's something to your liking. It's super spicy but extremely worth it!




**IMPORTANT NOTE**
Telkomsel sim card at the airport will cost you IDR 350k. Convenience stores around Kuta is around IDR 100-200k. Gede made a pit stop somewhere and we only paid IDR 60k (6GB of mobile net and comes with the usual telco t&c). Their signal is great! Even up on Mount Batur

If anyone would like to get one on their hands and don't mind forking out postage fees feel free to PM.
And if you can, please do me a favour and pay it forward when you're back from your trip so other people can use it too.
More info below:

your first time? then ok la..don move around..just travel around the city can d..and i think 2.5 days is good to explore around.

Wow !!! Your trip sounds very awesome!!! Glad to hear that you enjoyed your trip!!!

Just had an amazing trip to Bali for 4d3n

Thanks to the info here, we did our itinerary as below :

Day 1
- Reached Bali around 7pm ; Klook to Hotel
- Dinner in WAHAHA Jimbaran @ Samasta Lifestyle Mall ; I still like the pork ribs from Naughty Nuri
For Day 1, basically we didn't book a driver but had pickup by Klook driver and Grab from Hotel to/from Mall.

Day 2
- Tegenungan Waterfall - 15k/person entrance fee
- Goa Gajah - 20k/person entrance fee
- Tirta Empul (Holy Spring) - 15k/person entrance fee
- Kintamani Buffet Restaurant @ Kintamani - 32k/person entrance fee & 110k/per person lunch buffet
- Satria Agro (Coffee Luwak) - 50k per cup of luwak coffee ; they will serve you with 12 cups of tea/coffee to test
- Tegalalang Rice Terrace ; didn't walk but sat in a cafe overlooking the view of the rice terrace
- Ubud Palace & Saraswati Temple - free entrance
- Dinner @ Naughty Nuri(Pork Ribs)
- Legs massage @ 75k/per person for 1 hour

Day 3
- Monkey Forest - 50k/person entrance fee
- Sukawati Art Market
- Cening Bagus Gift - this is the cheaper place to buy your Bali gifts
- Nusa Dua beach - free entrance - nice view of the Bali high waves
- Lunch @ Nasi Ayam Ibu Oki Jl. Cela - cheap and nice which is 30k 1 plate & 1 drink
- Garuda Wisnu Kencana Cultural Park - entrance fee is 125k/person with a free drink; to see some dance; my personal opinion is that not worth the price and you can skip this
- Blue Point Beach - free entrance
- Uluwatu - 30k/person entrance
- Candlelight dinner overlooking the beach in Lia Café @ Jimbaran Beach - 360k nett for a set dinner for two which include prawns, fish, clam, sotong, vegetables, soup, fruits and 2 carbonated drinks

Day 4
- Shopping @ Mal Bali Galeria
- Lunch @ Bebek Garing
- Grab to Airport

Notes:-
1. From this forum and high recommendation, we had chosen Pak Arief (+62 817 537 826) as our full time driver for Day 2 and Day 3.
2. We choose him because
- Got wifi in his car, therefore we do not need to buy simcard for internet
- He do not charge you overtime for 1-2 hours extra; heck for 'Day 3' we had him for 12 hours
- Prompt driver and his charges includes toll, parking and mineral water
- Can pay him in RM
3. Some places are safe for Grabcar and some places are not (such as uluwatu, ubud etc). My tips are to sit in front of the seat, pay them in advance as soon as you got into their car

That's all from me cheers

This post has been edited by kelvin_ck1: May 30 2018, 03:53 PM

Hi - in relation to Grab, when u say some places arent safe.. u mean that the taxi drivers ambush? how do u pay in advance cos the final amt will only be determined at destination right?

going bali end of the month and plan to use grab in ubud.

thanks.

what he mention unsafe i assume its because its very hard to ensure you can get grab or uber drivers in those area. which might eventually leave you stranded haha..

because you can be lucky to be able to get drivers to those places, but doesn't guarantee you might get a ride back.

grab is very useful if you just travel within the city. if u planning to go places that are like 1 hour away, better hire a local driver.

Unsafe means legal/illegal taxi drivers might turn hostile when you board/leave the Grabcar.
The beauty of Grabcar is that they fixed the amount before you book the car.
So the final amount is the same as when you book the car.
And there is only 1 toll road in Bali which they rarely use.
So I usually pay the Grabcar during the journey and not when leaving the car as to be seen there is no exchange of money.
Anyway, using credit card would not have such issues.


Hope that helps.

This post has been edited by kelvin_ck1: Jun 5 2018, 01:28 PM

Last time still got UBER, I used to travel to Tanah Lot & Uluwatu, and ask the Driver to wait me there for an hour and bring me back to where he pick me up. Since UBER charge by calculate travel distance & Idle time.

Kuta Beach to Uluwatu + Wait for an hour + Uluwatu to Kuta Beach = Rp 185,000
Kuta Beach to Tanah Lot + Wait for an hour + Tanah Lot to Kuta Beach = Rp155,000

Now GRAB confirm unable to catch any ride from those sightseeing spot.

I used Ketut Galung’s service just recently. Communication was poor. We had several different drivers during our time in Bali. Had to repeat our itinerary each time we hd a new driver. The cars we had were old. One of them had a broken AC but driver didn’t seem to care.

Were promised bottled water on every trip but had none at all. One driver stopped by a souvenir mall that we were not interested in. Another driver tried to take us to a different mall.

Only positive feedback was drivers were on time.

Overall we would not recommend this driver service.

Yeah...I used him recently as well....quoted me higher as well at 400k but I just accepted since he seemed highly recommended..

Starting of the conversation.....he was alright....approved and disapproved of my itin where needed. Then after few days when I checked again to ensure we r able to follow as plan....esp lunch or dinner plan....he just say this change another day. One word reply thereafter and I have to play the guessing game....up to the day of the itin....I feel like he Tak kisah....esp when he said let me know your itin, maybe I can give suggestions(despites us already having discussions be4 tat and my tour with him is just next day?!)..but after saying that, totally ignored me, answer only when spoken to @@ and worse is when the guide came he totally had NO IDEA of my itin?!!!! I was like really wtf? I gave ketut my itin like 3-4 times reminding him again n again......I was disappointed laa honestly

The guide that came was ok....very friendly and we comm in Malay perfectly. One thing I didn't like was....makan time. 1st day I want to eat naughty Nuri in ubud, but he says not otw (though I know it can be otw because it is otw but ok la he say the next day itin) so he brought us to some place up the hill with nice terrace rice view and really good cool weather....food was expensive for the portion and quality, but ok since we got really nice view (toilet ughhhhh though) and I know tourist trap la but I ok la since nice view I ok and food quite ok

So 2nd day came, I again say wanna eat naughty Nuri but he says cannot, not otw we eat at 'so so place instead' but I decline because I read reviews it's very expensive and not nice tho again it has nice view....but I will pass this time because I hate paying for bad food & I rather be trapped somewhere with better food mayb? And! I do know that we r definitely goin to pass ubud this time tho...but he insisted on another place......yea so we went to a restaurant in the middle of a paddy field and again high price for the portion and quality......but again I ok, coz food quite nice this time and it's really quite an experience to dine in..I sat there two hours Starring at the scene.....lazy Wana go according to my itin d.....anyway to cut the story short, we passed ubud otw to my next destination right after my lunch...he coould have brought me to naughty Nuri this time rite...y keep sayin not otw? But ok I forgave...coz eating in the middle of a paddy field is quite a thing to do

Even buying groceries he seemed to have comm from it.....he could have stopped at a grocery shop which have parking right at the door(claiming can't park there??)....dunno y he turned to another one further away and without parking and I needed to walk backwards to...and can't find the item i wanted, ended up I have to walk even further to the one earlier tat he should have stopped by.
When I came back...he asked me..eh y did u go to the other one? And he was on the hp with someone ' I suspect is the shop owner of the groceries shop he stopped for me earlier' and said 'nevErmind already' to the person on the hp. :/

Anyway decided to just stay with two days touring and cancel the following tours....malas wanna keep kena trap....nice views sure.....but I wan to be able to eat wat I wanna eat too lehhh.....ugh!

Despite not getting what I wanna eat, and using him for like 7hours (2hrs++ makan lunch) only on my 2day, I did give him quite huge tips la.....he is still alright as a person, Cari makan only rite......sigh....I know it's hard...so I just sharing here for u guys to be aware of beforehand...

This post has been edited by mIssfROGY: Jun 18 2018, 05:37 PM

Just back from Bali as well, used Ketut Galung as well, as he's the cheapest among all the drivers I've contacted.

But I won't recommend him, here's why:

- He owns a fleet of about 10 drivers, he hardly drives anymore these days. He'll help to arrange and adjust your itinerary, but it's up you to keep track of the itinerary with your assigned driver.

- Each of his drivers are earning miserable monthly salary (only Rp750,000, less than RM300!) according to the young driver that was assigned to me, they doesn't received any commission nor bonus, but only accommodation are provided for, which I felt he's exploiting them kau-kau. Out of 12 days I'm in Bali, although I didn't use my driver for full 12 days, but as per him, he's been chauffeuring clients daily since few weeks ago, with no break in between, he still have to work on their big day recently, on both Hari Galungan & Hari Kuningan.

- He lied frequently, one time I cancelled my next day half day itinerary because my kids aren't feeling well, he requested me to top up the fees for the scheduled trip for the day after, because his driver still need to standby in the town I'm in for me, and need to pay for his accommodation & meals, I agreed since it's fair. But I found out later from the driver it's not the case, he was summoned back to Kuta on that day for another itinerary by others, but had to drive overnight to north Bali where we are for the next itinerary, he didn't get enough rest from the long drive, and I can see he's dead tired throughout the day we had him.
He also promised to be our driver throughout the trip, but again, wasn't him.

- Some shared that the fleet he owns wasn't maintain properly, the car Suzuki APV assigned to me had some issue with the brakes, it has loud knocking sound everytime the brake was applied

Also, MUST try their local cheap fast food, JFC which is a cheap knockoff version of KFC

It's easy to recognize, it's logo is a Datuk LCW lookalike

It's cheap, and tasted good for the price you're paying, try their bumbu (chili) version, goes very well with the fried chicken & the rice

we ordered via grabfood, Rp3k for delivery fees, Rp74k only for 3 pieces of fried Chick, 2 rice, 8 nuggets, 1 fries, 1 chick burger, & 2 ice tea, and it's delicious!

thanks for the feedback for Ketut Galung. I think it's extremely useful for those who's going next.

i also use his service with my trip during my march trip... he assigned a young driver to us. The rate quite cheap and within my budget, that's why i gave him a tip of almost one day rate at the end of my trip because after conversion I think that either the driver or his boss won't earn much as well.

The driver quite silent type thought only talk occasionally.

+ points: the car was comfortable (Avanza) and enough water bottles for us each day, the driver is punctual everyday

For eating at Jimbaran, I used to recommend Lia Cafe, which we have frequented many many times
but I wouldn't recommend them anymore this time round

Arrived by Grab just before sunset, didn't book any table, so the guy at the store front just ask us to pick any empty table on the beach, saw an empty table at the 2nd row, and sat down. Since there are 4 of us, and the table only has 2 chairs, saw another empty table with 4 chairs, but instead of taking the chairs myself, I asked a waiter at the next table attending to a group for permission, he wasn't talking to the guests, but just waiting for order while the guest are still flipping thru the menu, I politely asked him, "pak, bisa ambil kerusi dari meja sana?" Instead of entertain me, he just show me the hand, telling me rudely that he's still serving that table then ignore me

Fine, I went back to my table and waited, few mins later he came over, asking again if I have booking or not, I answered no, then his face immediately change and asked us to change table to the row further back, claiming that table is already booked. I argued with him that inside told me to grab any empty table, and this table doesn't have any reserved sign, then his face changed even more busuk, showing an even more annoyed face, raised his voice again telling that table is booked without showing us to the next available table.

Fine again, I doesn't want to confront him in front my kids & spoil my family trip with a good sunset view, I went inside, look for another waiter, which is 1000% more friendly, and show us a table, we ordered a set for 2, extra clams & squids. We realized the price has increased a lot more since our last visit few years back, it's no longer worth the price & the trip anymore.

The grilled fish (sea bass) on our set wasn't fresh, which is very mushy, complaint to the waiter, and they push the blame to the supplier claiming it's beyond their control
We used to love their grilled clams, but it wasn't the case this time round, the food quality this time round was substandard, higher priced, and with a very rude waiter that spoilt our overall experience.

I've heard about some local Balinese have different treatment against Indonesian, which discriminate them, and I've encountered that treatment directly at Lia Cafe, as most of the locals mistaken me for Indon when I speak to them in Bahasa (even I'm an Malaysian Chinese, but a bit tanned with some facial hair ) but the other local that thought I'm also a local tourist gave me better service, even local cheaper price, easier to haggle for price at local market as well, But this Lia Cafe waiter is the only one that left us with an unpleasant experience.

This will be the last time we visit them.

For airport transport, sim card/wifi, and some activities, I'll recommend to book from Klook

our Klook airport transfer shows up on time, and their fare are very reasonable as well.

Indo has change their sim card policy not so long ago, used to be able to buy any sim card cheaply almost anywhere, but that's not the case anymore, as all new sim card requires registration to activate.
The one at the airport at arrival is super expensive, wouldn't recommend them as well, you can ask your driver to help you get one, or hunt for a mobile phone shop, which the price is more reasonable and they can help to register as well, just make sure you have your passport with you.
Avoid those selling at roadside stalls, most are selling at cut throat price, as mostly are pre-registered, anything wrong with that card mean it's as good as wasted, as it wasn't registered under your name. I saw Klook also have some sim/wifi package for pick-up at KLIA/Bali airport

We book a Ayung River white water rafting via Klook as well, definitely cheaper than going to those road side "tourist information center", much cheaper than the package offered by our driver/Galung as well.

PS: I don't work for Klook, neither do I get any commission from them

Does renting a scooter requires an International Driving License? I browsed through the net got the information that doesn't need to international driving license, can apply for special permit to drive at Bali.