[mpksuhas]

Originally Posted by amahale

Bali province's Tourist Levy
As per new rules, tourists need to pay a Levy of IDR 150,000 / person. This can be paid upfront via their website. I paid this upfront for all 6 of us via their website.

Hi Amahale,

Thanks for the detailed travelogue. This levy you mentioned is the new 2024 tourist fees which came up I guess? If so can you please share the website that you used to pay? Web search throws lot many sites.

Also, the payment, can we do that as single payment of IDR 150,000 * number of travelers?

[amahale]

Originally Posted by mpksuhas

Hi Amahale,

Thanks for the detailed travelogue. This levy you mentioned is the new 2024 tourist fees which came up I guess? If so can you please share the website that you used to pay? Web search throws lot many sites.

Also, the payment, can we do that as single payment of IDR 150,000 * number of travelers?

Yes, it is the new tourist fee that was started in Feb 2024. This is the website: https://lovebali.baliprov.go.id/

I did not find an option to do the payment in bulk. You have to enter the details of all the travellers separately and pay. This will be linked to the passport.

[animeshc]

Thanks for the detailed information. On the internet, it seems to be mentioned that no visa is needed for Indians staying less than 30 days in Bali, is that not the case?

[amahale]

Originally Posted by animeshc

Thanks for the detailed information. On the internet, it seems to be mentioned that no visa is needed for Indians staying less than 30 days in Bali, is that not the case?

I see on some websites where they have mentioned this, but I don't think this is true right now. You will need either an e-visa or get a visa on arrival.

[mukeshgoel]

Originally Posted by amahale

For this year's Summer holidays trip, I planned on visiting Bali with family.

Hi @amahale and everyone else.

Thank you for your valuable posts which are very useful in planning a trip to Bali.

Please suggest me an itinerary for Bali. We are going for just 5-6 days. I have booked flights and hotel (in Kuta).

One day tour (Day-2) comes complementary from my travel agent (Kintamani Volcano Tour with Ubud Village) but I can skip that and make my own arrangements like Day 4,5,6) if that day is being wasted or not effectively utized since we have less number of days. We only would like to do water fall & Bali swing from that tour. Is Kintamani Volcano worth it considering less number of days we have?

For rest of the days, I will check if Putu is available, else some other cab+driver.

Day-1

• Arrival at 11:00 AM
• Hotel check-in (Kuta).
• Yet to plan the evening.

Day-2 (Already included but can skip it as already mentioned).

Full Day Kintamani Volcano Tour with Ubud Village (copy+paste from my travel agent)
Includes :Mount Batur Viewing Only, Tegenungan Water Fall, Bali Swing - Alas Harum Agro Wisata

A visit to Kintamani Volcano is a rare opportunity to experience one of Bali’s last remaining active volcanos up close. This is one of the most popular and best day trip in Bali. The tour begins with the sights of a vibrant art village. Here you can meet with the people who keep the techniques of the regions handicrafts alive with a stop at Tohpati village, widely known as the centre of handmade Balinese Batik weaving. Next stop is Celuk village famous for producing high-grade gold and silver handicrafts. Continue trip to Mas Village, one of the many artists villages surrounding Ubud, is the best place on the island to find high-quality Balinese woodcarvings, considered some of the best woodcarvings in the world. The tour continues to the Mount & Lake Batur in Kintamani village for some stunning views of the beautiful locales in this region. This tour only cover viewing Mount Batur Volcano from View point only . Your tour ends in one of the most famous coffee plantations in the area. Here you can look & taste many kinds of coffees from Indonesia.

Day-3

• Day Trip to Nusa Penida

Day-4
Yet to plan

Day-5
Yet to plan

Day-6

• Yet to plan
• Departure at 21:45

Things we want to include:

• Water fall (included in Day-2)
• Bali swing (included in Day-2)
• Day Trip to Nusa Penida (Day-3)
• Tanah Lot Temple
• Garuda Wisnu Kencana Cultural Park
• Ulun Danu Beratan Temple
• Handara Gate
• Bali Reptile Park
• Dolphin interaction
• kecak dance

If time allows:

• Ubud Palace & Ubud Market
• A nice clean beach (if it's better than Kuta beach and Crystal Bay Beach, Nusa Penida)
• Pura Penataran Agung Lempuyang
• Rice Terrace (Are most Bali swings in rice tarrace?)
  
  
  Please guide how to utilize limited number of days we have.

[kit_dennis]

Originally Posted by mukeshgoel

Things we want to include:

• Water fall (included in Day-2)
• Bali swing (included in Day-2)
• Day Trip to Nusa Penida (Day-3)
• Tanah Lot Temple
• Garuda Wisnu Kencana Cultural Park
• Ulun Danu Beratan Temple
• Handara Gate
• Bali Reptile Park
• Dolphin interaction
• kecak dance

If time allows:

• Ubud Palace & Ubud Market
• A nice clean beach (if it's better than Kuta beach and Crystal Bay Beach, Nusa Penida)
• Pura Penataran Agung Lempuyang
• Rice Terrace (Are most Bali swings in rice tarrace?)

With my limited knowledge, here are some pointers.

• Dermaga Kedisan, Kintamani and Paluang CliffUlun Danu Beratan Temple, we had visited in a single day. Both very good places for scenery and photos.
• Very close by to Tegenungan Water Fall, there is a long glass bridge and a swing at the end. Although expensive(around 1.3k per person) it was a unique experience.
• At Nusa Penida, close to Kelingkling voiew point, there is Paluang Cliff, with many swings and photo points. Worth it. Also Putu has a contact in Nusa Penida for the local transport.
• Crystal Bay beach is full of broken sea shell, not pure white sand, nevertheless a nice beach.

Since you have lot of time on the arrival date and departure date, you should be able to cover all your listed places. Check with Putu, maybe he can also suggest an itinerary.

[amahale]

Originally Posted by mukeshgoel

Hi @amahale and everyone else.

Day-6

• Yet to plan
• Departure at 21:45

Things we want to include:

• Water fall (included in Day-2)
• Bali swing (included in Day-2)
• Day Trip to Nusa Penida (Day-3)
• Tanah Lot Temple
• Garuda Wisnu Kencana Cultural Park
• Ulun Danu Beratan Temple
• Handara Gate
• Bali Reptile Park
• Dolphin interaction
• kecak dance

If time allows:

• Ubud Palace & Ubud Market
• A nice clean beach (if it's better than Kuta beach and Crystal Bay Beach, Nusa Penida)
• Pura Penataran Agung Lempuyang
• Rice Terrace (Are most Bali swings in rice tarrace?)
  
  
  Please guide how to utilize limited number of days we have.

AS Dennis suggested, work out an itinerary with Putu. From your list, I would suggest not to miss -
kecak dance at Uluwatu Temple
Garuda Wisnu Kencana Cultural Park (do the full tour)
Ulun Danu Beratan Temple
Tanah Lot Temple.

And I would avoid Pura Penataran Agung Lempuyang as it will take you ~3 hrs on road if you are staying in Kuta and you have to spend at least an hour in the queue to get your photo taken. Instead you can do Handara gate which is close to Ulun Danu Beratan Temple which has a similar gate where you can get your photo taken

[mukeshgoel]

Originally Posted by kit_dennis

With my limited knowledge, here are some pointers.

Originally Posted by amahale

AS Dennis suggested, work out an itinerary with Putu.

Thank you guys for your valuable inputs.

I am in touch with Putu. He is working on my itinerary to accommodate as many places as he can from my list without making it too hectic.

Will update soon.

[prajosh]

Originally Posted by amahale

Ayodya Bali Resort via Club Mahindra: Rs. 7700 / 2 nights (including extra bed)

This must be in addition to consumption of your days. Is it still a good deal after considering that?

[amahale]

Originally Posted by prajosh

This must be in addition to consumption of your days. Is it still a good deal after considering that?

Yes, it is in addition to the days consumed.
I think it cost me 0.4 or 0.5 days per day for that season and Rs. 3850/night International Exchange Fee. Also the buffet breakfast is not included though there is 10% discount at the Indian restaurant in the resort for Club Mahindra members.

It is on a more expensive side but the resort is really good with access to private beach, huge swimming pool + small water park for kids.

[maverickgenius]

Hello,

I just returned from an 8D/7N trip from Bali and wanted to thank @kit_dennis and @amahale for their recommendation of driver/guide Putu.

I booked Putu for my trip after reading the positive experiences shared by both of you and I must say my experience was equally great.

Putu is an amazing person who treats us like his family. I travelled with my wife and two kids and he quickly established a rapport with all of us. He has a well-maintained car and drives safely. My younger daughter has motion sickness and he planned for routes that avoided twisty roads. We are vegetarians and he provided us tasty Indonesian veg food from his wife's warung on two days. I would not be exaggerating when I say that Putu was a key reason for my Bali trip to go so well!

Also, he mentioned that he has been getting many enquiries after Dennis' post on Team-BHP (he mentioned @mukeshgoel has booked his services the last week of June). I'm glad that our forum is helping the livelihood of an honest, hardworking person.

To anyone else planning a Bali trip and reading this post, Putu is strongly recommended.

P.S. I have no commercial interest in recommending Putu. I greatly benefitted from his services and hence sharing my experience.

[vijay_k]

Originally Posted by amahale

Two reasons:

1. If you plant to spend Rs. 60,000 then the equivalent IDR amount is roughly 1,00,00,000 (1 crore or 10 million). Even if you take all these in the largest IDR denomination which is 100,000, then you will have to carry 100 such currency notes which is not convenient.
The same amount in USD is about $700 which you can carry in less than 10 bank notes. And you will find Currency exchanges all over Bali where you can exchange 50 to 100 USD at a time whenever required.

2. INR to IDR exchange rates are not good. You would be spending Rs. 60,600 to buy $700 which would get you 10.71 million IDR in Bali.
To get the same 10.71 million IDR from direct INR conversion, then you will have to pay Rs.64,000 - this is from my very rough calculation.

Is it better to carry a debit card like Niyo with sufficient balance and withdraw IDR's in ATM's at Bali when ever required?
These cards claim to charge Zero forex markup up fees and Free ATM withdrawals Abroad. I also read that there are lot of ATM's in Bali so finding an ATM should not be a problem I guess.

Please suggest as I will be travelling in Aug.

Vijay

[mukeshgoel]

Originally Posted by vijay_k

Is it better to carry a debit card like Niyo with sufficient balance and withdraw IDR's in ATM's at Bali when ever required?
These cards claim to charge Zero forex markup up fees and Free ATM withdrawals Abroad. I also read that there are lot of ATM's in Bali so finding an ATM should not be a problem I guess.

Please suggest as I will be travelling in Aug.

Vijay

All my spending/cash was through credit/debit cards. To be on safer side, I carried US$300 (which I already had) but I didn't need to spend any of it.

At the airport, I paid visa fee by my credit card. After immigration and luggage collection, I got 2.5m IDR from ATM at the airport itself.

I had 3 zero forex markup fee cards to use (with few backups cards with 2.0-3.5% markup fee).

1. Fi Money (Federal) debit card. They charge Rs.100 per ATM transaction. They also add 3.5%+GST as forex markup but they refund it later.

2. RBL World Safari credit card. It is zero forex markup card. It gave me conversion rate of IDR196.60 for INR 1.00 (was charged Rs.8036.59 for IDR 1,580,000). I got it since it was LTF for me. Not sure it is worth annual fee or not.

3. OneCard credit card LTF. They charge 1% + GST forex markup fee but they have an offer that 1% fee will be refunded (only 0.18% GST remains).

* For using ATM, I used only ATMs within bank branch premised for safety reasons except airport.
* Some Indonesian bank charge ATM fee also even if your Indian bank doesn't. Please google which bank don't charge ATM fee. BCA, BNI, Mandiri are such banks. I used BNI ATM at Airport and Mandiri ATMs in Bali.
* Most Bali ATMs allows maximum of 2.5m (if it has IDR 100000 notes) or maximum 1.25m (if it has IDR 50000 notes). It is mentioned at the ATM was denomination it has.
* I didn't use cards at places on very small shops or places with less footfall for safety reasons.

Let me know if you need more help.