[amahale]

For this year's Summer holidays trip, I planned on visiting Bali with family (me, my parents, wife and two kids aged 11 & 4).

Plan was to visit Bali somewhere between last week of March and first week of April 2024.

I started planning in mid Feb and was looking for Flights and Hotels to begin with.

Flights:

There was no direct flight from Bangalore to Bali; most of them had a layover in either Singapore or Malaysia. The flights with short layovers reached either late afternoon or evening in Bali and the ones that reached Bali in the morning had very long layovers. This meant losing an entire day in travel/rest. While I was deciding on the flights, out of the blue, Indigo announced direct flights to Bali from Bangalore starting from 29th March 2024. The flight duration was 7 hrs and reached Bali at 10:30 in the morning. This was perfect except for the long 7 hrs journey in the not so comfortable seats without any entertainment system on board. I went ahead and booked this for 30th of March hoping to sleep through the 7 hours journey and be fresh when we land in the morning

Hotels:

For the hotel bookings, since I have a Club Mahindra membership, I booked one of their affiliate resorts - Ayodya Resort Bali for 2 nights which is in Nusa Dua, south Bali.
For the other four nights, I booked a two bedroom villa in Ubud - Taman Harum Cottages

I had to change hotels after just staying 1 night in Taman Harum Cottages (more about this later). I booked 3 nights stay at Mayura Ubud Retreat

Ground transport in Bali:
I got the reference from kit_dennis for Putu - driver, guide and eventually a new friend . Thanks a ton Dennis!!

Originally Posted by kit_dennis

The ground transport was sorted out as I had got a contact from a colleague who had visited Bali couple of years back. This turned out to be extremely useful as he was very accommodating like a family. He has a Toyota Rush, similar to our Ertiga. His wife runs a Warung which we greatly benefited from, on our last 2 days of stay. His name is Putu and can be contacted via WhatsApp at +62 852-3792-0632.

Forex:
I converted INR to USD from BookMyForex and planned to convert them to IDR in Bali.
I planned to use my Credit Card wherever possible and use cash only where Card is not excepted.

Mobile SIM
I booked 2 SIM cards via Klook - Airport Pick Up by provider XL. Registration and Activation was done at the Airport in Bali

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.

Day 0:

Reached the Bangalore T2 airport on 29th March at 21:00 PM for the 00:50 flight. This was my first time visiting the T2 terminal and it looked amazing unlike anything else with the iconic hanging gardens.



Check-in, immigration, security check were all smooth. Indigo staff provided a web-link to the customs declaration form that needed to be filled. The QR code generated after submitting the form needed to be shown before exiting the Bali airport. I did not do this on my phone as there were a lot of fields that needed to be typed in. I did this once I landed in Bali.

The flight started on time and the journey was uneventful.

Day 1:

The expected arrival time in Bali was 10:20 AM, but thanks to some tail wind (as mentioned by the pilot), we landed one hour ahead of time

After landing, we went to the Visa On Arrival payment counter and paid the Visa charges and headed to the immigration. The immigration officer just asked me how long I would be staying in Bali and processed our Visa.

After collecting our bags, we filled the custom declaration form via the Kiosk in the airport. This I felt was easier to do as compared to do on a phone .You can use the Airport wifi, if you prefer to do it on your phone or if the Kiosks are all occupied. You could also do it on your laptop at home as you can complete the form up to three days before arriving in Bali.

We printed the QR code from the attached printer in the Kiosk and submitted it at the exit.

We picked up the SIM cards on the way to the taxi pick-up point and found Putu with the my name board.

Putu was very friendly from the get go and greeted all of us individually. Throughout the trip he was very accommodating and catered to all our requests with full enthusiasm. He is very knowledgeable and explained/answered all our questions and queries.
He arranged for his cousins car when we had to transport our luggage (airport trips and when changing hotels)

We exchanged USD to IDR on the way to our resort - Ayodya Bali resort in Nusa Dua. The resort is very beautiful and the hotel staff like rest of Bali people are very polite and friendly.

Few photos of the Resort







After freshening up and having lunch at the Indian restaurant (Ganesha) in the resort, we headed towards Uluwatu Temple to see the Kecak Dance. I had booked this in advance using the Klook app for the 6 PM show. You have to pay separately for the entrance at the counter using cash.

The Kecak dance performance is an enactment of Ramayana and it was brilliantly done. It is a must see if you are in Bali





We headed back to the resort and had dinner on the way at the Udupi restaurant.

[amahale]

Day 2:

Headed to Dolphin Bali for water sports activity. The activities here are on the expensive side and you have to bargain hard. Even after bargaining, I felt that the price was very steep.
Tip: If you are travelling with a large group, then take only the people who will take apart in the activity. The rest can stay back and relax in the resort as there is nothing else to do here for others.







After lunch we headed towards Garuda Wisnu Kencana Cultural Park. It's a huge beautiful structure and we can go up to the 23rd floor. Worth the entry fee.





Day 3:
The resort has a very nice private beach and swimming pool with some water activities for the kids. We spent some time here before checking out.




We headed towards Ubud to check-in to the Taman Harum Cottages. On the way we visited a Coffee plantation and tasted a variety of Tea and Coffee. I didn't have the stomach to taste the Luwak coffee because of the making process.


After checking-in to Taman Harum Cottages and having lunch we visited the Monkey forest in Ubud. It is a scenic place with monkeys all around. It's an average place and nothing special




Returned to our hotel and found a lot of issues with the hotel. The second bedroom was on the first floor and the stairs leading to it was very steep, making it hard for elderly and children to climb. Both the rooms were very small and there was hardly any space for an extra bed. The bathroom on the first floor was tiny with no ventilation and the shower was not working. When asked if we could change to two separate cottages, they mentioned there was none available and were not sure if any will be available for the next four days. I told them to inform us if anything became available.
We somehow managed for the night and next day when I said I will checkout, they said they will provide a different room. I was not happy with this as till now they were adamant that there were no rooms available. Hence I booked a different stay for the next three nights - Mayura Ubud Retreat.

Day 4:
We checked-in to Mayura retreat and headed to Bali Safari and Marine Park. The Safari is good for both kids and adults. We did the feed the predators activity where we fed wild animals including Tigers and Lions in a cage like van. We spent a good 4-5 hours here.









Next stop was Bali Glass Bridge - expensive and just about ok.


Day 5:
We set out to Mt Batur view point after breakfast. Took a few good photos here and had some coffee in Okuta cafe looking out into the active volcano peak. Putu had arranged for lunch for us from his wife's catering business. We had some delicious noodles, sticky rice with fried potato, tofu and bean curd (all vegetarian). We then visited the Goa Gajah temple - a lord Ganesha temple inside a cave.





We then did some light shopping at the Windhu Sari Art Market - a bit high end. The street shopping at the Ubud market which we did later in the evening was a better option.

Day 6:
The last day of our trip we had a packed day; we visited Ulun Danu Beratan Temple, Sleeping Buddha statue Pupuan Tabanan and Uluwatu Temple.

Ulun Danu Beratan Temple is set in a stunning backdrop of a lake and mountain. The garden surrounding it is picturesque and you can spend quite some time here just relaxing. There is a good restaurant here where you can get some nice veggie sandwiches.





Next we went to the Sleeping Buddha monastery. This is a very peaceful place with hardly any tourists. The road leading to this is not that great but worth it if you are visiting north Bali.



Our last stop of the day was the Tanah Lot temple to see the sun set. Sadly we could not visit the main temple due to high tide and also it was cloudy so did not get a good glimpse of the setting sun. But the place aging is simply beautiful and can get some good snaps here.





Day 7:
Checked-out of the hotel early morning and reached the airport at 9:00 AM to catch the 11:50 flight back to Bangalore


Bali is as beautiful as seen in the Instagram photos. Don't need to use any filters.
All the places and roads are clean and well maintained. People are very polite and friendly.
Traffic is extremely unpredictable as many of the roads are very narrow. You cannot trust the time shown in google maps. But nobody honks or loses their cool on the roads.
Veg food is easily available in most places; there are a few pure veg/vegan restaurants in Ubud and you can find Indian restaurants in Nusa Dua and Ubud. Don't be fooled by the names of the eateries; Indian name or Indian sounding name may not mean an Indian cuisine restaurant as Bali is largely a Hindu community and hence the names are Hindu based.

[Aditya]

Thread moved out from the Assembly Line. Thanks for sharing!

[autospeaker]

Hello - A nicely written thread.
Could you please share the high level expenses for flying and accommodation. Planning for a similar outing.

[amahale]

Originally Posted by autospeaker

Hello - A nicely written thread.
Could you please share the high level expenses for flying and accommodation. Planning for a similar outing.

The two-way flight tickets costed me around 38K/person.

Accommodation:

Ayodya Bali Resort via Club Mahindra: Rs. 7700 / 2 nights (including extra bed)
Ayodya Bali Resort via MakeMyTrip (HDFC SmartBuy Portal): Rs. 20000 / 2 nights (includes breakfast)
Mayura Retreat: 29000 / 2 Rooms / 3 nights

There are a lot of options for accommodations in Bali which you can tailor them as per your needs and they are relatively cheap.

Hope this helps.

[Kkumar]

A very nice travelogue with beautiful photos. Really tempting. I'm sure all of you must have had a wonderful time. Thank you for sharing. Keep on munching miles.

[Vinay_p]

Hi,

Great travelogue!
Would you mind sharing the costs for Taxi service you availed please. Was he with you for all 7 days?

thanks

[amahale]

Originally Posted by Vinay_p

Hi,

Great travelogue!
Would you mind sharing the costs for Taxi service you availed please.

thanks

Here are the charges he quoted:
He charges for 10 Hours (full day) USD 50, and USD 35 for 6 hours (half day).

Before booking the service from him, I had checked online and there were a few taxi services quoting a bit lesser. But since I was travelling with my parents and kids, I did not want to take any chances and wanted somebody who can be trusted.

Was he with you for all 7 days?

Yes, right from picking us up from the airport to dropping us back at the airport. Except for one day, where he had to attend to a personal issue. But he had arranged for his friend and his car. The taxi service was worry free and one of the best parts of the trip.

[x017in]

Could you share the cost of tolls and other stuff you had to pay the cab guy?

[amahale]

Originally Posted by amahale

Here are the charges he quoted:
He charges for 10 Hours (full day) USD 50, and USD 35 for 6 hours (half day).

Originally Posted by x017in

Could you share the cost of tolls and other stuff you had to pay the cab guy?

This is all inclusive; tolls, parking, etc.

[Rajgir]

Originally Posted by amahale

This is all inclusive; tolls, parking, etc.

Thanks for the detailed post. I want to know what did you do with the leftover Forex. is it possible to return it to the issuer?

[pd1108]

A very nice and precise post. Thanks for sharing. Will be very useful while planning for a trip to Bali

[amahale]

Originally Posted by Rajgir

Thanks for the detailed post. I want to know what did you do with the leftover Forex. is it possible to return it to the issuer?

Yes, the remaining forex cash (in my case USD) can be returned to the issuer, but at the current selling rate. But do note that the Forex selling rate is always lower than the buying rate.

I did not have any IDR leftover as I spent all of that in Bali itself.

[coolmind]

Hi @Amahale,

Thanks for the nice travelogue.
Just curious to know why did you convert INR to USD & then USD to IDR? Any advantage with this!
Can't we directly convert INR to IDR thereby avoiding twice the forex mark up?

Thanks
Sai Pratap

[amahale]

Originally Posted by coolmind

Hi @Amahale,

Thanks for the nice travelogue.
Just curious to know why did you convert INR to USD & then USD to IDR? Any advantage with this!
Can't we directly convert INR to IDR thereby avoiding twice the forex mark up?

Thanks
Sai Pratap

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.