[vibbs]

Originally Posted by CrAzY dRiVeR

Wow! So many beautiful travelogues this week - spent yesterday afternoon reading about China and today was equally good with your lovely travelogue on Bali.

Bali is one of the places which we had planned to cover later this year, if possible! No final decision made, but we were thinking of one of the options between Bali or Vietnam. In fact, I had watched a lot of videos on Bali, and even looked up for options in Lombok - which many had suggested as a less crowded peak-season alternative to Bali. Now all those travels plans will have to wait!

Also nice to finally put a face to your handle.



Also @Durango Dude - Nice photography there!

Hehe. Maybe the work from home effect. I may put up one more of my trip to Langkawi last year.

I had earmarked Vietnam as well for sometime this year. But all hopes are now doused due to Covid-19.

Originally Posted by vb-san

Yes, I also stayed in Nusa Dua.

And another thing is, even though Indonesia is a Muslim country, Pork is major thing in Bali, especially the suckling pig


Lombok is highly recommended, I would say much better than Bali - less touristy and largely unspoilt; Gili T especially is a gem. I did a trip there in 2018 for my wife's b'day. Will try and do a travelogue if time permits

Lombok was recommended by my colleague as well. Perhaps another time.

Originally Posted by AJ-got-BHP

What a refreshing travelogue on Bali there ! Rated it a well deserved 5* ! You took me back to 2013, when we visited Bali. It is a fantastic place and there are more than one reason why I would go to Bali Again. Some reasons are :

1. You feel like a Billionaire once in Bali, since Rupiah is lower than the Rupee
2. The Nusa Dua beach which offer stunning Sunrise Views
3. The Kuta Sunsets which is the Best in the world
4. The humongous Pool Villas which you can rent in Seminyak, experience of a life time at not so high cost
5. Easily available self drive cars on rent

]

Thanks. Some great pics there. More than what I put. and better as well.

I had toyed with the idea of renting a car. Will do that next time.

[ChiragM]

Nice travelogue with really good pics vibbs.

I dont prefer to take tour packages. I think they make the trip hectic and you lose out on the ability to plan your holiday the way you want to.

Me too. Always planned all our trips on our own. That way we get to do what we want instead of compromising something we want to do for what the tour offers.

Scoot gave us a pleasant surprise! The flight had rainbow Cabin Lights. Quite a beautiful sight I must say.

What was the occasion?

[vibbs]

Originally Posted by ChiragM

Nice travelogue with really good pics vibbs.



Me too. Always planned all our trips on our own. That way we get to do what we want instead of compromising something we want to do for what the tour offers.



What was the occasion?

Thank you ChiragM

No clue. I searched the net for a reason. Closest I could get to an answer was that Scoot airlines have some flights with rainbow lights. I saw someone posted a photo back couple of years ago.

[ampere]

Nice travelogue!

You can try snorkelling on the eastern coast (Blue Lagoon). For the more marine and deep sea diving inclined, I think there is something in the Menjangan island. I read the reefs are good. Definitely Bali is a nice destination and something which also keeps the budget well under control.

[vibbs]

Originally Posted by ampere

Nice travelogue!

You can try snorkelling on the eastern coast (Blue Lagoon). For the more marine and deep sea diving inclined, I think there is something in the Menjangan island. I read the reefs are good. Definitely Bali is a nice destination and something which also keeps the budget well under control.

Hello Ampere,

Thanks.

Yes a lot of underwater activities. We were a bit hampered as our daughter was too young to enjoy these. However if the world ever gets back to normal after the COVID19, I intend to explore more.

[Durango Dude]

I prefer taking a customized (family alone) tour package after researching on the net the places of interest and what is doable in the time frame and cram as much things into that time frame. If one need to take a lazy tour why spend money going abroad: for that I'd drive to some place like Kodai, Ooty or even ECR and book into an expensive hotel and laze there. I don't believe in spending money on a vacation abroad just to laze around. For the Bali tour I got a lens especially for the vacation: Tamron 15-30mm f/2.8 VR. My interest is photography and without a proper gear I'd not travel at all. These are my personal preferences; this way my "vacation" becomes very busy and my kids are also okay with this: they are the ones researching the places of interest and things to do. The whole family is there with the tour operator as we seal the deal.

[vibbs]

Originally Posted by Durango Dude

If one need to take a lazy tour why spend money going abroad: for that I'd drive to some place like Kodai, Ooty or even ECR and book into an expensive hotel and laze there. I don't believe in spending money on a vacation abroad just to laze around. For the Bali tour I got a lens especially for the vacation: Tamron 15-30mm f/2.8 VR. My interest is photography and without a proper gear I'd not travel at all. These are my personal preferences; this way my "vacation" becomes very busy and my kids are also okay with this: they are the ones researching the places of interest and things to do. Then we meet the tour operator and seal the deal, the whole family is there with the tour operator as we seal the deal.

Well valid points. To each his own I guess.

Moreover I can no longer drive to the places you mentioned because I am in Singapore. All holiday is abroad from here

But thats what I used to do in India, drive down to Goa, laze around at a beach for 2-3 days, eat good Goan food and then drive back. Or head off to Mahabaleshwar and chill off in the hills.

With a 2.5 year old daughter, I felt the need of the hour was to just spend time with her. Being in a foriegn location gives us some oportunity to experience the local culture - within our comforts.

My daughter gets to run around and play in the sea to her liking.

Everything else for the time being has taken a backseat. Infact, I even sold my DSLR and lenses because I am no longer using them like I used to and not having it all together reduces the weight I haul around.

Her second birthday was celebrated in Mirissa, Sri Lanka. Very few activities again. And limited running around. A time will come when I will visit these places again with her and it can be hectic then is she wants it so.

[kit_dennis]

Posting in this thread as this is #1 thread that comes when you search for Bali at this point of time. I greatly benefited from all the Bali related thread in Team-BHP while planning for my trip. So wanted to share my trip details in case anyone finds it useful for their travel in the future.

We went Bali for 5 nights(6 days). We were 2 families, 4 adults, 3 kids (aged 13, 9, 6). After reading up many forums(mainly Team-BHP and Tripadvisor) and improvising on the spot, below were our itinerary.

Day 1: 13th May, Saturday

Arrive Bali at noon
Exchange dollars to IDR
Tegenungan waterfalls. Nothing exceptional
Bali glass bottom bridge. Expensive. Around 1300Rs per head
Samkhya Villa in Ubud. Really good pool villas

Day 2

Morning Mt. Batur or the Kintamani Volcano. The view points are good for photo shoots
Evening Ulun danu bratan temple. A very nice place to spend your evening

Day 3

Checkout and travel to Nusa Penida. Car+Boat
Kelingking View Point. Crowded, but super views
Paluang cliff Photo point. Less crowd, good for photos
Broken Beach and Angel Billabong. Photo points
Crystal Bay beach. Nice beach
Checkin Coco Resort Penida. Ok place

Day 4

Return to Bali by Boat
Shopping
Tanah Lot Sunset
Checkin at Canggu AirBnB. Very good 3 bedroom villa with pool

Day 5
Krisna Market Shopping. Its a multilevel supermarket for souvenirs
Water sports at Nusa Dua. Expensive, bargain hard for at least 60% of the listed price
Uluwatu temple - Kechak dance 7pm

Day 6
Checkout and reach home

There are many things left to cover, maybe next time.

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.

- I converted rupees to dollars using bookmyforex and also a local agent(in BTM layout). Local agent turned out to be better.
- Bangalore departure lounge with around 850/person is value for money as it has unlimited beverages also.
- There is lot of traffic in Bali, but hats off to the patience of all the drivers.
- Restrooms are charged almost everywhere, ranging from 2k-5k IDR per person.
- We survived without taking a local SIM, as Putu shared his hotspot with us while travelling.
- Onward journey was by AirAsia and return by Batik(Malindo) airways. Was sceptical about Batik, but turned out to be better than AirAsia.

[amahale]

Originally Posted by kit_dennis

We went Bali for 5 nights(6 days). We were 2 families, 4 adults, 3 kids (aged 13, 9, 6).

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.

Thank you for the detailed itinerary. I am planning a trip to Bali at the end of March 2024 with my parents, wife and two kids - 4 adults, 2 kids.

Was the Toyota Rush big enough for your family along with the luggage? Or did you book separate taxis for the airport? If so, please share details on that as well and how much you paid for both if possible.

Water sports at Nusa Dua

I see lot of different places in Nusa Dua where water sports are available; which one did you go to exactly? And which water sports did you do? I have booked the Ayodya Bali resort which is in Nusa Dua.

- Onward journey was by AirAsia and return by Batik(Malindo) airways. Was sceptical about Batik, but turned out to be better than AirAsia.

I have booked Indigo which are starting direct flight from Bangalore to Bali from 29-March-2024. Hope it will be hassle free.

[kit_dennis]

Originally Posted by amahale

Thank you for the detailed itinerary. I am planning a trip to Bali at the end of March 2024 with my parents, wife and two kids - 4 adults, 2 kids.

Was the Toyota Rush big enough for your family along with the luggage? Or did you book separate taxis for the airport? If so, please share details on that as well and how much you paid for both if possible.

For Airport pickup on first day and drop on last day, he had come along with his cousin and his car where the luggage was put. We did not pay anything extra for that other than the tip at the end of the Bali journey.
Btw, his charges for 7 people per day was 60$. This includes tolls, parking charges etc.
He is a very nice guy and highly recommended.

Originally Posted by amahale

I see lot of different places in Nusa Dua where water sports are available; which one did you go to exactly? And which water sports did you do?

We were taken to Dolphin water sports by the driver. But i guess all of them are more or less same. They quote the prices in dollars, but bargain hard.
We took underwater sea walking and Banana boat ride for the adults. Jet ski and Fly board for kids.