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 Traveller's Tales: Advise for travellers in Indonesia
Heed our handy tips on safe travel in Indonesia. You may read about travel warnings, health, what to wear, travel with kids, travel with pets, local weather, local government, medical information and traffic information in the area.Also, you might want to read our
Bali city guide,
and Lombok city guide.
Pages (4 of 5):
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| A Narula |
09 December 2001 |
Stayed at Green Garden Hotel - Bali, Indonesia.
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Visited a number of tourist sights during my short stay of 3 days (eg: Ubud, Money forest & temples) with a (privately negotiated) driver & vehicle
need to bargain for everything (shopping, tour, etc)& don't be shy about offering 50% of the asking price,
be wary of special prizes/offers in shopping areas as these are from people promoting "time share" holiday units.
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| P Lee |
27 November 2001 |
Stayed at Balihai Resort and Spa - Bali, Indonesia.
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We had a car & driver from 9.00am to 8.00pm for 250,000 + 20,000 tip. Only regret was the choice of places the driver brought us to was probably influenced by the commissions he got, and I understand it could be quite high. These places typically charged higher even after discounts (probably to pay for the commissions) when we compared later at other shops on our own.
We enjoyed Kintamani and Ulu Watu very much. The museum at Denpasar was also very interesting but best be clear with the unsolicited guide about his charges first.
The best restaurant we enjoyed was an Indonesian one, can't recall the name, about 100m down from Matahari Dept store on Legian Road, same side. It had a antique furniture shop in the front and the restaurant is further in.
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| J Watson (dr) |
17 October 2001 |
Stayed at Poppies Bali - Kuta, Indonesia.
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Best way to get around Bali is to make use of the hotel driver/minibus service. Reasonably priced. However, the minibus stops at prearranged "tourist" spots and you are immediately surrounded by street sellers. This begins to get overpowering since a simple "no thankyou" doesn't seem to work. This is also true on the beach where it is impossible to more than two minutes between "sales visits".
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| M Matthews |
09 September 2001 |
Stayed at Gran Mahakam, Hotel - Jakarta, Indonesia.
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Jakarta is not the greatest tourist destination (just read the Rough Guide introduction for a 'damning with faint praise' overview. This was my third trip to Indonesia, and on two out of the three I have been robbed (last year passport, this time wallet). However, almost worse than the experience of having my wallet lifted in Pasarya department store was the experience of having the pickpocket caught by store staff. I was taken down to the store basement, given back my wallet (contents intact), and then asked to wait for the police while what seemed like the whole staff of the store took turns to kick and beat the culprit (by now stripped and cowering in a corner).
Ultimately the police turned up, and told me that I had to leave my wallet and contents with them for three months as evidence! With great relief I refused, hoping that the poor wretch would then be released.
Jakarta is not a city to visit without good reason.
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| C Morris |
13 August 2001 |
Stayed at Balihai Resort and Spa - Bali, Indonesia.
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We truly appreciated this property. In particular, the grounds were lovely, and having never been to Bali before and expecting to find a cultivated Hawaiin experience in the culture of SE Asia, we found Kuta alarmingly lacking in safe and effective infrastructure, extremely dirty, garbage everywhere, no recycling program in sight, open sewage run-off into the sea, and we were overrun by tourist sales hawkers. We were particularly sorry to see so many coral pieces being sold in the forms of jewelry, etc., which of course represents the irreversible destruction of the natural reefs. Many travellers will pay very good money to be allowed to see nature in its natural state, not produced for temporary tourist markets, and we hope places like the Bali-H'ai can influence the local villagers to stop their plunder of the natural resources, and conserve their environment for those seeking eco- and cultural tourism experiences.
To have the resort be such a pretty oasis in the midst of ugly Kuta was a wonderful thing.
We took a day trip to Ulu Watu, and went on for five days in Ubud from Kuta, and then stayed in Sanur for the last part of our trip. We did not venture to the restaurants nearby, because Kuta was so unwelcoming, particularly for two sisters travelling alone. The hotel menu was fine.
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| A Murray |
11 August 2001 |
Stayed at Intan Legian, Hotel - Bali, Indonesia.
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The people are really annoying as they pester you constantly and once one starts you are surrounded by 5/6/7 of them it ruins your hoilday!
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| W Bowring |
06 August 2001 |
Stayed at Puri Dalem Hotel (BSB) - Bali, Indonesia.
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I hired a car after PAYING for a local 30day bali licenses (1for a car and 1for a motor cycle..300.000rp for both)... The car was delivered without petrol..another 50,000rp fro a tank of fuel.
I met up with friends and went to Dempasar markets and from there negotiated with a losal driver to take up back to the hotel and in the conversation arranged to hire him for 4hours to drive to Ubud and places for 160,000rp
The Young Artist shop in Ubud ( a bit of an apprentice workshop centre),is the best for paintings of all sorts and supporst the local artist directly.
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| K Berklich |
27 May 2001 |
Stayed at Poppies Bali - Kuta, Indonesia.
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The only downside of Poppies Bali is that it is in overcrowded, dirty, almost sleazy Kuta Beach - the upside, though, is that Poppies is a true respite within.
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| S Wong |
22 May 2001 |
Stayed at Waka di Ume - Bali, Indonesia.
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Ubud is more Baliesque than Kuta, yet less so than some other parts of the island. But it's a wonderful destination for rest amidst the paddy fields, arts and crafts. One can, however, do without the numerous locals offering 'taxi' and 'transport' every three metres or so.
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| E Paquin |
14 May 2001 |
Stayed at Griya Santrian Beach Cottages - Bali, Indonesia.
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Bali was very nice but it is not a destination I would go back to. It was a great holiday but not quite the paradise island they are trying to sell you (unless you are prepared to pay big money and stay in one of the 5-star hotels in Nusa Dua)...
The balinese attitude has been sort of ruined by the tourist industry. Everywhere you go, you know that if they talk to you, they are trying to sell you something...
Transport:
It does worth organizing day trips with local people offering transport but be very clear as to what you would like to see... They tend to try to bring you everywhere they can make a commission. We hired the same guide for day trips so he got to know that we wanted to get out of the beaten track and we got a far better experience on the 2nd trip... Also, for local trips, the best value transport is actually the meter taxi (try Bali taxi 701 111). Their price are much lower for travelling around Sanur-Kuta-Nusa Dua and Jimbaran. You can take one from Sanur to Ubud and get them to wait with the meter on...
Food:
If you like spicy food, don't go to the restaurants that are near the hotels... Get out of the beaten track and try to find restaurant in small villages... Try also the food stalls!
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