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Bali


Stevo985

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Looking at potential holidays for 2017.

Bali is on the list, but I don't know much about it other than a few people I know have been and loved it.

 

Anyone been?

Good things to do?

Is it the kind of place you could spend 2 weeks? Is there lots of stuff to travel around and see?

 

ANy advice appreciated

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you will hear  a lot of people say it's the best place they've ever been .. they are wrong of course ( unless they've never been anywhere else )

I jest ..it's a nice place and worth the visit .. not sure about 2 weeks , but then in 2 weeks I'd usually visit about 8 countries !!

the main nightlife area is around Kutya , it's full of Aussies in vests and flip flops , so already you can see where I'm going with this :)

The beaches in Kutya are more for surfing than snorkelling so that and the fact it's the Aussie Magaluf may mean you want to look at other parts of the island that aren't so busy (unless that is precisely why you want to got there).. you can visit an elephant sanctuary ( Nellie isn't native to Bali and hence my gripe with everyone that loves the place as they got to ride an elephant) ..and  you can see lots of temples  , monkeys and nice scenery

I used it as a base to go to Komodo to see the Dragons , that was a highlight of that particular trip ... you fly out to one of the islands ( Labuan Bajo ) and you get on a small boat with just you and 2 crew (there are bigger boats if you wish , but more like 30 people on them) and you spend a couple of nights sleeping on the deck of the boat in sheltered bays and of course get to see the Komodo Dragons in the wild ... We were a fair way away from land but soon after mooring up for the night  a local paddled his boat out to us with a cooler box full of beer  ,so you kinda go for a swim / snorkel around the boat while the skipper makes dinner , then drink a few cold beers , and fall asleep under the stars ... it's fair to say I'm a terrible sleeper , often get by on 4 hours a night ... those 2 nights sleeping on a thin mattress under the stars were probably the best sleep I've ever had ... back on land we spent the day on Labuan Bajo and chilled out drinking beer with the locals , explored some caves and enjoyed being away from the Aussies

 

the Komodo extension wasn't that expensive so worth looking into ... when I'm at work I'll find the website of the company i booked that bit with and you'll get a better idea of the region

 

depending on how set you are on going there , id say go to Sri Lanka instead if i'm honest , probably cheaper and you'll get  a whole lot more out of it

 

 

 

 

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12 hours ago, tonyh29 said:

you will hear  a lot of people say it's the best place they've ever been .. they are wrong of course ( unless they've never been anywhere else )

I jest ..it's a nice place and worth the visit .. not sure about 2 weeks , but then in 2 weeks I'd usually visit about 8 countries !!

the main nightlife area is around Kutya , it's full of Aussies in vests and flip flops , so already you can see where I'm going with this :)

The beaches in Kutya are more for surfing than snorkelling so that and the fact it's the Aussie Magaluf may mean you want to look at other parts of the island that aren't so busy (unless that is precisely why you want to got there).. you can visit an elephant sanctuary ( Nellie isn't native to Bali and hence my gripe with everyone that loves the place as they got to ride an elephant) ..and  you can see lots of temples  , monkeys and nice scenery

I used it as a base to go to Komodo to see the Dragons , that was a highlight of that particular trip ... you fly out to one of the islands ( Labuan Bajo ) and you get on a small boat with just you and 2 crew (there are bigger boats if you wish , but more like 30 people on them) and you spend a couple of nights sleeping on the deck of the boat in sheltered bays and of course get to see the Komodo Dragons in the wild ... We were a fair way away from land but soon after mooring up for the night  a local paddled his boat out to us with a cooler box full of beer  ,so you kinda go for a swim / snorkel around the boat while the skipper makes dinner , then drink a few cold beers , and fall asleep under the stars ... it's fair to say I'm a terrible sleeper , often get by on 4 hours a night ... those 2 nights sleeping on a thin mattress under the stars were probably the best sleep I've ever had ... back on land we spent the day on Labuan Bajo and chilled out drinking beer with the locals , explored some caves and enjoyed being away from the Aussies

 

the Komodo extension wasn't that expensive so worth looking into ... when I'm at work I'll find the website of the company i booked that bit with and you'll get a better idea of the region

 

depending on how set you are on going there , id say go to Sri Lanka instead if i'm honest , probably cheaper and you'll get  a whole lot more out of it

 

 

 

 

Cheers, can always rely on you in these threads :D

Sri Lanka is on the list too but I think when we're looking at going (end of June) it's their rainy season so that put us off a bit.

 

That Komodo stuff sounds amazing! if you could find the website that would be awesome.

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2 hours ago, Stevo985 said:

Cheers, can always rely on you in these threads :D

Sri Lanka is on the list too but I think when we're looking at going (end of June) it's their rainy season so that put us off a bit.

 

That Komodo stuff sounds amazing! if you could find the website that would be awesome.

company we went with don't seem to be around anymore ,or have changed their name

but this weblink has all the various option

the small boat I talked about is FT 60N: Rent Open Deck/Local Boat to Komodo ..... they have the bigger boats as well

this company seem to have the best Trip Advisor rating ( I think it's also the people I used , just changed the name of the company )

 

they all tend to work in yankee $'s .. so trips aren't as cheap as they were when I went and it was 1.7 to the £ :o

 

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Possibly thinking there isn't enough to do there.

I'm up for doing Indonesia and maybe a neighbouring country as a travelling around kind of holiday, but the other half is leaning towards staying in one place (relatively speaking).

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A few people I know who have been to Bali, have tied it in with Singapore via Singapore Airlines

Never done Bali but always been on the 'to do list' for SE Asia. Just always found different beach places to do (Phuket, Koh Samui, Borneo)

Wouldn't bother with Jakarta if you stay in Indonesia. Not much to see and traffic is insane. 

 

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10 hours ago, Stevo985 said:

Possibly thinking there isn't enough to do there.

I'm up for doing Indonesia and maybe a neighbouring country as a travelling around kind of holiday, but the other half is leaning towards staying in one place (relatively speaking).

On that trip I did 

Malaysia

Bali

Sri Lanka

Bangladesh

and Bhutan

Depends how you define neighbouring country I guess :)

 

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

We're going on Honeymoon to the Gili Islands in August.

It's ridiculously cheap to book really impressive looking accommodation. Gili Meno and Ubud in Bali are two places we're definitely going to.

Also thank you to Tony for the links above.

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  • 1 year later...

So after pondering this last year, we're almost certain we're going to do it this year. First 2 weeks in July.

We've already found flights. Probably going to do 9/10 days in Bali and then hop over to Kuala Lumpur for a few nights.

So just bumping this to see if anyone has any more advice.

Resorts we're looking at in Bali seem to all be in the south around Kuta. 

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I found KL a bit disappointing - Singapore a much better bet if you have a few days in the general vicinity. 

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1 hour ago, Xela said:

I found KL a bit disappointing - Singapore a much better bet if you have a few days in the general vicinity. 

Yeah we looked at Singapore too but flights to Malaysia and then from Malaysia back home were way cheaper, plus Malaysia seemed cheaper in general. So we're just going to stay in a really nice hotel in KL, do a couple of things and if it's shit just sit by the pool instead :D 

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21 hours ago, Stevo985 said:

So after pondering this last year, we're almost certain we're going to do it this year. First 2 weeks in July.

We've already found flights. Probably going to do 9/10 days in Bali and then hop over to Kuala Lumpur for a few nights.

So just bumping this to see if anyone has any more advice.

Resorts we're looking at in Bali seem to all be in the south around Kuta. 

Pretonas Towers are worth going up , have to book it in advance as it sells out quite quickly , can mooch around the area nearby it afterwards bit of a park and some shops

After than that take a train out to the monkey caves \temple  , then check into a bar and get drunk as that’s about it for KL 

singapore does offer you much more as a stopover 

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Yeah like I said I'd have preferred Singapore too but it added about £600 to the holiday purely through flights, and that's before you consider any extra hotel costs.

So we'll settle for KL. Probably only be there for 2 or 3 nights.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Just got back from a week in Bali. 

My thoughts, Bali is cool.. a lot bigger than I realised and every area seems different to the next. Kuta is a bit of a dump, basically Magaluf for Australians. We stayed in Seminyak which was still quite built up, but had a better vibe about it. Nice beach, if a little over crowded but had good nightlife. 

We did a day in Ubud and the surrounding areas which was ace. Felt like being in an Indiana Jones movie or something like that, amazing history and architecture. 

The highlight for me actually wasn't Bali, but the time we spent on the Gili Islands which are a small set of islands about 1.5 hours off the coast of Bali. Amazing vibe, bit of a hippy feel to it. There's no cars or bikes there so the only way to get around is by bicycle or horse and cart, and has some really nice beaches with beach bars etc. The nightlife is excellent though, loads of beach parties going on through the night. Gili Trawangan is the biggest, but we actually preferred Gili Air

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