The land of nature, rice and temples
Bali has always been an enchanting land, able to retain in Hindu culture in a Muslim majority population. It seemed close to India with its Hindu connections. The rice fields and the village scene seemed even close to home
The option to get a visa on arrival made it easy to plan. It was our first outing post pandemic. We thought of choosing a place close enough with not much money tied into cancellation in case another wave cropped in
Best time to visit
We went in May with hardly any rain and pleasant enough weather without being too hot. Dry season of April- October is typically the best time to go. Avoid rainy season from November to March
Visa
Indians have a visa on arrival option that costed us $35 (IDR 500 k)
Getting In
We chose Singapore Airlines from Mumbai to Denpasar, returning to Bengaluru. Indigo airline has started connection to Denpasar at a much cheaper rate now
Currency: Indonesian Rupiah
We get instantly rich here as you count money in millions. We had taken IDR from India through Ebixcash and USD on a travel card. You can directly use your card to withdraw from ATMs if you have card with low or no charges
Getting around
We didn’t want to or rather couldn’t drive. There is hardly any good public transport. Renting a car with driver is not expensive and we chose Bali Golden tours
They had very good ratings, were willing to customize easily and provided day wise rates making it transparent to choose what we want to do. They also had good English speaking drivers
The company does not operate outside the island of Bali. We relied on Grab for travel in Yogyakarta and local taxis in Labuan Bajo
Places to see
As we got to read more about Indonesia, we realized there are so many places, and it is impossible to see all of them at once
We shortlisted Bali, Yogyakarta and Komodo Island for this time. In our next visit, we would like to see Java, Mt. Bromo, Raja Ampat, Sumatra for orangutans and rafflesia flowers
Bali: What we covered day wise
- Ubud: Monkey Forest, Goa Gajah temple, Kopi Luwak places
- Middle: Baring dance, Jatiluwih rice terrace, Ulun Danu Beratan, Tanah Lot
- South: Garuda Wisnu Kencena, Uluwatu temple
- East: Candidasa, Celcuk village, Goa Lawah temple, Tenganan village
- North east: Lempuyang, Besakih, Mt Batur
- North: Lovina beach for Dolphin watching, Git git waterfall, Banyumala waterfall, Wanagiri hill, Handara gate
Yogyakarta: You can see more details here
- Borobudur temple
- Prambanan temple
- Ramayana ballet show
Flores and Komodo island
- Labuan Bajo
- Komodo Island
- Padar Island
- Pink beach
Things to know
- Head beyond Bali. Indonesia has many forests, historic architecture sites, beaches and indigenous culture across its 15k+ islands
- Indonesia is home to lots of wildlife. Research and figure out what would like to see. We saw many Komodo dragons in Komodo island, colorful fishes in Kanawa island, civet cats that help produce Kopi Luwak
- Not a popular opinion, but Bali has many things to see beyond Instagrammable spots. Most of these spots seemed artificially set
- Many places are some of the cheapest destinations in Asia. Feel free to splurge a bit more
- Visit lesser-known temples in Bali. Besakih temple was the best we saw among all
How much does it cost
We spent around $1750 per person for 10 days. Costs would be half if we had not gone to Yogyakarta and Labuan Bajo
- Flights: $1150 (Includes domestic flights in Indonesia to Yogyakarta and Labuan Bajo)
- Hotel: $150 ($15-20 per night per person can get you a good place)
- Tours and transport: $270
- Food: $<50 (We carry our own food/ shop at supermarkets)
- Entry fee: $120
- Visa: $35
- Insurance: $20
- Others (RTPCR tests): $30. Tests were quite expensive and we had to take 3 of them before every flight