Bali and Indonesia - first time

Old Sep 5th, 2010, 06:31 PM
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Bali and Indonesia - first time

I'm having a lot of difficulty finding a reliable and knowledgeable travel agent so hoping I can get some help here. We are a couple in our mid 50's from Canada and have never traveled to Asia. Our son is attending school in Solo on Java for a year and we thought it would be a great opportunity to visit him and what seems like a beautiful country either Feb or March 2011. We have 3 weeks to plan and have no idea where to begin. So far, we've decided that Bali is a must as well as Yogyakarta/Solo on Java. We enjoy walks on the beach and the scenery but we're not really beach people. We love culture, sightseeing, markets and trying out different restaurants but we also don't have a huge budget to work with. For our flights, we are leaning towards Cathay because I like their scheduling out of Vancouver but not sure when to book flights. Should I wait it out for a better fare or should I book something now? We are hoping not to spend more than $150/night for accommodations and would prefer to average around $100-$125 if possible. I have no idea what to budget for day to day expenditures - meals, tours...etc. I also have no idea where to stay on Bali and whether we should split up our stay between 2 or 3 different locations. Is it even possible to stay somewhere central on Bali and see most of the island?

As for visiting Java, would 3-4 days be sufficient without feeling like we're rushing to see the sights of Yogy/Solo? Our son may fly to Bali and join us for part of our stay there but it complicates things because we'll have to find accommodations for 3 instead of 2. I have my eye on a villa in Lovina which sounds perfect for 2 or 3 people but I'm worried it will be too out of the way and remote for us.

Any thoughts and suggestions are most welcome as we plan this once in a lifetime holiday.
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Old Sep 5th, 2010, 08:39 PM
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Personally, I'd give another day or two to Yogja/Solo. You'll want to see Borobudor and Prambanam, of course, but also consider a drive to the Dieng Plateau, some time in Yogja and Solo, and perhaps take in a performance of the Ramayana Ballet.

On Bali, I'd choose two locations. One inland near Ubud, the cultural heart of Bali and the other in a beach area.

You should be able to find nice accommodation in both areas in your price range. You'll want a car and driver for some days on Bali and for much of your time in the Yogja area. Hiring drivers is not very expensive.

Marmot, a regular poster here who lives in Jakarta will offer some info, I'm sure. She can give you lots of detailed suggestions.
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Old Sep 5th, 2010, 09:11 PM
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For your transpacific flights if CX allows a stopover in HKG, I'd consider visiting HK for a few days.

Also, consider open jaw airfares, ie flying to CGK and leaving from DPS or vv.

Agree with Kathie about Bali, stay in Ubud and somewhere else on the coast. Don't stay in one place and try to sightseeing from here. The best way to get around is to hire a car and driver, you can do this in advance or once you are in Bali. As for Lovina, it is in the north and it is remote, unless you want some peace and quiet don't stay here, it's too far from the island's main sights.
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Old Sep 5th, 2010, 10:21 PM
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Kathie - thank you for your reply. Perhaps, we'll extend our stay in Yogja/Solo to a full week instead.

justshootme - thank you for your reply. CX flies from Vancouver via Hong Kong into DPS. I will look into whether we can stopover in HKG as well. I saw no need to go to Jakarta but will have to figure out how to get from DPS to Yogja/Solo and back.

The two separate locations on Bali sound ideal for us. Any suggestions as to the best beach area to stay at?
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Old Sep 5th, 2010, 11:05 PM
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When I said CGK, I meant if it was easier to get to from Yogja/solo as opposed to returning to Bali. Didn't mean to suggest a visit to CGK.

When you ask for the best beach area, it really depends on what is important to you. It's virtually impossible to answer as we don't know what type of beach destination you are looking for. Nusa Dua is full of western hotels on a beach strip and from here it is impractical to travel around the island. Kuta, has lots of restaurants/bars/shops. There are quieter beach areas to visit too.

If you are staying in Ubud, I recommend Nomads for a meal or two. I have the email address for the driver I hired, he was good, very accomodating and spoke excellent English. He drives a van which will easily accomodate three adults, let me know if you'd like his contact info.
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Old Sep 5th, 2010, 11:25 PM
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From Vancouver to Indonesia, Cathay through Hong Kong is a good connection. I think Singapore (SQ) is a better airline,especially in economy, but you’d have to make another stop.

Once you get to Singapore, however, you can fly non-stop to Solo (Surakarta) on Silkair, which is a subsidiary of SQ. Otherwise you can enter Indonesia through Jakarta or Bali/Denpasar and connect to Yogya or Solo. Within Indonesia you need to fly Indonesian carriers. I prefer Garuda. Yogyakara and Solo are about an hour’s drive from each other so either is workable. You can fly non-stop from Yogya to Denpasar.

It’s hard to predict whether fares are going to go up or down. Generally you'll get the best discount in advance. You'll just want to avoid Lunar New Year, which is the first week in February.

In Indonesia, accommodations are all over the place in price. You should do okay at $US150. We often travel with our 20 something son and usually get a small suite, which costs more than one room but less than two.

Food is cheap. Alcohol is very pricy. Using a car and driver is variable but agree you don't want to drive yourself and public transportation is a no-go.

I’d agree with Kathie that you shouldn’t rush Java. There’s a lot to do and see and things move slowly. You'll easily fill up a week.

In Bali I’d divide your time between the beach and Ubud. There are plenty of simple but delightful places to stay in Ubud, both in the town and in the surrounding countryside. You can see and do most of what you want using Ubud as a base.

Among the Southern beaches I like Seminyak best. If your son is between 20 and 30 he'd like it too.

Lovina is definitely out of the way. I’m not much of fan of North Bali except for diving. Another beach option would be to go to Lombok which is a short flight or a few hours' ferry from Bali. The beaches are nicer than those in Bali and it’s less developed.
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Old Sep 6th, 2010, 04:12 AM
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In Yogja the Phoenix Hotel is nice and you can get a deluxe Room for under $150. If your son has a car you are in good shape to tour and as Kathie suggested Dieng Plateu, though a long drive,is magnificant and well worth the trip. there is a ballet in Yogja that is offered with a dinner (I forgot the name) but skip it. The buffet is o.k. but the show is a bore. If you are there on a weekend I might suggest you visit the Sultan's Palace on Sunday at 11 for a 45 minute ballet rehearsal that is very well done or Sat. at 11 for a very good puppet show. I think 3-4 days in Yogja and 1-2 in Solo is sufficient. With 3 weeks you might want to consider going to Mt Bromo for 1 day/1 night which is an impressive mildly active volcano because you still would have 2 weeks to devote to Bali.
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Old Sep 6th, 2010, 06:28 AM
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Thank you all! You guys have helped me so much already, you have no idea. I have made notes of all your suggestions. I think we will start making bookings in about a month once I do more research and get everything lined up so I will probably come back and ask more questions as I go along. Does anyone see a need to contact a travel agent at all or would I be able to do it all myself? Most agents I've spoken to are trying to lean me towards booking with a tour company that offers packages (using China Air).
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Old Sep 6th, 2010, 08:13 AM
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You can make all the arrangements yourself. No need for an agent, who, as you note, will steer you toward a package.

If you are interested in cultural offerings like dance, there is an open-air venue for the presentation of the Ramayana Ballet near Prambanam. There are dinner shows advertised at various places in Yogja, and you'll see brief dance performances at the kratons, but the Ramayana Ballet is in another league entirely.
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Old Sep 6th, 2010, 09:59 AM
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Thank you Kathie. The Ramayana Ballet is on my list - I thank you for suggesting it to me.
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Old Sep 6th, 2010, 03:22 PM
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ghisl, Agree you can do better than an agent. China Airlines (Taiwanese) is not a bad choice, but I'm not sure of their routing. the objective is to make as few stops as possible.

For dance in Java, I agree don't miss the performances at the Yogya Kraton. Some of the best dancers in the country. I understand that there are now performances at Borobudur too, but I have yet do this.

There are plenty of inexpensive hotels in Yogya. Hyatt and Phoenix are popular, but there are many others. I'm not that familiar with Solo but I'm sure your son will be able to find something for you.

You should also try to spend a couple of nights outside of town in the Borobudur area. The Manohara is right on the grounds of the monument. It's basic (kind of run down actually) but couldn't be more convenient. Losari is about 45 minutes away and is lovely. You'll want to visit the spectacular Amanjiwo -- also very near Borobudur -- for a meal or drinks.

From the nearby hotels you can arrange a predawn, sunrise visit to Borobudur before it opens to the public. This is a wonderful experience. I'd get a copy of the book "Tales of the Golden Buddhas" and read up on the stories in the carvings. Borobudur is worth a couple of visits.

I think stopping in the Bromo area enroute to Bali is a good suggestion. It's a phenomenally beautiful cluster of volcanoes. You can fly from Yogya to Surabaya and either base yourselves in Surabaya or Yogya or stay on Bromo. The logistics are complicated, but it's an extraordinarily scenic area.
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Old Sep 6th, 2010, 07:24 PM
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ghisl, You might want to look into Bali Discovery. I only used them to book one hotel, but they offered a significantly lower rate than I could get directly. And, when we had a mix=up with the airport transfer (I forgot I had arranged one thru them), they were very accommodating and provided a transfer from Ubud to the airport at no extra cost. They seem to offer many price levels of lodging....and my phone conversations with them once I got to Bali were all positive. They also provide guide services should you need that. I didn't because we booked through Putu Arnawara (a recommended by Fodorites guide)
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Old Sep 7th, 2010, 05:02 AM
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Another good driver/guide is Dewa Marco who is recommended by many Flyertalkers.

This is from a previous post of mine: Get a driver for the day and give him some broad ideas of the kinds of things you would like to see. Then, trust him to come up with a plan for the day. We used Dewa Marco and we had a wonderful day and saw things we would never would have trying to plan everything ourselves. You can reach him at [email protected] or [email protected]. Check out his web site at http://www.discoverbalitour.com/. He is very prompt in responding to emails.

You can read others' opinions about him here: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/asia/...li-driver.html

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/asia/...endations.html


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Vic's travels: http://my.flightmemory.com/vogilvie
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Old Sep 7th, 2010, 06:26 AM
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Hello Ghisi,

First of all, you can definitely get something decent for USD 100/night.

I don't know about everyone else but since you said you like to experience culture, markets, restaurants, etc., i will assume that you like to be in the "center" of everything. I STRONGLY suggest you stay within walking distance to Kuta Beach.

Kuta is the "happening" of Bali, you get very nice restaurants, markets, culture, beach, and it's very near the airport!... but it comes with lots of noise. So I agree with Barefootbeach to stay somewhere near Discovery (do not stay in Discovery Kartika, i've stayed there and it's old & not worth the price). Look at google maps, Legian, Kuta, Kartika, Seminyak are ALL in the same area.

Ubud is very nice and you definitely want to go there. But in my opinion it's more of an "old" district. Some culture but because it's far from everything else, you are pretty much limited to exploring around Ubud. My suggestion - do a day trip to Ubud (approx. 1 hour away from Kuta) or stay maximum of 1 night and you should pretty much get that area covered. So hire a car with a driver (it's very cheap) and go to Ubud from there.

Legian becomes alive @ night and has lots of cafes & restaurants during the day. 5 - 10 mins walk from Kartika / Kuta.

If you have a car, drive to Jimbaran & have seafood dinner ON THE BEACH. It's VERY ROMANTIC with no lights & only candles everywhere - 20 mins drive from Kuta and FAR FAR away from Ubud.

After dinner, you can go to Ku De Ta (Seminyak Beach), lovely place where you & your wife can lie on a wooden "bed" & drink wine, smoke a cigar while staring into the 2 spotlights shining into the sea. Soft music @ the background + sound of the wave + wind. 15 minutes drive from Kuta / Kartika and FAR FAR away from Ubud.

One of my favourite activity is the Spa @ Ritz Carton. Go @ approx 4pm, swim/move around the jet massage (with sea water) and finish off while lying on a plastic "bed/seat" in an infinity pool. Sunset is DIRECTLY in front of you. VERY VERY romantic. 20 - 30 mins from Kartika / Kuta and FAR FAR away from Ubud.

My advise : Stay near Kartika / Legian / Kuta & be alive. There are soooo many places to explore in Bali and you DON'T WANT to be limited to Ubud. Kartika is a wonderful to stay, quiet enough and yet within very close walking distance to everything. There are MANY MANY hotels on that street so you can choose one that fancies you. Stay near Ubud and you experience beautiful culture but you're pretty much stuck with that.

In my opinion, one of the best advise I can give you is Google for public holidays in Indonesia and AVOID them, especially if it translates to a long weekend. People from Jakarta LOVE to go to Bali on long weekends so everything gets expensive & crowded.

Enjoy !!
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