Extended stay in Bali after business trip.
 

Hello! Need help planning a stay in Bali after an upcoming business trip in May. I will start at THE WESTIN RESORT NUSA DUA, BALI. I have 8 days to travel before returning home. My main interests while visiting Bali are to see and interact with Orangutan. I'd also like to visit Komodo Island as well as stay and visit in Ubud. I've heard that there is a tour driver named Putu that is a great resource. I tried to email him from the address on his website, but that email was returned undeliverable. Can anyone help me either contact him or do any of you have other thoughts, recommendations and advice? Other notables: Single woman traveling alone, I don't need the most lavish accommodations, however, I do not want the most economical (no AC, etc.). Any help would be very much appreciated. Thanks!

Well, if you want to see orangtuans, you are going to the wrong place. You want to go to Borneo to see orangutans. Malaysian Borneo is the most accessible, both Sabah (for a real in-the-wild encounter) or Sarawak. Indonesian Borneo (Kalimantin) is another option, but transport is more difficult. You can also see orangutans in Sumatra. All of these require some pre-planning and research and will take all/most of your 8 days.

Komodo is a different island, and again, will take time and research to get there. Many people go there via boat. You can get a boat that takes you on a week-long cruise through a number of the Indonesian islands.

With a mere 8 days after your time at Nusa Dua (which I consider "not Bali" as it is a purpose-built international beach resort) you have barely enough time to explore Bali, let alone these other places. Decide what is most important for you to do/see/experience during your eight days, and choose one (orangtuans, Komodo or Bali).

As Kathie says, you're a very long way from Orangutans in Bali, although they might have them in one of the safari parks that have sprung up there.

Cruising to Komodo is primarily for scuba divers. That area is one of the best dive destinations in the world, IMO. However, if you just want to see the dragons, the quicker option is to fly to Labuan Bajo on the island of Flores. From there it's a two-hour or so boat trip to Komodo. There's a growing number of small hotels in Labuan Bajo to stay at. You'll probably want to stay there two nights to give you time for a leisurely trip to the park and back. As your time is limited, you might want to arrange everything in advance to make sure you get to the park and back.

Ubud is definitely more like the 'real' Bali than Nusa Dua, so spending the rest of your time there after Komodo would certainly be a good idea.

I volunteer at a yearly event that is held at the Westin and I can tell you for sure it's not a very Balinese place to be! Since you are there for business you probably don't have much choice but the first thing would be for you to leave Nusa Dua and go up to Ubud, one of your stated choices. There are lots of nice hotels and small bungalow places, so if you state your budget we can help you.

About guides and drivers. There are thousands of wonderful Balinese who are available to tour you around and so forth. Putu is just one of the many who have been hired by or become friends with people here on this forum. He is by no means the only or the best resource available. When you arrive in Bali you will have no limit of people who will offer you transportation, advice, assistance in all matter of things ranging from the proper attire if you attend a Balinese Hindu ceremony, to different routes to go around Indonesia, to taking you to their home village and meeting the family.

As Kathie says, in 8 days you won't be able to do all 3 on your list very well... I would suggest a few days in Bali and a few days travelling to Labunhan Bajo on the west coast of Flores where the easiest access to Komodo and Rinca is. Again, once there you will find it very easy to find boats that can take you on day trips or overnight tours.

You might find the Travelfish site helpful. It's run by a man who also lives in Bali and has lots of very good detailed articles on travelling in Indonesia and other SEA countries.
http://www.travelfish.org/ They also have a reader forum.

Enjoy your trip!

putu's addresses:

[email protected]
[email protected]

one benefit of a/c is that it keeps bugs away...

try looking at www.asiarooms.com for hotels

I just spent almost a month in Bali (single female travelling solo) and was shocked how built up southern Bali is. However, it is very easy and very inexpensive to get around the island. For under $25 I would hire a car and driver for around 6 hours for various expeditions. When I was in Ubud, I hired one to take me to the temples and rice fields in the northern part if the island; one to drive me to the eastern part of the island where I stayed for a few days; one to explore many of the back roads. Many lovely places to stay from $30 to $75.

Thank you all for the advice. @Fanjoy, where did you stay in Ubud? I was looking for $50-$75 range closer to town.