We are contemplating traveling to Bali then to Ubud for a close friend's wedding in mid-October. We have flights on hold via frequent flier miles. Our main concern is safety in that part of the world? The State Department website has not updated the Indonesia link since the bombing in Nov 05. Any help would be appreciated.

There has been a travel warning for Indonesia since way before the first bombing in 2002. Stay away from crowds and exercise the normal precautions. Bali is an awesome place where you could easily spend 2 weeks. See my 6-part trip report at:

http://www.balitravelforum.com/archive200307/11747.html

Craig,
Is there a hotel in particular you would recommend in Bali? We would be arriving Oct 4th and would have a week before we needed to be in Ubud for the four day wedding festivities. Is a week too long? We would prefer something on the beach. The rooms are unbelievably reasonable. Is this the norm?

Please read my trip report - things haven't changed that much since we were there in 2003. You will conclude that a week is not too long. The beaches are no big deal on Bali but the Hotel Tugu where we stayed was great if you need to be near water. Others will chime in on other beach areas that are more generic in nature. I think prices are quite reasonable compared to the Caribbean, for example but on par for Asia.

we loved the conrad which opened only last year....it is directly on the beach at the south side of the island...not far from airport and about 1 hour from ubud...

suggest you hire a driver while there for a few days to see the island....many of us followed craig's advice and hired putu...he is fantastic and only about $40 for a full day...

we also stayed at the older bali hyatt, which is in sanur, a small town on the southern side of the island also....we loved the town because of its services..

like craig we used balidiscovery.com for assistance with some hotels....

forget the safety issue....hopefully it is totally past....

bali is fantastic

i hope to go back soon..

The Conrad Bali is very nice. Time flies, Bob. It's been two years.

Obviously, Mr. W, to "forget" the safety issue, as the previous poster rhkmhk suggested, would be a very foolish, and indeed, incomprehensible, piece of advice to follow.

I have spoken on the issue of Bali many times, the threat of another terrorist attack remains very high in this area, as al-Qaeda affiliated groups, but particularly, al-Qaeda itself, has a particular MO of striking the same places again and again-so an obvious target in this area would be Bali. However, the situation has stabilized somewhat since last year's Bali attack; there is no new information that I am aware of (unlike last year) of imminent and credible threats to commit another terrorist attack in Indonesia at the moment.

You should be very aware of what's going on around you, and try to stay away from public gathererings of westerners, if possible. Remember, the last attack occurred when the bomber walked right into a restauarnt with a huge backpack strapped on his back-you would think, that there would have been metal detectors or some sort of security outside a restaurant catering to foreigners, but there wasn't. Myself, I would be checking out the security situation as to any off-site restaurant I decided to go to in Bali.

One thing to keep in mind, as the State Department suggests, you should register your trip online with the State Department (this is a very good practice to follow anywhere in the world, but particularly in SE Asia). If a disaster hits, and the US Consulate has to do a search, it's an awful lot easier when they know where in the world you are, and where you're supposed to be-it could make all the difference in the world if there's an emergency.

The instructions for trip registration on the State Dept.'s website can be found here:

travel.state.gov/travel/tips/registration/registration_1186.html

Strongly suggested that you do this-and it only takes a few minutes.

mwinthrop, I'm an American who has lived in Indonesia for 11 years. I travel to Bali frequently. All I can say is security in today's world is relative and you have to weigh your individual comfort level.

The US State Department and many other countries' embassies have had travel advisories on Indonesia including Bali since 1998. There is no getting around the fact that the country has been afflicted by terrible terrorist attacks and awful natural disasters. In spite of that, I believe the risk of being personally affected or godforbid harmed is very, very low. All of the hotels and restaurants are security conscious and the attitude of individual Indonesian is supremely hospitable.

My favorite beach resort is the Legian in the Seminyak area. It is a lovely property -- well designed, spacious rooms all with balconies overlooking the sea, good food, beautiful pool, serene grounds.

Seminyak beach is long and lively, good for walking and wave watching though a bit rough for swimming. The area has the best shops, spas and restaurants in Bali. It's quite close to everything so you can walk or take short taxi rides.

http://ghmhotels.com/hotels/hotel_ho...p;section=home

I wouldn't have any problem filling up a week at the Legian, but it depends on what you like to do. The Ubud area has a lot more to offer in the arts and nature related activities. The beach, is, well, the beach, but there are plenty of water sports, shopping and self indulgent passtimes.

Marmot-I think it is quite the exaggeration to say that "all the hotels and restaurants are security conscious" in Bali. How do you know that, and what, exactly does that mean? If it were true, then such "security consciousness" should have been in place last year-when the second attack, occurred, no?

In fact, if you'll recall the video taken by someone in the restauarnt, the terrorist casually walked in with that huge backpack strapped to his back, and no one stopped him at the door, there was no security guard or metal detector present-no security was in place when the threat of an attack was extremely high-at a restaurant frequented almost exclusively by tourists. I also remember someone on this board who went to Bali just after the attack and did not see any noticeable increase in security at the western restaurants.

Now the big hotels will have plenty of security-but a traveler should really check out the situation before going to an off-site public place where westerners gather-if it doesn't appear that there is any sort of security check at the door, one would be well advised to give such a place a pass.

Unfortunately, I don't think any amount of security consciousness is going to prevent terrorism. It seems to be that terrorism is a threat we will all have to face regardless of where we are or what we do. Sadly, it has become a fact of life, whether you are in Bali, London, Madrid, Tokyo, New York. No place is immune to it. No person is immune to it either, unless they just stay home and don't leave the house, and even then, there is no guarantee.

Consider the travel warnings. Get all the information you can. Evaluate the risk that you perceive for yourself...everyone is different in this aspect so know that what is acceptable risk for one person may not be acceptable risk for another.

Specifically about Bali: the Balinese people are dependent upon tourism, that's a fact. They do not want terrorism on their island. I believe that pretty much everyone is pretty conscious there of the risks, and they do what they can to keep the island secure, for themselves and for tourists. Imagine what a horrible place it would be (or anywhere would be for that matter) if airport-style security measures were in place for every hotel, shop, restaurant, taxi, car, bank, travel agency, museum...imagine living your life that way, imagine your holiday that way...not good, right? It's simply not practical to expect security to be like that. It's not like that in New York, and there has been a major terrorist attack there and more than one incidence of suspected imminent event that had the whole city on guard. But do New Yorkers have security checks everywhere the go? No. Are the more or less safe than a tourist would be in Bali? Who knows...there is no way to know where or when the next attack will be; that's the nature of terrorism.

I don't know the answer as to whether you should go or not. It's kind of like being in a car...every day we get into our cars and play the odds that we won't crash, and almost every day we come out OK. But the risk of driving or being a passenger in an automobile is significant. Auto crashes are the leading cause of death to children under 15...yet we allow our children to ride in cars all the time. Sure, we use the appropriate restraints and then seat belts when they are big enough, but still, the risk is real, very real. I'm not sure how this is so different from going to Bali...your chance of being personally involved in a terrorist attack in Bali may well be higher than your chances of an attack in Vermont...but really, is the real risk so great that you don't go? That depends on you, I suppose.

Good points Kim. As a New Yorker who takes the subways on a daily basis, I know they are not secure, nor can they be. It's just not feasible. You just have to keep your eyes open and hope for the best.

I'm going to Bali at the end of August and while I'm not terribly worried about a terrorist attack (after all, I survived the earthquake in Yogyakarta that killed almost 6000 people so I'm more worried about a natural disaster), I will keep my eyes open and be aware of what is around me. I don't know if I'll be making a return visit to Jimbaran for seafood this visit since there was an attack there last year, but if I do, it will be at an hour between lunch and dinner, when it won't be crowded and will present itself as a less attractive target.

I can't think many places on the planet that would be immune from terrorism.

Indeed, it seems to me that Bangkok is about 1000x more likely to be a terrorist target than Bali, both because of Thailand's Western ties and because of the ongoing strife between the non-Muslim central government and the Muslim rebels in the south.