edmondgreen

Can anyone help me with suggestions for proper lightweight clothing for Bali in April? My wife and I are in our sixties. Should I buy appropriate clothing at home in the States before going or can I buy good clothing there? I understand I will need long sleeves and long pants for visiting temples. Should the clothing be cotton? Also, I understand that I'd be better received socially by the Balinese if I wear nicer clothing. How nice? Any help on this topic would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you,

Ed and Rebecca Green
([email protected])

christycruz

After spending a month in Bali, I can't ever remember dressing for anything but comfort while I was there.

As long as your clothes aren't stained and torn, and fit, you should be fine. As long as you aren't wearing beach clothes in the temples you should be fine.

Choose clothes that you would normally choose to go anywhere hot. An extra pair of khakis are usually handy to have on any trip, even if you never plan on leaving the beach.

What other clothing were you thinking you may need to buy?

The Balinese are warm, generally, and will receive you well if you are polite and warm in return.

There's a mall in Kuta, and other clothing stores around. I liked shopping there, but I don't like *having* to shop. I recommend bringing what you need.

edmondgreen

Dear Christy,

Thank you very much for your advice about what to wear in Bali. I appreciate greatly hearing about your experience there. We'll definitely bring our own lightweight, quick dry, breathable, etc, REI-type clothing. Christy, may I ask you a few more questions about your travel experience to Bali? We booked the first three nights at a hotel on the beach in Seminyak to recuperate from the flight, then the plan is to transfer to a hotel in Ubud for a few nights. Then we thought we'd play it by ear. My question is this: is it easy enough to just wing it as far as accomodations are concerned after our reservations are up? By wing it I mean to call ahead that day or the night before to a hotel when we move on to another area of Bali. We thought maybe use Ubud as a central location from which to take day trips or overnight trips to see other parts of the island. Is this a good idea? Also, I thought it would be fun to stay one or two nights on one of those off shore island paradises like Nusa Lembongan or Gilli Islands for swimming, snorkelling and doing nothing. Have you been there? Any travel tips? Also, we want to stay perhaps in a mountain village like Munduk to do some light hiking. Did you go there or another mountain village and do hiking or walking? Any tips? Also, I wanted to ask about your experience with the mosquito situation. I gather it's crucial to slather up with DEET as much as possible - true?

Any help you could give us on these questions would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you again for your extremely kind reply,

Edmond Green and Rebecca Green
Palm Springs, CA
email: [email protected]

christycruz

We were there primarily so my husband could surf, so other than a short stay in Ubud, we stayed on the coast. We were there in November and the rains were late so it was very hot and very muggy...even more than usual I'm told. I was not interested in hiking

Other than our first hotel, we did wing it. By wing it I mean drive into town and find a hotel. April should be fine for that. It's good to check out two or three hotels before you settle on one. Have your driver help you with this. The prices made so sense at all. A place with no AC and no pool would be more than the place next door with both. You can bargain, especially if you pay in cash.

And about cash. Many if not most of the ATMs only give out a small amount of cash. We found ourselves going every day. It was helpful to have two ATM cards because I once used my ATM twice in a row and my bank shut down my card as a security protocol (they knew I was in Bali but found the two ATM uses in a row suspicious).

We didn't go to the islands, but friends of ours have, and loved it. We got to Uluwatu, fell into a groove there, and didn't leave for two weeks.

The bugs were only a problem at dusk (although perhaps in the mountains it's different?) Repellent is a good idea. Many of the restaurants will light a citronella or similar under your table which helps too. It wasn't a memorable problem, but it was also the end of the dry season.

I found interacting with the Balinese to be the best memories of the trip. At first it was difficult because they all want your business and you are constantly approached. But I found the more questions I asked about them and their culture, the more friendly they became. They are, as a group, friendly and generous. It's just the initial touts that are a shock. Don't let that turn you off.

edmondgreen

Dear Christy,

Thank you again for this wonderful advice. A quick question about money: We'll for sure use our ATM card(s), but what about traveller's checks? Should I bring a bunch? and which denominations? Also, regarding transportation, I gather from your blog that basically to go anywhere for sightseeing you hired a driver/car for the day for about 400,000 rupiahs/day. What about just going say from Ubud to Uluwatu with luggage in tow? Did you use other transport like buses (bemos?), taxis? What was the best transportation for this kind of travel?

Thank you again; you're a fount of knowledge and I appreciate so much your willingness to share it.

Warm regards, Ed Green

christycruz

ATM and credit cards are most useful. I never bring traveler's checks anymore, and there are many threads to read here on Fodor's about them. I do usually bring some dollars on me as one more temporary option, but not much (not usually over $200). There will be an ATM at the airport. Perhaps Bali is one of the last places traveler's checks work well, because of the ATM cash limits, but I don't know.

For transportation, I was most comfortable getting a driver. I really did not want to drive in that traffic. The cost is up for negotiation and depends upon how far you will travel. We hired a driver to take us from Kuta to Medewi, from Medewi to Ubud, and from Ubud to Uluwatu. I can't remember the cost, but at least it wasn't memorable! Which is good since our trip was low budget.

Bemos are interesting and worth taking, but only for short distances. We took a bemo from Medewi to Negari (a 20 minute drive perhaps). Taxis were plentiful in Kuta, but once you leave the cities, you are more likely to find private cars/drivers.

november_moon

For the temples, every one we went to had sarongs to borrow if you weren't dressed properly. My husband wears long short - khaki style mostly - and he always got wrapped in a sarong to go into the temples. I wore capris or skirts below the knee and was always fine.