Bali
Visa
You can get Indonesian visa on arrival to Denpasar airport. Single entry visa for 30 days costs 25$. It is possible to extend such visa in Indonesia for 30 days. You can pay for your visa in US $ or Indonasian Rupiah. We advise you to have the sum without change. If not – you can get it in 1$ notes.
If you leave Indonesia after your visa has been expired you have to pay penalty 20$ for each day of expiration.
If you plan longer trip, you can get social visa in Indonesian consulate. The duration of such visa is up to 60 days, its price – 45$. Such visa can be prolonged 4 times for 30 days. And you don’t need to leave the country for this. The price for each extension is about 25$ or 70$ (at the law office).
When you enter Indonesia you have to fill immigration carte that you should keep until the end of your trip.
How to get to us
Very good service and interesting offers are proposed by “Etihad Airways”, “Qatar Airways”, “Emirates”, especially if you are not strictly limited in dates of your trip.
If you plan to see Singapore you should go directly to the office/web-site of “Singapore airlines”. It will be a pleasant news for you that this company has a proposal that affords you to spend a day in Singapore and to get many other advantages (such as night in hotel for 1 eu, discounts in museums/restaurants etc…)
Little bit more expensive but with excellent service will be “Korean Airlines”, “Japan Airlines”, "Cathay Pacific" etc…
Money
Official currency is Indonesian rupiah. In May 2011 the exchange rate was about 8500 Rp for 1$. If you change US $ you should be aware about some particularities. For the notes of different value the exchange rate can differs from 10 to 200 Rp (the highest is for 100$).
The rate can be lower for the notes of DH, DB series as well as for the notes issued before 2001.
Money exchange offices are everywhere. But the rates can differ a lot. If the rate is too high, very probably, that you will be asked to pay commission, or you will be just cheated.
International payment cards such as American Express, Visa, MasterCard are accepted in airports, big hotels and trade centers. ATMs are everywhere.
Internet
Wi-Fi is everywhere. In touristic areas you can also find Internet-cafés. The speed of connection is not very high, but you will get used to it quickly.
Food
To understand the Balinese kitchen you should go to waroeng – tables of bar, where on the window you will find already prepared meal. Food is served on the plates with forks and spoons instead of knifes. The quality of the food is very good, o you can easily try soup bakso for 5000 Rp (0,5$) or mi goreng (fried noodle with different ingredients) for 8000-10000 Rp.
The main ingredient of Balinese kitchen is rice. Traditional food is very complicated for preparation, that’s why you can try them during big holidays. Though the traditional dishes of other islands such as chicken soup (soto ayam), stewed vegetables with peanut sauce (gado-gado) you can try almost in every restaurant. Pork is also served in Bali.
For desert you can choose tropical fruits: rambutan, jackfruit and durian – fruit that smells like a hell and tastes like a paradise.
Insurance
Don’t forget to buy touristic insurance. Medical care is very good in Bali, but very expensive. Vaccination is not obligatory if you are not going to visit neighbor islands.
Time
Local time is GMT +8. There is no winter and summer time. The difference with Jakarta is 1 hour (GMT +7).
Transport
The easiest way to move here is to take a motorbike. It will be cheaper for you if you rent it for the longer period. For example if you rent a bike for a couple of days the price will be about 3$. If you rent it for a months – about 60$.
You can rent an automobile as well. Microbus Suzuki APV will cost you about 30$ per day.
You can also use taxi. We recommend you Bluebird Taxi as drivers speak English well and always use taximeter.
Calls
Local SIM-cart costs about 30000 rup (3$).
SMS abroad cost about 600 rup, calls – 8000 rup.
Customs:
You are restricted to bring not more than 200 cigarettes (or 50 cigars or 100gr of tobacco); 2 liters of alcohol.
Night life
Favorite place of surfers all over the world, centre of night clubs it is for sure Kuta.
Go to Legian in the evening and visit all clubs on your way to understand what do you prefer. Here is a plan for you: Sky Garden – 3 dance floors of good electro music, Green Box – is not a club but cult place of all who spend time in Bali. Apache – reggae bar, then Bounty – probably the youngest place in terms of public. And then, go to Espresso bar – live music of different styles. It is very nice that all places mentioned above are located very close to each other.
Climate
Tropical and humid.
There are 2 clear seasons – season of rains and dry season. The temperature is +30 during the year, in the mountains can be colder +10. Water +25 (colder during the dry season, warmer during the rain season). It never happens when it rains several days.
Official language of Bali – bahasa Indonesia. The native language of Bali people – Balinese. In resort areas almost all people speak English. But if you decide to go further it can be difficult to communicate with local people. The Balinese people are very friendly and will never refuse you to help.