Tips for a Better Holiday in Bali

Published 6 months, 3 weeks ago in Guides by Sidarta Wijaya | 648 Views

“Bali time” is an expression that shows the Balinese reluctance to be obsessed by punctuality but many Balinese in tourism industry or other economic sectors are now familiar with punctuality. This “Bali time” is still used in traditional ceremony, punctual visitors who want to cover a cremation or other ceremony have to wait for an hour or two, be patience.

Keep cool is a golden rule in Bali. Patience is very helpful in this island where everything takes a little longer to accomplish then you are used to. Always in a hurry may turn your holiday into a nightmare. Talking loudly and forcefully will results more consolation words from Balinese, and will impede the immediate action to solve the problem since Balinese will hear your complaints patiently up to finish. Once again, there is no use to be in a hurry, besides you are in holiday anyway.

The best time to visit Bali is during the dry season, from May through September since the weather is pleasant and the visitor can enjoy a long and uninterrupted tropical sunshine. However, it is also the tourist season; the visitors will likely compete for hotel room or villa. The toughest competition will occur in the period of two weeks before and after Christmas and New Year, when Australians are on holiday and domestic visitors flood in from Java.

How much money you spend per day in Bali depends upon your tastes, the level of comfort you want, where you want to go, how you get there, and what season you traveling in. In high season -Juli to August and Christmas holiday, you will spend more money since the price of all tourist accommodation goes up a little bit. Most tourists and travelers stay within the Sanur-Kuta-Nusa Dua axis where price is higher than the rest of the island.

Do not think in your home currency when shopping in Bali. Asking how much Indonesian currency is worth in your home country money than feeling relieved and grateful for the cheap price, is dangerous for your budget. Think in rupiah. Think that the stuff you want to buy does not “just” a buck, it cost 9,000 rupiah.

Your trip to Bali will not be a great moment if you are constantly obsessed with getting the cheapest price. Bali is cheap by any foreign standard. Instead of paying Rp. 60,000, for a great meal many travelers pay Rp. 15.000 or less for a simple fired rice and soft drink. Why travel and save few bucks if you eat rice the whole time?

Always carry enough small change and bills to pay for taxi or public transport driver and market sellers. If you pay with big bills they can use “out of change” pretext to charge you higher than the normal price or simply give you less money than they owe you.

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This entry was posted on Wednesday, October 24th, 2007 at 7:41 am and is filed under Guides. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site. Tags: bar & restaurant, hotels & villas, kuta, nusa dua, sanur, tips, tourist, travel.