BALI
Bali is an amazing country; it is thick with culture, people who genuinely care about you and beautiful sights. This year we went to Bali for our 3rd trip (you can view our other trips in our archive section) this time, we did something different, we took to the streets on a bike with backpacks with nowhere to sleep and no real plans, we feel like this year, we really experienced the essence of Bali.
The majority of tourists who visit Bali rarely leave the tourist hotspots only venturing out to go on day trips but once you get out of the hustle and bustle of these tourist destinations (Kuta, Legian, Sanur, Nusa Dua and even Seminyak) you realize there is so much more to Bali then what you see in the pamphlets. |
IMPORTANT LINKS
Newly Nomads blog on our 25 day trip around Bali. Here you'll not only find our daily blog, but places to stay, eat and visit around the island.
JAide Photographys website, go here to view Justins awesome snaps of our time in Bali. *All prices on this page are of AUD and are current from May 2014* |
the budget
We were easily living off $50 a day in Bali as a couple, however you could spend less, here is a breakdown of what we were spending. You'll also find more information about life in Bali as a backpacker on this page. View our planning guide here.
* Food/Drink: $20 A day. This will get you 3 meals per day (they are generous meals, we shared most days), a few snacks and drinks. Keep in mind that most home-stays provide you with a breakfast.
* Accommodation: $15-$20 a night. This could become much cheaper if you're a single person willing to sleep in a dorm, but for couples, this lands you in budget but not bedbug budget bedding.
* Transportation: $5 a day. For us, this was our motor bike, of course, this section may not even apply to you if you're looking into other methods of getting around.
* Other: $5- $10 a day. This will cover your other transportation needs; short taxi rides & petrol
* Food/Drink: $20 A day. This will get you 3 meals per day (they are generous meals, we shared most days), a few snacks and drinks. Keep in mind that most home-stays provide you with a breakfast.
* Accommodation: $15-$20 a night. This could become much cheaper if you're a single person willing to sleep in a dorm, but for couples, this lands you in budget but not bedbug budget bedding.
* Transportation: $5 a day. For us, this was our motor bike, of course, this section may not even apply to you if you're looking into other methods of getting around.
* Other: $5- $10 a day. This will cover your other transportation needs; short taxi rides & petrol
food/drinks
Food can cost as little or as much as you’d like here. During your time backpacking, Warungs (small local restaurants) will be your main hub for meals.
Most homestays will include a breakfast (usually this includes toast or pancakes and a hot drink but sometimes you can get lucky and have a awesome breakfast for free – which we did on several occasions) when looking for our accommodation we made sure we stayed in one with breakfast included. Lunch and Dinner meals here will cost you from $1.50-$5 for a generous main. We didn’t eat much from the street stalls, although we did have a banana pancake from one for about $1.80. We are lucky enough to be able to share a main meal and be comfortably full; most days we would order a small entrée (spring rolls or chips are about $1) and a main. The local cuisine in Bali is by far the best value for money, the more westernized the meal/restaurant is, |
the smaller the portion and the bigger the price.
Whenever you’re looking for somewhere to eat in Bali, make sure it has a few customers in it, especially if you are looking at eating from the street stalls, the more customers, the quicker the food turnover. Drinking is not surprisingly dirt cheap in Bali, Bintang is their local beer and there is honestly nothing better then freezing cold bottle of it on a hot Balinese day especially whilst sitting on a chair down at a beach bar drinking as the sun goes down. A small Bintang will set you back $2-$2.50 and a large $3-$4 in a bar, whilst soft drinks are usually around $1. Mini Marts, Circle K’s or beach bars are the cheapest for drinks (alcohol included) you can pick up beers for$1.50 and soft drinks for as little as 50cents. You can find more information on Indonesian food and a list of places we ate at on our Bali Blog page. |
accomodationFinding homestays in Bali is incredibly easy, the hardest spot for us was Canggu although there were plenty of places to stay they weren’t in our price range, if you are visiting that area I would recommend giving yourself plenty of time to find somewhere or adding an extra $10 to your budget if possible.
Bargaining for a room price is a must when you’re backpacking around the country, have a set price that you think is fair for the accommodation and be confident when asking for a cheaper price. Most nights (with the exclusion of Canggu and Legian) we were spending 150k rp (about $15.00) on a room, |
which almost always included breakfast, sometimes – depending on the area – this included hot water and air-conditioning. Don’t be afraid to have a look around for different rooms (we were about to settle in one place for 150k a night - $15 – which was dirty, single beds, fan only and had a really quiet restaurant. We ended up finding somewhere for $20 a night with air condition and lets just say $5 goes a long way).
Ask to look in the rooms before you settle on a price and speak to the staff, you’ll get a pretty good idea if they have any wiggle room or not. You can find more information on Bali accommodation and a list of places we stayed on our Bali Blog page. |
transport
There are 3 major ways to get around Bali for tourists.
Taxis – Best for short distant trips, we have never had a problem with a Balinese Taxi, when getting into the vehicle the first thing you need to ensure is that they are willing to use their meter, keep the door slightly open and clearly say to them “Im going to ___, meter only” if they hesitate get out and wait for the next one, there’s plenty of them. Blue Bird Taxi’s are the best, although we have used all companies with no issues. Scooter – To us this is by far the best way get around Bali (I said best, not safest). You don’t need an international or local license but only take this option if you are experienced. We highly recommend practicing your scooter skills in a smaller town before hitting the streets of Kuta. The busy roads can be difficult to get used to, however once you understand how the traffic works in Bali its much easier to get into the flow of things, the main thing to remember is to respect others on the road, you are a very, very small fish in a huge, busy and dangerous pond. There is a good amount of police in Bali, especially on busy roads. When stopped at traffic lights try to hide behind buses or trucks, keep a look out for them on the side of the road and if you see them move into the middle of the traffic. |
When riding always keep 50krp separate to your money, we have our daily money tucked into Justin’s underpants and our bribe money in our wallet, if they happen to pull you over they’ll try and act like there is no way out except to pay a huge fine. Treat them with respect, but speak to them like they’re your friends, continue to apologise and throw in a few lines like “this is our last few days here”, “we did not know” and “we are backpacking and do not have that sort of money” eventually you will have to show them your wallet and explain this is all you have, if you slip them a sneaky 50k rp it is highly unlikely that they’ll continue to ask for more unless they know you’ve got it.
Private Vans– You’ll see the people in the street stalls call out “Yes, transport?” to you everyday when you walk around, but once you find someone you like, stick with them. They are amazing value, most of them will take you to your desired destinations with recommended stops on the way and have a nap in their van whilst they wait for you to finish exploring. If you know anyone who has been to Bali before and used a paid tour guide, ask them for their details, its not only helpful to have a local contact in Bali but its also good to give your money to someone you know is honest and reliable. We use our dear friend Gusti, his stand is located on double six street (about 50m up the road from Warung Murah) or you can go to his Facebook page. |
shoppingBargaining:
Bali's shopping is a dream, but remember, the things you buy are likely to break easily (thats if they don't break whilst you're still in Bali) an essential skill when shopping in the local markets is bargaining, we've tried to come up with some of our best advice for shopping, here it is: Don’t look too interested in anything, browse through all items and subtly go back to the item you’d like. |
When asking them how much something is come back with a quarter of their price, they’ll laugh at your offer and act like you’ve insulted them, but this is where the bartering fun begins. You’ll have to meet them a little bit higher then your first price (usually about a third of their offer). Once again, pick a price which you would like to pay and don’t go over it, I grantee you the next market stall will have the exact same item. They’ll tell you “C’mon serious price please” or “that to cheap!” but stick to it and if all else fails tell them its okay and walk out of the stall, if they let you go, maybe the price you were asking for was a little too low… Remember, at the end of the day, you may be arguing over 50cents. |
tippingThe first few times we went to Bali we tipped almost everywhere we went, this time, being on a strict budget, we kept tipping to a minimal and received no pressure towards tipping. Just remember, sometimes its not worth waiting for small change, it may only be 5cents.
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moneyThere are heaps of different money exchangers and ATM’s in Bali, we use the ones at Circle K’s and have never had any issues. Be careful of money exchanges offering high conversion rates, always check your money at the counter and watch them like a hawk. Just because a sign says 'Authorised Money Changer' does not mean they are safe, or authorised for that matter.
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