BALI is a province of Indonesia which includes the Island of
Bali and other neighbouring islands Nusa
Penida, Nusa Lembongan and Nusa Ceningan. Bali is one of the
hottest tourist destinations in the world which boast of pristine beaches, volcanic
mountains, coral reefs, enthralling surfing experience and picturesque natural sites to
visit and explore the colourful ceremonies, and gifted artists of
Bali.
v Visa
Ø
Stay less
than 30 days: If you are staying for less than 30 days, then you DO NOT
need a Visa if you have an Indian passport. Once you reach Bali, you just need
to get the Visa exemption stamp on your passport from the Immigration counter
free of cost. No extension is possible in this type of Visa
General documents required:
·
A valid passport
·
Round trip ticket or through ticket to country
of destination
·
2 photographs(4 cm*6 cm)
·
Proof of sufficient funds to cover for expenses
during the stay
Ø
Stay
between 30 and 60 days: In this scenario, you will get visa for 30 days
only BUT with extension of 30 more days. The visa is NOT FREE for Indian
passport holders and you have to pay for the extension services as well.
Cost for extension:
·
Valid for 30 days
·
Can be extended in Indonesia ONLY once for
another 30 days
·
Cost for the Visa on arrival: USD 35
·
Cost for an extension in the Immigration office- 61.5 USD(IDR 800,000)
·
Voluntary: Visa Agent Fee- USD 26.50(IDR
350,000) * Preferable
Ø
Social
and Culture Visa B-211: Social and Culture Visa(B-211) should be applied
directly and this visa is valid for 60 days and is extendable. Below are the
details which we should be aware of before applying for this visa:
·
Valid for 60 days
·
To apply you usually need a sponsor
letter
·
Cost for the Social Visa: Please check with the embassy abroad
Extension:
·
B-211 Can be extended in Bali for up to 4 times
for a stay of 30 days each
·
Cost for an extension in the Immigration office -
61.5 USD(IDR 800,000)
·
Visa Agent Fee, if you use this service - USD
26.50
Imp Note: If you are travelling via
connecting destinations, please refer to the local jurisdiction immigration
rules.
v THE Trip
Alright, so we started on our honeymoon. But
as we know how much a big fat North Indian wedding takes a toll on your body, I
slept in our cab for the Bangalore airport( yeah, you have this luxury in
Bangalore courtesy to the distance of airport from normal places in the
Bangalore). We had a connecting flight from BLRà
Chennai à
Kuala lumpur à
Bali(~ 40K round trip for 2 person
including food)
Ø
Day1
à We reached Bali around
16:00 pm and headed straight to our hotel Hilton
in Nusa Dua. The hotel is extremely luxurious and staff was very courteous
and helpful as well. We booked the sea facing room with jaw dropping view from
the balcony:
View from
Balcony
After having a nap we headed for the private beach side restaurant of
Hilton for dinner. Please be mindful of the fact that Nusa Dua is a place full
of luxurious hotels with absolutely stunning views. But the other side of coin
is that you won’t find many food joints outside hotels. So, if you are planning
to go out for dinner, please start early as market closes little early in this
part of Bali.
The dinner at restaurant in the Hilton was quite an amazing experience;
with beach wind blowing and cozy sand beneath your feet makes it a perfect
place to kick start the trip and for a romantic dinner as well. We had Bali’s
staple Chinese noodle’s dish: Chicken
Mie Goreng and One 12 inch delicious Pizza. We took a stroll around the
private beach and took some rest at the loungers as well.
Ø
Day2
àNext day, after having
a luxurious breakfast (it was heaven for non-vegetarians and cake lovers), we
headed right straight to the heart of Bali for beach activities at Tanjung Benoa beach by Ciwa Sempuma. Your
Bali Holiday will not be complete without trying Bali Water Sport activities. All
Bali water sport activities operated at Tanjung Benoa Beach. There are overwhelmed
numbers of water sports organizers around the area so please don’t get confused.
Also this place boast of quite a few
interesting and unique water sports like Fly Boarding, Jet boarding,Flyfish
etc.
I would suggest you book the water
sports you want to perform beforehand only so as to save some time and hussle.
I booked the flyboarding for $50 and
it was one hell of an experience. Initially it was a fight to stand tall in the
air with water jet coming out of your shoes, but gradually got a hang of it.
Amazing to stand tall above 10-15ft from ocean, a must for all water sport lovers.
Breakfast @Hilton
Water Sports
activity in Tanjung Benoa Beach
After coming back to the hotel, the best way to get refreshed is to have
a dip in the pool. After that in the evening, we went to the one of the best
sunset point in the whole of Bali, which is Rock bar at Ayana resort & Spa. Perched atop distinctive rock
formations along Jimbaran’s pristine sunset coast, Rock Bar Bali is widely renowned
as one of the globe’s most popular sunset point which also has dramatic cliff
side inclinator. In addition to the soothing sunset vibe, and a seductive
after-dark ambience you can listen to premier international DJs playing music
for you as they heighten your experience from a custom DJ booth carved directly
into the cliff face. You can see the best view of sunset with water hitting the
rock just at your feet. We felt so good we were the last person in the night to
leave the point.
Considering the long waiting list here, I would recommend to book
your reservation well in advance.
Sunset
Point: Rock Bar, Ayana Resort
Ø
Day3
à Next day, we went for
3 island cruise trip by Bali Hie
towards the south coast of Nusa Penida and experienced the fastest and most
exciting full day cruise in Bali and we covered
the magnificent sights of Bali’s three sister islands; Nusa Lembongan, Nusa
Penida and Nusa Ceningan. We cruised through the South Coast of Nusa Penida and
view 300 foot high coastal cliffs and Bat Rock. We cruised through spectacular Ceningan Channel mangrove
area and towering limestone cliffs dropping straight into the sea, float by the
“Hole in the Rock” or the “Manta Point Gate” and beautiful secluded white sand beaches. There were two 45 mins snorkeling sessions
with two different absolute breathtaking places. The coral reefs were the
finest in the whole Bali with the highest safety standards.
The
Lunch was served in the middle of ocean and we couldn’t have asked for better
than this. In the last island, we got couple of water sports free of cost like
banana ride, jet ski, paddle board etc and it was just the perfect end to the day you
can expect.
Ø
Day4
à Next day we moved from
hussle bustle of Nusa dua to absolutely peaceful and pristine part of Bali
called UBUD. The place which boasts highly of its local handcraft and paddy fields,
truly stands out from other places in Bali. We stayed in Dedary Kriyamaha
Villas, the place was just perfect for a honeymoon couple. The hotel staffs
were very courteous and helping. Ours was a private pool villa and it
immediately took out all the tiredness in us and we were rejuvenated for our
rest of trip (Also, the message helped a lot too J).
Dedary
Kriyamaha Villas
I was highly impressed with the heavy use of organic products in home
decor, home essentials and even in food items. They even gave us the
complementary couple massage of 1hr and 4 course romantic dinner with beautiful
floral decoration was arranged for us
(as it was our honeymoon) as well.
Cliché,
but we still loved it
In the day time, we visited the hundreds and hundreds shops in local
market with unique carvings, handicrafts and designs. It would be tough to
control your shopping spree there.
Ø
Day 5
à Detour of the Luwak coffee
plantation in Bali. You can buy all kind of tea and coffee variety here
including one of most expensive variety of coffee called Luwak coffee. The
interesting/bizarre part of this coffee is how the beans are selected. It is
a coffee that consists
of partially digested coffee
cherries, which have been eaten and defecated by the Asian palm
civet. The cherries are fermented as they pass
through a civet's intestines, and after being defecated with other matter, they are
collected.
After spending 2 days in UBUD, we came back to Bali airport and then back
to India.
Ø
Do’s
and Don’ts
·
Do’s
o
Please book your cab rides at the time of
booking only
o
Trip organizers are generally quite punctual, so
please adhere to the time
o
Please keep some amount in USD as well as the
local currency IDR
o
Keep the multi socket charger
o
People are hospitable and quite generous, hence
please be kind to them and respect their religion(~90% are Hindus)
o
In case you are looking for some shopping
destination, kindly go to Bali
collection. You can take the shuttle as well to commute
·
Don’ts
o
Don’t exchange your currency to IDR or USD at
airport or any other exchange in Bali. There are many cases of duping and unfavourable
conversion rates. Hence kindly get the currency beforehand only. If required,
maybe you can convert at your Hotel (in case it is a good hotel). We got it converted
at our hotel only though not at an exact exchange price.
o
We had an unfortunate incident at the Kuala Lumpur
airport where AirAsia has cancelled our flight from KL to Kochi without any
prior information. We had to wait at the KL airport for around 20 hrs to get
the next flight. So, please ensure that you are booking the same airline through
the connecting flights as well to avoid such incidents
o
The booking of cabs/Uber is relatively costly as
compared to the prior booking in the package
Note:
- § Out total package for 1 couple cost us USD 1250(excl flight)
- § We booked our itinerary through the Agent named Gayatri from Serendipity Leisure Travels (+91-9820100565). She is an extremely wonderful and helpful lady with good in-depth knowledge of Indonesia and other parts of the world. I would highly recommend her if you want to plan your trip to Bali.
