BALI – A Trip to Heaven

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

*Details of Visa extension

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.

I had a connecting flight from Kuala-lumpur and I had to change terminals to catch the connecting flights. Now, due to the reason that terminal of my connecting flight is actually quite far from my arriving terminal, I had to take an internal subway. For this, you have to take the Malaysia Visa/e-Visa(multiple entry if you are returning via the same route)

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.               

                                                              The famous ‘Hole in the Rock’

                                                      The Lunch in the middle of nowhere

                                                         Snorkelling in the ocean

                                                     Paddle Board in Nusa Lembongan island

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.

Also Read: A Trip to Coorg - The Scotland of India

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