What you would advise I should go and see in Bali, unfortunately i’ve only got a week!

Also i have no idea how expensive it is there. How much cash do i need per day to cover hotels/Food/trips/beer etc

Any advice would be great.

Thanks

Ed

Don’t go overboard on the Bintang beer. I did on the first night we got there and spent the next few days avoiding alcohol.

We did a cycle tour thing that the wife booked which was really enjoyable, started off at a “coffee plantation” tour that was designed to seperate tourists from cash but was enjoyable anyway, then spent the day cycling through several rural communities, had a go at rice harvesting, and then we were provided with a proper up-slap feast and as much beer as we could drink. Had several more bottles of Bintang thrust upon us for the taxi ride back to the hotel. Think this was with Bali On Bike or something like that.

Other than that, diving if you fancy it. Scuba diving on the USAT Liberty wreck at 5am was amazing, bumphead parrotfish, barracuda and a perforated eardrum, though I wouldn’t recommend the last bit. Put a bit of a downer on the last few days of the holiday…

Food was cheap. Ate in the nicest place we could find and including wine and a tip it cost us 50 quid for the two of us. Make sure you try the beef rendang at least once. The local mixed grill was also amazing, usual mixed grill fare plus crab and half a lobster.

Went on my honeymoon there 5 years ago, where are you staying?

Also, ignore the horror stories, Arak is the nectar of the gods!

Be careful.
A potential no rosette situation.

How about Dorset?

If u are in Ubud and like natural history. Try Bali Bird walks. One of the highlights of our trip! Su was a brilliant host, good fun, knowledgable and also gave us a huge insight into the lives of locals, explaining the culture etc. lovely curry afterwards and a cold bintang. Awesome!

Where are you staying?

Depending on age, get smashed in kuta and get hit on by ladyboys and overweight Australian women 😆

Learn a bit of Indonesian before you go, it’s easy and makes a bit of a difference. Most importantly ‘no thankyou’ is (phonetically) ti-dak drima-kas-ee

I wasn’t a big fan of Bali when I lived in Singapore but that’s because I’d focused on the beach resorts. There’s a lot to discover inland, friends just got back from a great trip (2 weeks mind). If you can dive there are some excellent spots, not sure if it’s the season at the moment.

Budget wise you can get by for very little, the further off the tourist track you go the cheaper it is.

Avoid the places that the aussies on Jetstar are heading too…
Check the volcano cover on your travel insurance, in the last one the grounded flights for a week many people were denied payouts as they had chosen to travel despite the fact there was a high chance of getting stuck.

double post

Go inland, Ubud is nice and the central and northern areas are lovely. Go climb a volcano. Be careful of monkeys, they are evil evil sods. Foods good and cheap, massages are also a bargain. Kuta etc is a horrible tropical version of Magaluf and solely exists to bring out the worst in both the balinese and the australians who stay there.

If you just want to go on the lash go stay down the Kuta beach area,if you want the opposite of that go to Ubud,lovely place.We rented mopeds one day & rode around most of the island,another time we rented bicycles.Not sure if there’s any mountain biking, they’ve certainly got the terrain for it.

Check out airbnb for cheap villas if you haven’t already booked. We stayed in Seminyak, which was lovely. 2 buildings, pool and maid service, £30/night.

If you’re reasonably fit, get in touch with the Bali Hash House Harriers. We had a magical day running through rice fields and jungles near Ubud, followed by a giant piss-up in a jungle clearing afterwards. Cost about $10 each for the job lot.

Other than that, it’s a cheap or expensive as you want to make it. Enjoy.

While we were biking in Thailand we met an Aussie who spent his holidays biking all over SE Asia. He said Bali was by far the best for downhilling. Massively underrated and under developed.

Rusty Spanner – I think your thinking of Cuba there sir. Although Dorset is appealing, with it’s wonderful Bulbarrow Hill.

On topic for a second though, I have seen a few articles over on Pinkbike about MTB in Bali. Worth a search.

Surfing. Some of the best surf in the world and lovely warm water.