Exotic Bali : By Steve Lusher

Bali is a province in the country of Indonesia. The province covers a few small neighbouring islands as well as the Isle of Bali. The main island is located in the westernmost end of the Lesser Sunda Islands, lying between Java to the west and Lombok to the east. It is one of the country’s 34 provinces with the provincial capital at Denpasar towards the south of the island.

Flying to Bali is a bit of an experience in itself; it can involve 1, 2 or even 3 stopovers if flying from the UK. The most direct option with only 1 stopover is to fly via Singapore, Hong Kong or Kuala Lumpar so to maximize your experience. What is quite often done is to package Bali as a 2 center destination i.e Bali and Hong Kong, Bali and Singapore or Bali and Kuala Lumpar. Choosing one of these options the flying time can be as little as 17 – 20hrs.

Other cheaper options with 2 or 3 stopovers are via Amsterdam, Paris, Dubai and Doha. Flying time can be as long as 24-30hrs. I would recommend you weigh up the saving that is made against the time spent traveling; sometimes the price difference is minimal.

UK Passport holders can get a Visa on Arrival. There is an Arrival and Departure Tax at Bali Airport. The Arrival Tax must be in US dollars (USD25) and the Departure Tax is (RP1500) paid in the local currency IDR Indonesia Rupiahs. The current exchange rate is £1 = RP15,013.

Climate wise in Bali; rainly season is December – March however we didn’t have any rain while we were there this February. Temperature year round is between 24’ – 32’ and humidity averages between 60% – 80%. The dry season with least humidity is June – September.

Balinese and Indonesian are the most widely spoken languages in Bali, and the vast majority of Balinese people are bilingual or trilingual. English is widely spoken amongst the locals

Staying in Bali can be as simple and cheap or grand and luxurious as you want it to be, it just depends on your budget. There are plenty of guesthouses and hostels to be found as well as run of the mill hotels then at the other end of the scale you can stay at the Oberio or W Hotel. Another option which you may want to look at and is great value, is to stay in a villa. Villa’s come in all sizes 2, 3, 4, and 5 bedroom and budgets to match. If there’s enough of you going, it can be more economical than staying at one of the 5* hotels. We stayed in the town of Semenyak one of the nicer areas of Bali at a fantastic villa called Villa Issa which came with its own full-length pool, gym, driver, chef and 24-hour butler.

What’s there to do in Bali?

In one sentence ‘As Little or As Much As You Want To Do’. You can laze by the pool all day and soak up the sun with a cocktail in hand or go for a Balinese or Indonesian Spa Treatment. And then to the other extreme you can go rafting on the Telaga Waja and Ayung river. Alternatively surf the waves off the Bali Strait and there are plenty of places to go snorkeling off the coast as well.

Visit the Bali National Park. Tegenungan Waterfall, visit the hot springs, the Besakih Temple or a trip to Kintamani and climb the volcano. If you do this, I recommend you that you go first thing in the morning due to the temperatures come mid-day and early afternoon. A must is to see the sunset at Ku De Ta, even if you only go there once. Check with the hotel or google the time for sunset and get there ½ – 1 hr earlier as it does get very busy.

One of our days out was as a trip inland to Ubud. It’s a great little town with character, with fab silver shops (Bali is known for silver jewelry production) and don’t forget to barter. There’s is a great restaurant just outside Ubud called Indus is has superb views over the Rice Terraces. Eating out in Bali is so in-expensive its unreal, however the food is fantastic. We recommend that you always drink bottled water in both the bars, restaurants and at the hotel or villa.

Most of the gay life centers around Seminyak and consists of late night bars. There are no ‘clubs’ as we have in the UK. Most of the bars are open until the mid hours of the morning and usually busy from 10pm onwards. All the bars have some form of cabaret either a drag queen or bar go go dancers most evenings.

Word of advice, pickpockets are a common occurrence in the bars and western tourists are the obvious targets. If anyone buys you a drink we would advise you watch what is being bought for you.