Tag Archives: Bali
My Favourite Hotels Rooms for under $40 per night! (Part 2)
In part 1 of this post, I featured a hotel in Thailand (Ko Lanta) and Nepal (Pokhara) that we had found to be great finds for under $40 per night. (Link back to Part 1). I have selected hotels that are under the $40 per night level, as this is the expense level I try to keep to, when long term traveling. This amount is about where I feel I need be, to get some comfort and character, but also be sustainable for long term travel. In part 2 of this post, I am looking at a hotel in two more of my favourite long term traveler friendly countries – Vietnam and Bali (Indonesia).
Bali
Puri Bening Hayato, Toya Bungkah
We found this hotel while doing a cross island scooter trip a couple of years ago, and I have done some investigation to make sure it still exists! This was a very old hotel, and in h=need of a bit of repair at the time, but at $25 per night it was cheap, spacious, and in another wonderful location. Toya Bungkah is located on the side of Lake Batar, and both the lake and town are located in the crater of the active volcano, Mt Batar. To reach the town you travel down into the crater from the road that runs around the volcano rim at kintamani. The town is located in a fertile market garden area, and drying onions where the dominant smell when we visited. The hotel had excellent views from our 3rd floor room, both to the volcano behind us and the lake and rim wall in-front. In addition, it was an older, 70′s style complex, with big rooms, and adjoining balconies. And we were the only guests! It was cheap, retro, and located in a surprisingly non-balish corner of Bali! limited information available at http://hotelpuribeningbali.com/
Lake Batar
Overlooking the carpark!
Vietnam
Sea Star Resort, Phu Quoc Island
Vietnam is probably the ultimate for hotel rooms under $40.00 per night, in-fact I can only think of 1 hotel I have stayed in, in two visits to Vietnam that cost more than $40.00! But for comfort, friendly family run service, and amazing location, the Sea Star Resort, Phu Quoc Island rates as the best in my opinion. This resort has a series on bungalows, set in 3 or 4 rows facing the the beach and ocean. The front row is right in the sand of the beach, and the second row, where our $40 bungalow as, was a mere 5 meters or so from the beach, with access and views between the front ones, to the beach. In addition, Sea Star has an excellent restaurant located under the palm trees beachfront, that served as good a local food as any of the restaurants in town. They rented motor-scooters for only a few dollars a day, and happily suggest routes and day trips to enjoy. Absolutely recommend the Sea Star resort, and refer as many people as possible to their website for more information – www.seastarresort.com
Sea Star Resort
Restaurant at Sea Star Resort
These two posts cover 1 cheap but nice hotel in each of my favourite countries. I hope this gives either comfort, lead or food for thought if you are heading to any of these places. I think I might keep this series going for a few more posts, and see if I can share some info on a few more places I have stayed under $40. keep you posted!
Tipping Hotel Staff in Bali?
Tipping… oh my god, what a confusing, hard to understand concept.
Yes, you guessed it, I am AUSTRALIAN!!
And we just have no clue how, when or who we should tip when we are in countries where tipping is standard practice, considering we would virtually never tip at home.
So, I am not a complete idiot, and I realise I need to tip the porter who brings my bags to my room, as well as the waiter or waitress who serves my meal, but who else? Where do you draw the line? I don’t know!
So these are my dilemmas. I am going to list a series of scenarios I faced while in Bali last week, and weather or not I should have tipped the people involved.
- Breakfast we delivered to my villa, it was included in the cost of thew room, so I didn’t pay at the time, But should I have tipped the kitchen staff who delivered?
- We had a spa day. 3 hours, with a series of services from different staff. Should we have tipped each person?
- Our Villa complex had a small reception crew, who we regularly spoke to us, we asked them to call us taxis, confirm flights etc. Should we have tipped them, and would you have to tip all half a dozen of the staff.
Should we have tipped?
I just never know, so if in doubt, I don’t tip! I think the Balinese are probably understanding of this, as so many Australians visit, but I’m sure they would love to train us better!
Mmmm. I must be feeling guilty, because the hospitality at the Astana Kunti Villas was absolutely sensational. Consider them if you are looking at visiting Seminyak, Bali. http://www.bali-seminyak-villas.com/villas/astanakunti/index.html
Traveling costs for BALI – a guide for the 40+Traveler
Like my previous post on traveling cost in Nepal, this post is aimed at giving the prospective traveler an idea of the all-round cost associated with visiting and traveling around the countries that I have visited. As before, the assumption is that you would be traveling at the same level of comfort as I do, and, as such, is directed primarily at the 40 year +, long term traveler. This implies a moderate level of comfort but without they high daily budget of the 10 day tourist. So, on to Bali -
Costs for Bali
- Getting There - As with anywhere, giving a general idea on the cost to get to Bali depends completely on where you are coming from. As I am Australian, Bali is close, and very well serviced by discount airlines, so it is very cheap to visit. Return flights from Australia can be from as little as $250.00. And because the same network of Low Cost airlines service the other major centres in the region, flights from most major South East Asian cities are often even cheaper. I have seen Air Asia flights from Kuala Lumpur for $19. So by extension, Bali should be cheap to fly into from other destinations, as long as you are scouring the cheep airlines, and prepared to hop flights and airlines a bit. Long term travelers will usually be happy to take the slower, less direct flights, and save on expense!
Kuta Beach
- Getting Around - Once you arrive in Bali, transport certainly doesn’t get any more expensive! It is one of the cheapest places to get around, as always, depending on your mode of transport. Taxis, for example, cost around 50,000 IDR (around $6) from the airport to Kuta hotels. Once in Kuta, taxi around town (witch can often be very busy and frustratingly slow) will cost somewhere under the 50,000. A quick trip could be from 10,000 IDR ( $1.20 ish) An alternative to Taxis (cos they add up??really!) is a scooter. These cost around $5 a day, with a better rate often available if you want longer rentals. The advantage of the scooter is that you can get in and around traffic jams in the Kuta area easily, but also, you can explore the whole island from the back of a scooter!
- Accommodation – Kuta, Seminyak, Sanur and Nusa Dua, on the Southern Beaches, are where the bulk of the tourists visit, and these areas have the biggest range of hotels. Villa’s and Resorts at $500 a night are a plenty, but cheaper options are definitely available, often only a street or 2 back from the beach. I have always been able to find comfortable hotel accommodation, with own bathroom, air-con, bar fridge, TV and Pool, for around $40 per night in all of the above areas. Once you get out of these centres, to Ubud, the Northern and Eastern beaches and the inland parts of the island, even $25.00 rooms appear to be quite reasonable. Shop around n the net for Kuta, and on foot when you are visiting the other areas.
- Eating and Drinking – The Southern beaches are awash with bars and restaurants, so getting a feed is never a problem. Standard local/Asian/ simple western meals cost from 50,000 to 150,000 IDR ( $6 -$18), with 750ml beer bottles at about 30,000 each. Beer is around 1/2 that if you by from a supermarket, by the dozen (not a mini mart). Street food and local eats are available on the outskirts of the major areas, as well as in the capital, Denpasar. Also, away from the Southern Beaches, food becomes simpler, and cheaper, and the difference between tourist food and local eatery diminishes.
Ubud Hotel
- Attractions – Attractions can be more expensive, and many are charges in USD. Visit to the water-park at Waterbon is reasonable, and if you hunt around you can get Diving and Rafting adventures at reasonable prices. Like everything else, these are usually very negotiable, and I have found diving trips at 1/2 price when business is not good.
Bali is a wonderful place to visit, and very well suited to the long term traveler. The Balinese people are very welcoming, and, apart form the shopping areas, not completely focused on relieving you of your US$. A lot of visitors decide to stay, and there is a large Ex-pat Australian community. Living costs come down the closer you get to local living, such as self catering. I will post more later on Bali and specific destinations to visit as against this overview.
The next TRAVELING COSTS episode will be Vietnam, so stay “posted”
Nusa Lembongan – Tropical Island Gem #3
This it the third in the series of posts I am doing on some of the lesser known, but still easily accessible tropical islands that I have visited. In previous posts i have covered Ko Ngai in the Andaman Sea, Thailand, and Phu Quok in the Gulf of Thailand, Vietnam.
Where is Nusa Lembongan?
Nusa Lembongan is the third of the islands I would like to share. Nusa Lembongan is located 18km east of the South Bali beach town of Sanur. It is a well known within the surfer community, as it offers a couple of world class breaks at certain times of the year. I think one of the great appeals of this little island, is that is more like the Bali that travellers imagine, than Bali is! As Bali has become busy and very touristy, Nusa Lembongan has remained quite.
Getting to Nusa Lembongan is easiest from the beach at Sanur, and there are a couple of options in different ferries. The standard, public ferry costs about 50,000 Indonesian Rph (approx $5), and takes approximately 1 1/2 to 2 hrs. The deep channel between the two can make the crossing quite rough, and the boats are only semi enclosed. If it is a bit rough, you can expect to get wet! You can also travel by the more expense “Scout” fast ferry, cost about 4 time as much, butting only taking half the time. In both cases, you need to wade to the boat at Sanur beach, with any luggage lifted overhead, and also at Jungutbatu, at the Nusa Lembongan end.
Ferry to Nusa Lembongan
There are only two towns on Nusa Lembongan, Jungutbata, where most of the low and mid range accommodation is located, and Lembongan, inland and without tourist accommodation. There are no cars on the island, at least not when we were there, but there is not a major reason to need to get around to much anyhow. Jungutbata has a sea wall along the coast were the town meets the sea, but beach to the north of town. Accommodation is split between this beach area, and the hill to the south of town. There is also more upmarket accommodation further around the coast at Mushroom Bay.
The island gets a bit busy (particularly Mushroom Bay) during the middle of the day, as boast tours from Bali come hear for day trips, but either side of these visits, the island is almost your own. There are a couple of little restaurants in town, as well as some at a the resorts at Mushroom Bay. Motors bikes are available to rent by the hour, but at a hourly rate similar to the day rate on Bali. This is useful for a couple of hours sightseeing, including visiting Lembongan town, dream beach, the mangroves, and the bridge across to Nusa Ceningan.
Villa's overlooking Jungutbatu
Apart from surfing, the other activity worth exploring is snorkeling. Local boats can take you to nice, shallow reef area to the north, that provides easy drifting over a some interesting coral fields. In addition, the other appeal is just relaxing!
To have a look at some opf the accomodation options here at Nusa Lembongan, follow the attached link to Hotels Combined. Be aware, many of the cheeper options are not bookable in advance though. As long as things are not too busy, you should also be able to get accomodation when you get there!
Hotels Combined – Nusa Lembongan.
Im not sure which island I will feature next. watch, wait and see!
