ranles

Need advice on "everything" for our few days in Bali. Clothes, customs, money, food (casual near/at hotel), power adaptors, insect repellant, tipping, etc 2 seniors on tour, me a bit gimpy walking

Pre cruise tour package...likely staying Intercontinental Bali Resort. Breakfast included.

1st full day: Batik Factory, then traditional Balinese house compound in Singapadu Village. Then nearly 1000 year old Batuan Temple. Then Kemenuh village Ends at with dinner at Laka Leke restaurant

2nd full day Celuk village to brouse shops, then Penglipuran Culture Village. Then to Kehen Temple in East Bali, finally to Kertha Gosa.

Last part day on way to ship...Drive Denpasar City. Stop at Bajra Sandhi Monument. Stop at Jagatnatha Temple

SQTraveller

Bali is one of those places that you do whatever you like on it and still be reasonably happy. Just bear in mind that traffic can range from clear to horrendous depending on a bunch of factors.

To get around make sure you hire a full time driver as taxis can be problematic. There are plenty of people here who have asked this here. The driver will pick you up from the hotel at the start, take you to each location, wait for you while you wander around and then drive you to the next location. Typically, they charge a base fee for x number of hours (I think my driver was 8-10 hours) and then a per hour fee after that.

You need to wear respectful clothes when going to temples. Long trousers and covered shoulders. You can usually hire these coverings at the temple. Otherwise feel free to wear your string bikinis! I think a good way to think about this is, do you think it would be appropriate where you are from.

I rarely use insect repellent (must be my revolting blood), but friends who go say they do need it, but mainly when they travel up to Ubud.

Balinese are generally very easy going so if you have issues with walking and so on, so worry at all.

Finally, be prepared to sweat ... a lot! Although the cars will be air conditioned, none of the temples are. My driver had cold towels and iced water standing by when I got back the car.

ranles

Thank you. We will be transported as part of our tour (bus?). Hat okay? Inverted sailor hat or one with "towel like" hanging from back?

rjh

Lots of info via Travelfish (who lives on Bali) here, though some may be paywalled.
https://www.travelfish.org/region/indonesia/bali

invisible

In short:

- Weather: like Houston/Florida in summer. +90F with >70% of humidity. Don't expect that it will get better, it is like that 365 days a year. Evenings are cooler.
- Tipping: don't. It is not a local custom
- Money: use local currency, don't take you USD expecting that people around the world will accept it. Take ATM card from Schwab/Capital one which refunds fees from foreign ATMs and withdraw what you need from ATMs at banks offices. Don't use standalone ATMs at convenience stores or on streets - there have been skimming incidents. You can take USD to exchange as well, but you need to know which money exchanger is reliable and make sure you count money twice, on your own not leaving the counter.
- Traffic/moving around: getting a driver is good idea, but most of the day/night traffic around Denpassar/Kuta is horrendous. Personal experience of taking 3h to drive 5 miles. Take this into account too when you need to go back to your ship.
- What to see: I'd rather skip Denpassar entirely and go to Ubud instead which is cultural center of Bali. But, you need to budget 2h drive one way.
- Food/etc: pretty much everything is safe including street food, but you need to expect that everything will be extra spicy for you. You can tell 'no sambal/chilli' when ordering food but still expect that it will have some spaciness. If you, or someone else is allergic to peanuts, well, you will be in tough situation because peanut sauce is pretty much used for everything in local food.

ranles

Thank you. Lots of good info. Will check on link tomorrow.

Sorry, I was not clear enough. I will be on a cruise line purchased...precruise 4 da/3nt. The transport, choices etc are preset, out of my control. We will be with some others that will be taking a cruise from here to NW Australia

We want to be prepared for our Bali adventure, so we do not become the "ugly" American. Our only experience with Indonesian people are those we interfaced with on lots of cruises where they were employed.

IAN-UK

I really do appreciate the sentiment here, but the OP is not a local. And although I'd urge any visitor to limit general tipping to mild rounding-up, tour guides working with cruise group tours will certainly expect to earn a generous measure in gratuities: blame the heritage accrued from previous visitors. Among a group of fellow countrymen, the OP would stand out like a sore thumb if he/she refused to contribute to the "thank you" offered to their guide and bus driver.

invisible

Agree with the case above - a work needs to be paid, and if someone does his/her job above and beyond, then that needs to be paid accordingly..

What I meant is was tipping as a culture phenomenon in US/UK/AU, where one is obligated to tip everyone in service sector, including flight attendants, hairdressers, luggage handlers, bell boys, plumpers, fedex delivery drivers, uber/lyft and obviously taxi drivers and waiters. List goes on. Then people from these cultures push it when they travel without much research and it might has quite ill effects. At local Singaporean forums number of times there are mentions to avoid going to places in Asia frequented by 'Ang Mohs', because locals in these places are expecting to be tipped by everyone regardless of origin.

P.S. I do plan for my Hanoi trip to sign up one day with HanoiKids and I do plan to give them more than they would get in a local daily job.

ranles

Thank you

Photography...limits, ie in Temples?

Tipping at hotel...maid, room service, dining room, baggage?

Annalisa12

Bali is a poor country. A $2 goes a long way.

quirrow

Bali isn't exactly a country, and neither is it that 'poor' to begin with. Bali is one of the more developed provinces in Indonesia. And as a local I do tip for good service, though in restaurants, a service charge is usually included and thus I do not usually tip in those instances.

The staff I do tip are usually taxi drivers who provides good service or knows their way around better than most, baggage handlers in airports and hotels, parking attendants, massage therapist, hairdressers and room cleaning staff. A general guide is around Rp.10k for basic services, and up to 50k for exceptional services rendered.

As for photography, most of the time it is allowed even during performances. Though for foreign visitors to Bali, do take note to not step on the daily offerings that locals make to the various shrines as sometimes they can get offended. Also in the more traditional villages like Ubud, getting a ride-hailing service like Grab is more difficult unless you are requesting it from larger hotel chains.