Bali, without any doubt, is one of the most famous island of Indonesia for western tourists. It is located between Jawa and Lombok islands. Although there are way to reach to the island by the sea transport, the most convenient way to get to the island is through Denpasar (Ngurah Rai - DPS) Airport if you are coming from far like me. The airport is located at the narrowest part of the island on the south. The runway is east to west oriented. Therefore, I can recommend you to sit on the window side if you wish to enjoy a unique touchdown. Denpasar Airport is a relatively small airport, as expected. When you first get you out of the plane to the terminal, you are first welcomed by the money exchangers in numbers. They yell at you with the money at their hands. That was, I'm not gonna lie, a unique moment as tens of people were yelling at me with a language hard to understand right after I entered a country for the first time. Anyway, I recommend you not to exchange any money over there because they are pretty pricey. Instead, you can exchange some money worth 1,000,000 IDR, which will be well enough for you to make the day, at the place of departure, if you have a chance, and then you can exchange the rest at Kuta, Denpasar or Seminyak. The exchange offices in the towns are giving really good prices than the ones at the airport, like everything!
So as you pass the currency scavengers, you will be approaching the immigration hall. There are a couple of things you should do about it. Firstly, you must fill in the immigration form in the plane. That is to be handed to the officer. Secondly, you must "buy" your visa on arrival. That is a piece of sticker worth for 25 USD. They put it on page of your passport and give you another piece as a proof of payment. Citizens of many countries are eligible to claim this visa valid for 30 days but you can check if you are eligible from the list as well. The ones who loved Indonesia and wants to stay for 30 more days need to pay more 25 USD and get a newer visa. After you get your visa, you approach to the immigration counters to hand in the form and the passport and voila! You are in.
Right after the clearance you get your luggages and then they will be monitored in an X-ray scanner. Normally, they look for alcohol and illegal stuff to be a
passed the border. The legal limit is a liter of liquor and a carton of cigarettes. But I am more on the side of not taking any as they are relatively cheap in the island. So it is better to keep yourself away from the security people for your own security and not to mess up the things. Right after the X-rays you have the exit of the terminal.
Now you are out and transport is kinda messy at the airport. I highly recommend you not to let anyone to carry your luggage and not to listen anyone for the taxi. There are so many scams and you cannot imagine how you can be conned. In my opinion, the best is to queue for the official taxi just outside of the terminal and wait until one is assigned for you. You pay at the place, get your pay slip and the driver takes you to the car. The taxi park is more or less 5 minutes away from the terminal.
Bali is a volcanic island as many of other islands of Indonesia. There are four volcanoes on the island: Agung, Batur, Bratan and Merbuk, two of which are still active. This, actually, makes the distances quite longer than I was expecting and the taxi fares, of course, increases. You pay average 100,000-300,000 IDR for the closer places on the southern half of the island. Hence, it is better, cheaper and safer if you can arrange your transport with the accommodation otherwise some bills waits for you. Other recommendation for the roads is "get away". Especially during the day time, the narrow roads of the island are jam packed by the thousands of motorbikes and small trucks. So it is much better to travel during early morning or in the evening instead.
A couple of extra tips for Bali could be that you should be aware of the fact all of the prices are 21% tax and service charge excluded, including the foods in the menus or good at the supermarket. So don't be surprised when the price is increased by one-fifth at the counter. For the small stuff you need I recommend small Circle K (like 7/11). More importantly, you'd better find an accommodation on walking distance to the small commercial centers so that you can have many options to wine and dine and also shopping. If you do as I did and lock yourself at a place like Echo Beach and a good rated bad run hotel like Ecosfera, you might have a very calm holiday but eat in small varieties and shop at extremely overrated prices at the airport. In particular, the souvenir shopping is very expensive at the airport. Strangely, the prices inside of the terminal is double of outside. Of course you see how it happens after you enter the terminal because you pass the security clearance right at the gate of the terminal. So it makes the huge difference between inside and outside. So it is highly recommended to buy the stuff, if you really need to, before you get into the terminal. Of course, the best is to but at the towns.
After you check in, you should be quite attentive for your departure because written and verbal announcements are really bad. Therefore the best is to get to the gate at a logical time for your original departure time. As you approach to the gates you will have an extra stop of payment. Spending certain period of time in Indonesia makes you realize that you have to pay for anything and everything. This time it is to get out of the country. Yes, you heard right. You have to pay a departure fee of 150,000 IDR. So it is better to save this money for the departure because that could be problematic to pay with other currencies. After the last payment, you are free to go out of the country. The next thing you may check could be a few small duty free shops. As expected they are very expensive and there is not much of a thing fascinating. So at that point the best thing to do is get on the plane and say bye bye to Indonesia. Enjoy the view from the plane...
So as you pass the currency scavengers, you will be approaching the immigration hall. There are a couple of things you should do about it. Firstly, you must fill in the immigration form in the plane. That is to be handed to the officer. Secondly, you must "buy" your visa on arrival. That is a piece of sticker worth for 25 USD. They put it on page of your passport and give you another piece as a proof of payment. Citizens of many countries are eligible to claim this visa valid for 30 days but you can check if you are eligible from the list as well. The ones who loved Indonesia and wants to stay for 30 more days need to pay more 25 USD and get a newer visa. After you get your visa, you approach to the immigration counters to hand in the form and the passport and voila! You are in.
Right after the clearance you get your luggages and then they will be monitored in an X-ray scanner. Normally, they look for alcohol and illegal stuff to be a
passed the border. The legal limit is a liter of liquor and a carton of cigarettes. But I am more on the side of not taking any as they are relatively cheap in the island. So it is better to keep yourself away from the security people for your own security and not to mess up the things. Right after the X-rays you have the exit of the terminal.
Now you are out and transport is kinda messy at the airport. I highly recommend you not to let anyone to carry your luggage and not to listen anyone for the taxi. There are so many scams and you cannot imagine how you can be conned. In my opinion, the best is to queue for the official taxi just outside of the terminal and wait until one is assigned for you. You pay at the place, get your pay slip and the driver takes you to the car. The taxi park is more or less 5 minutes away from the terminal.
Bali is a volcanic island as many of other islands of Indonesia. There are four volcanoes on the island: Agung, Batur, Bratan and Merbuk, two of which are still active. This, actually, makes the distances quite longer than I was expecting and the taxi fares, of course, increases. You pay average 100,000-300,000 IDR for the closer places on the southern half of the island. Hence, it is better, cheaper and safer if you can arrange your transport with the accommodation otherwise some bills waits for you. Other recommendation for the roads is "get away". Especially during the day time, the narrow roads of the island are jam packed by the thousands of motorbikes and small trucks. So it is much better to travel during early morning or in the evening instead.
A couple of extra tips for Bali could be that you should be aware of the fact all of the prices are 21% tax and service charge excluded, including the foods in the menus or good at the supermarket. So don't be surprised when the price is increased by one-fifth at the counter. For the small stuff you need I recommend small Circle K (like 7/11). More importantly, you'd better find an accommodation on walking distance to the small commercial centers so that you can have many options to wine and dine and also shopping. If you do as I did and lock yourself at a place like Echo Beach and a good rated bad run hotel like Ecosfera, you might have a very calm holiday but eat in small varieties and shop at extremely overrated prices at the airport. In particular, the souvenir shopping is very expensive at the airport. Strangely, the prices inside of the terminal is double of outside. Of course you see how it happens after you enter the terminal because you pass the security clearance right at the gate of the terminal. So it makes the huge difference between inside and outside. So it is highly recommended to buy the stuff, if you really need to, before you get into the terminal. Of course, the best is to but at the towns.
After you check in, you should be quite attentive for your departure because written and verbal announcements are really bad. Therefore the best is to get to the gate at a logical time for your original departure time. As you approach to the gates you will have an extra stop of payment. Spending certain period of time in Indonesia makes you realize that you have to pay for anything and everything. This time it is to get out of the country. Yes, you heard right. You have to pay a departure fee of 150,000 IDR. So it is better to save this money for the departure because that could be problematic to pay with other currencies. After the last payment, you are free to go out of the country. The next thing you may check could be a few small duty free shops. As expected they are very expensive and there is not much of a thing fascinating. So at that point the best thing to do is get on the plane and say bye bye to Indonesia. Enjoy the view from the plane...
