what's going on everybody this is island hopper tv and today we're going to talk about things to
know when visiting bali let's do it all right let's talk about how long to stay in bali how
long do you need? I would say on minimum seven days. It doesn't matter where you're coming from
You need at least seven days here. In my opinion, I would say anywhere between 10 to 14 if you want
to get a good overview. But bear in mind, when you come to Indonesia, you have 30 days on your visa
So I would say if you can go more than two weeks, definitely take advantage of that opportunity
because Bali is a huge island and there's a lot to see. And because there's so much traffic on
Bali, it really does take time exploring all the islands and then even going to Gili Islands or
Nusa Panita over there if you do some island hopping. So it really is two weeks here in Bali
is my standard amount. If you can't do that, seven days minimum. I wouldn't even come here unless you
plan to do more than seven days. Now there's something I want to talk about for the digital
nomads in terms of internet because I know if you can't work because you don't have internet
that's a problem, right? Now make sure you check the internet speeds of the resort or the hotel
you're going to book at because if you go all seven days at the same place and they have slow
internet, for example, today, my hotel I'm staying at, it's a nice hotel and everything, great price
$35 a night, but their internet is super slow, less than two mbps per upload or download. That's
really slow. I mean, if you're trying to upload a 15 minute video or do some surfing on the web
it's going to be lagging. So keep that in mind for digital nomads. All right, let's talk about the money situation out here in Bali. So as you know
they use the Indonesian rupiah because this is Indonesia. Now, the problem with the Indonesian
rupiah is it's in the denomination of millions and hundreds of thousands. So they'll say like
2 million and you're like, oh man, how am I going to put in that many zeros in the converter? So
That's one of the challenges with the rupiah. Now, when it comes to using your card, they do accept American Express at about 50% of the establishments in Bali, from my experience
They do accept plenty of Visa and plenty of MasterCard. The problem is if you have to pay cash
Here I am on the south side of the island where Uluwatu is, and all of these huts right here only take cash
They don't take credit card. They don't take debit card. So you have to have cash on you
Now when it comes to finding an ATM, good luck with that because the ATM situation can be pretty difficult
especially as you get outside of Denpasar or Kuda or Ligion So keep that in mind when you out and about having some petty cash in your pocket wherever you go because a lot of these places like here in uluwatu don really take credit
card or debit card there are places that do but it's hit or miss 50 percent
all right let's talk about accommodation where do you want to stay where you want to call your
home base let's talk about places to stay in bali so you have huda which is the main area
Ligion. That's the main area right next to the airport that most people go to. Now here, hotels
range anywhere between $20 per night all the way up to $200 a night. But you can find many cheap
accommodations right here, especially in shoulder season or even off-season. Now, if you go north of
here, you have Seminyak, and that's another beach that's more popular with young people. They have
beach clubs up there. If you go south of here, you have Uluatu. If you go really far north, you have
Ubud. Go to the other side of the island, towards the east side, you have Senor Beach, and then you
go towards south, you have Nusa Dua. So those are the main areas, but the primary place that you want
to stay if you're looking to be around people in the city center is going to be Kuda. Some people
stay in Denpasar, but there's no beaches there. All right, let's talk transportation in Bali. So as
you can see behind me, we've got a traffic jam. Traffic jams happen often, so when you're taking
taxis in places like Cuda Beach or Denpasar, expect this especially during sunset hours
One of the ways to get around that is taking a motorbike. You can have your own rented motorbike
or you can contact a Grab driver to take you on motorbike. Those are the three main ways to get
around. So you have car, motorbike that you own or drive or rent or a Grab motorbike driver. The
other ways to get around are going to be by shuttle bus and it's a lot less congested as you go further
towards the north side of the island now when it comes to transportation arriving on this island or
going to other islands for island hopping like Nusa Penita you will take a high-speed ferry or a
speedboat so those are some other forms of transportation they also have a bus that takes
you from say Kuta to Ubud or from Ubud to say Semayak or Uluwatu but again you're going to be
stuck in traffic during that bus ride so be ready for that there is no train here
all right so when's the best time to visit bali if you're looking at it from a weather perspective
they say from october to april is the best time of the year although it can be humid right now
when there's sun shining it's very hot and very humid i actually welcome the rain in situations
like this unless i'm swimming or at a pool i'm really liking the rain that comes in november and
December to cool it down. They say it's also a wet season, but that's the odd thing is that
from October to April is considered the dry season generally so anytime could be a wet season at any time could be a dry season in Bali In terms of holidays now in March there is a big holiday for a week where nobody goes out so you
want to make sure you take a look at that. Also there's Chinese New Year which can play an impact
on Bali. So time of the year I would say the best time is from October to April. Everything after
that it just depends on whether or not you're trying to avoid the rain or get the rain or get
the sunshine or not get the sunshine. All right, let's talk about some general facts about Bali
It's an island nation inside of Indonesia. There's two languages that they speak here natively
It's Balinese and Indonesian. Also, population, 4.3 million people on this small island
If you go towards the southwest side of the island, it's actually where it's most populated, around Kuta, Denpasar
and then all the way up to Uluwatu. When you arrive in Bali, make sure you prepare for a visa on arrival
That visa on arrival is $30 per person, give or take, depending on if things change
But as of right now, it's $30 per person for a visa on arrival
You also have to fill out a customs document and a health check before you arrive
Make sure you have all your vaccination status up to date. all right so what we're going to talk about now is the best places to stay on bali island when you
come here right now i'm standing in kuda beach this is actually just north of the denpasar
airport but you can see we get a beautiful uh sunset if i go just north of here i go to
semanyak and some of the other places and beaches up there towards tat if i go up towards the
mountains, I get Ubud, which is more of a jungle setting. If I go towards the other side of the
island, I get Sanur or Nusa Dua, which are all really amazing places to stay on Bali. So if you
want more details on that, watch our other video that we're going to produce from Bali in the link
description below. Now, when it comes to food in Bali, let's talk about some of the most common
food you'll be encountering. Typically, it's going to be sauté. Sauté that might be chicken or shrimp
or beef drenched in peanut butter sauce. You could also get nasi, which is rice, and goreng, which is
fried. So you'll see a lot of fried rice varieties with egg. You also will have plenty of seafood
especially in Jimberon. And when it comes to a seafood feast, you'll have white snapper, red snapper
you'll have lobster, you'll have crab, you'll have clams, oysters, so much variety when it comes to the seafood
Oh, and cannot forget the prawns, but you'll notice most of the seafood is drenched in sauce
My overarching main message about the food is be willing to try some of the local cuisine but if you not one of those people who wants to be adventurous with food there are going to be options for you that
are relatable to Westerners or wherever you come from because there is a diversity in food. Now
if you're into vegetarian cuisine, there's plenty of that available as well. There's lots of barbecue
and then there's dessert, mango sticky rice. There's also fried banana. So do be ready to try
that fried banana, by the way. Enjoy all that. Also some herbal teas. You have turmeric tea
you have black tea, you have green tea with ginseng. So good to go on that
And one of my favorites when I go to Asia is chai tea. Next up, let's talk about shopping in Bali. So one of the things that you're going to
want to do is go shopping at one of the local markets or the street vendors. And the reason
that I like to do that is because the locals, this is how they survive. This is why they welcome
tourists from other places to visit their island because they hope that you'll come here and spend
money. Now, when you're at these souvenir shops sourcing local products, you're supporting the
shop owner, but you're also supporting the manufacturers in the village. And this is really
important to me because the prices are not very expensive and to walk away from here knowing that
you contributed to the local manufacturing and industry here really is a positive. Some of the
things to be on the lookout here that I would add to your radar are going to be paintings. I like
some of these paintings that you can put on your wall when you get home. They can roll it up and
put it into a tube and ship it or you can take it with you. Also getting some shirts. I like to get
a Bintang tank top or another shirt, t-shirt, whatever you would like. They have swim trunks
and then they have other souvenirs that you can get from local artists or things that just generally
come in handy when you're at the beach. And if local products are not necessarily your thing
they also have very modern malls that you'll find in several areas around Kuda and Ligian
I did find the malls to be relaxing but expect Western prices
And with all that being said I hope you guys enjoyed all three of our videos from Bali
We did an ultimate travel guide. We did a 22 things to do in Bali video
You can check the links below to get those videos also check in the comments
So hopefully you guys enjoy your trip to Bali if you're considering it if you're on the fence
I would say consider going there for 7 to 10 days for your first time
If you like it, you can always extend or come back later
So, see you guys on the next one