One week in Bali

 It is amazing to visit and see different cultures from what we are used to (different from western type cultures). One can see how western cultures highly value money, work and status, while other alternative cultures probably value more religion and spiritual practices. Which might be better? Living comfortably with material things or comfortably aligned spiritually? Perhaps both are important and a good balance might be the best option.

Some of the things learnt in Bali:

They drive on the left like Australia, UK and many other countries.

The streets are very narrow and they have special cars that less wide than average to fit in the streets including buses.

The public transport is almost non existent and most people move around by either taxi or renting a scooter which price is around $8 AUD per day.

The Balinese people are very religious and religion plays an important part of every day with specific rituals. For example, every morning Balinese Hinduism people (85% of their population) provides offerings to their Gods which you can see at the entrance of their homes and businesses (to drive away negative spirits / energies), on top of sculptures of Gods (for protection and prosperity), and pretty much everywhere such as inside cars. This offerings are made with beautiful flowers, hand made shapes with tree leaves and sometimes food.

The temperature is often around 28 degrees, it’s very humid near the forest sides such as Ubut and less humid near the beach. 

The best activities we did was 1) climbing one of the two volcanos (1750 and 2500 meters above the see level) in the morning getting to the top on time for the sunrise; 2) visiting the rice fields terrace to have lunch with a beautiful view while people enjoy swinging on a large swing tied to palm trees; and 3) visiting some of the temples such as the Holly Spring Water Fountains in which people provide some offerings to their Gods and proceed to immerse in the pools and bath going through several holy spring water fountains.

Other great activities to do are having a Balinese massage, doing shopping and visiting restaurants.

Balinese people are friendly and so many of them can speak in English, which make sense as 80% of their economy is based on tourism.

Interestingly, Bali with a population just above 4 million is very different from the country it belongs to. Indonesia (4th largest population in the world with 273 million people) is mostly Muslim (86%), and as religión is such an important part of their culture, one could expect to find big differences between visiting Bali and visiting the rest of Indonesia, which by the way is the country with the largest amount of islands, over 70,000 in total.

Average meals in good restaurants are around $6 to $10 AUD. There are plenty of fruits, juices and coconut water options. A budget of $30 aud is should be enough to cover all three meals in restaurants. $8 aud per day if renting a scooter. Around $30 aud per night for a couple in an average good accommodation. And most tourism plans covering transport are entrance tickets are around $30 to $60 aud. Flight return tickets from Australia to Bali are on average between $500 to $700 aud. There is also a $50 aud visa valid for 30 days which is paid in the airport upon entrance. On top of it, optional for safety, an international insurance in case of accidents or illness while in Bali is around $60 aud covering 10 days. Lastly, an internet data provider plan of 8 gb for one month is $20 aud with GyG which can be purchased before arriving to Bali and activated remotely once there without need of introducing a physical SIM card in the phone. 

All said here, the average price for a couple going to Bali from Australia for one week, in a comfortable way, eating in restaurants, having average food accommodations and doing the touristic plans, is around $3000 aud per couple, $1500 aud per person. Which of course can be more or less depending on each person’s budged and travel purposes, but $3000 aud per couple can be a good average estimate for a week in Bali with return tickets.

Definitely a trip worth doing.