Bali & Hong Kong

[roothy123]

I can't find much about Bali and I'm curious: Did you get Bali Belly, and if so, did you just take immodium for it?  And is there any advantage to having a TV in your room or homestay in Bali?  Is there any English channel, with or without cable?  We are not staying at a resort, just a basic small hotel in Ubud.  And what is that exotic fruit that looks kind of like a stinging nettle?!  If you hire a driver for 2 days, is it customary to pay for food and lodging if he lives in Ubud and needs to pick us up from Sanur?  And do Americans need to purchase the "Visa on Arrival" at the airport in Bali?  

 

Also a somewhat related question:  With a 5 hour layover in Hong Kong when going to Bali, is it possible to leave the airport for two hours , or must we stay in the airport, as we are just changing planes there?  

 

I have so many questions, would anyone with answers be able to help me?  If so, thank you!

[hallasm]

1 hour ago, roothy123 said:

Did you get Bali Belly,

Just back from two weeks in Bali - no problem with stomach- might very well depend on where and what you eat and how much water you drink.

We did only eat at ‘recommended’ restaurants and did not eat very spicy food.

1 hour ago, roothy123 said:

there any advantage to having a TV in your room or homestay in Bali?  Is there any English channel

Might very well depend on the hotel - CNN and other English channels at our hotel - however did not watched TV. Cannot answer for the small Ubud hotel - you might ask the hotel directly.

1 hour ago, roothy123 said:

  If you hire a driver for 2 days, is it customary to pay for food and lodging

No - We did stay in Nusa Dua and our driver lived in Ubud (one hour drive at peak hours)  when he quoted us the price he knew that daily pickup was in Nusa Dua. Contact and ask - contact info to our driver At this link - he will also know about hotel service and restaurants.

1 hour ago, roothy123 said:

do Americans need to purchase the "Visa on Arrival" at the airport in Bali?  

Free entry for 30 days - no need for Visa.

1 hour ago, roothy123 said:

With a 5 hour layover in Hong Kong when going to Bali, is it possible to leave the airport for two hours

Do not think that plan is realistic - HNK airport is quite far from the city and you will probably need to be at the airport two hours prior to departure - relax and enjoy the airport.

Edited April 21, 2019 by hallasm
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[OceansOfTravels]

Hello fellow Marylander - I'm from Annapolis!

 

I spent two weeks in Bali this past August. I did not get "Bali Belly" at all, and I even ate fresh fruit from the grocery store. I was careful not to drink the water though. I cannot answer about the drivers, as we did one week at an Airbnb in Sanur and another at a small hotel in Ubud, and each provided a transportation service that we paid for to get around. We did not pay for lodging or food for any driver that we had, though, we just paid them for their services.

 

No visa either, you get 30 days free! It will be in your passport on the stamp that they give you.

 

And I cannot attest to Hong Kong, when we did it, we had an 11 hour layover in Singapore, so we left the airport and toured the city. We are thinking of doing a cruise from Singapore next year because we loved it so much, and doing our stopover day in Shanghai.

[Philob]

HKG is 45+/- minutes by car and 25 minutes by train to the touristy part of Hong Kong...one way.

 

You'll have to go through Arrival immigration to get to the taxi or train station.  And Departure Immigration and security when going back to the air-side of the terminal.

 

Recommend to get into an air-side lounge, have a snack or meal, and chill for a couple of hours.  Some lounges will have massage chairs and hot showers.

Edited April 22, 2019 by Philob

[Orlando Vic]

On 4/21/2019 at 12:20 PM, roothy123 said:

Did you get Bali Belly, and if so, did you just take immodium for it? 

 

 Bali belly is very real and should be taken seriously. Both my DW and I got it. In hindsight, we should have taken some prescription medication (anti diarrheal and antibiotic) with us.

Anti Diarrheal

Anti Diarrhea

[roothy123]

Thank you for the information to date, and if any other folks have comments, I'd appreciate any and all you can give me!

 

Thank you, hallasm for info on a recommended driver, and other comments, and for you and others for the reassurance that U.S. citizens don't need any travel documents, even an inexpensive "visa" to enter the country.  I emailed the Indonesian consulate, too, and they assured me that is the case.  hallasm, when you say you ate at "recommended" places, can I assume that meant places recommended either at your Nusa Dua hotel or by Dewa the driver?  

 

As for diarrhea, I was not aware that there were prescription meds for that (assuming that's the case), so I'll ask my doctor about those.  Perhaps we can be given prescriptions for that plus some antibiotics to take with us. 

 

Fellow Marylander, I'm from Silver Spring.  We're tentatively planning to spendi our first night in Sanur.  December is not exactly beach weather in Bali, but I don't want to travel far when we arrive, and it looked like a decent place to spend a night. Would you mind sharing the name or description of your airbnb?  I've found a  Sanur hotel I'm interested in (Kejora Suites) but am always looking for a place.  Southern Bali and Ubud have enough resorts, hotels and guest houses to drive me completely crazy when picking a hotel - but I actually enjoy doing it.  

[hallasm]

53 minutes ago, roothy123 said:

hallasm, when you say you ate at "recommended" places, can I assume that meant places recommended either at your Nusa Dua hotel or by Dewa the driver?

Sorry if my English is broken. Yes, restaurants recommended by hotel and driver. Honestly I did have most at my meals at the hotel - excellent restaurant.

Dewa Driver did pick me up at the airport and drove me to my hotel (Marriott Nusa Dua Gardens) - and then he picked me up in the morning for the tours. Also drove me to airport at the end. Sort of complete ‘transportation package’.

At arrival in DPS  it only took 20 minutes before we had our luggage and Dewa was waiting outside with a sign (hundreds of other drivers waiting).

[roothy123]

9 hours ago, hallasm said:

Sorry if my English is broken. Yes, restaurants recommended by hotel and driver. Honestly I did have most at my meals at the hotel - excellent restaurant.

 

 

Your English is great!  I simply wanted to find out as much as I could about eating in Bali.  We can't afford to get sick, as we're going on a cruise after Bali and they won't let us on the ship if we're sick!

 

It's good to know that getting out of the airport is quick. 

[hallasm]

Thank you. I have traveled a lot and so far never got sick - but I’m also very critical of what I eat and drink - both the quality of the restaurant and type of food (spicy), as well as bottled drinking water and ice cubes.

[OceansOfTravels]

On 4/23/2019 at 11:14 AM, roothy123 said:

Fellow Marylander, I'm from Silver Spring.  We're tentatively planning to spendi our first night in Sanur.  December is not exactly beach weather in Bali, but I don't want to travel far when we arrive, and it looked like a decent place to spend a night. Would you mind sharing the name or description of your airbnb?  I've found a  Sanur hotel I'm interested in (Kejora Suites) but am always looking for a place.  Southern Bali and Ubud have enough resorts, hotels and guest houses to drive me completely crazy when picking a hotel - but I actually enjoy doing it.  

 

Here is where I stayed in Sanur: https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/20778126?guests=1&adults=1

 

I highly recommend where I stayed! It was in a great location, with a beach 15 minutes walking distance away, as well as a convenience store and many little restaurants just down the way, plus a really good driver that would take us wherever we wanted to go for cheap. I would even sggest staying for three-four nights here, as you can visit some of the nicer places in South Bali (mostly the beaches), and return home to a nice Airbnb with a refreshing pool. If you're traveling with a group, this place is great because it's actually a mirrored house, so you have two separate bedrooms and bathrooms (I thought there was only one bathroom, but I was happy to find two).

 

I am with you there -- I LOVE searching for hotels, flights and cruises, so much so that my friends and family have me find prices and itineraries for them! I completely understand. I will say, though, Bali has the best diversity of Airbnb of any place I've ever traveled to, of which I mean there really is everything you could think of listed somewhere on Airbnb on the island. You can surely find an affordable accomodation that is just as nice as any hotel, so much so you could likely add on more days to your trip or more excursions. Let me know if I can provide my Ubud villa (which I found on Airbnb even though it's really a hotel) or some activity suggestions!

[TT81]

I love Bali, I’ve been 5 times and never had Bali belly. Remember to only drink bottle water & carful where you eat, things are a lot more touristy now then they used to be so not as many people get Bali belly. Take some meds just in case or you can buy most medicine there if you can get past the language barrier to explain what you need.

 

 I’ve always stayed in hotels which have had English TV but never spend much time watching, usually only in the room to sleep and shower, there is so much to do and it’s lovely sitting outside in the warm night air.

 

You don’t need to pay for drivers food and accommodation, usually you hire them for a day (about 8hrs) then they drop you off and head home and come back the next morning. Sometimes I’ll buy them lunch or drinks but you don’t have to, I do because my Bali driver is awesome.

 

Im not sure what fruit looks like a stinging nettle (not sure what they look like) but I love Rambutans, they are so yummy.

 

 

 

 

[roothy123]

I'm just getting back on here.  Cruise Critic didn't remind me of new replies, but I see there are a couple.  

 

I googled Rambutans, and that's probably the fruit I've seen in pictures of Bali breakfasts.  

 

Just out of curiousity, I wouldn't mind getting the name of the Ubud Airbnb.  I'll also do a little more snooping for Ubud places, just to drive myself totally mad!  The number of hotels in Ubud is staggering, but I'm beginning to wonder if all those places are as nice as they look. At least with Airbnb you pretty much know that the reviews are valid, since only people who have stayed in the particular place can review it.  I don't think that's the case for websites like Trip Advisor, even though that site is quite useful.  

 

I doubt I'll watch TV in Bali, but my husband likes to use it to go to sleep, hence the question about an English/British channel.  But he can bring an extra book or two to read instead. 

 

Oceans of Travel, we're only staying one day in Sanur, so your recommended place won't do.  However, it does look great.  

   Edit: I guess I COULD offer to book the place for 2 nights, but only stay one night.  Given the price,  it would not be a great financial loss!

Edited May 3, 2019 by roothy123