Friday, March 16, 2012

FLIGHTS TO DENPASAR BALI and GETTING OUT OF OR TO BALI AIRPORT

Welcome to Bali by Balinese Dancer

There are many flights to Bali International Airport leaving from the major airports in the world.  I suggest you to Book your Flights at the earliest to get the cheapest rate as June is in Peak Season. Ngurah Rai Bali Airport is an international airport with many flights coming daily from South East Asian Countries and Australia. 

FLIGHTS TO BALI FROM EUROPE
No direct flights from Europe to Bali.
If you are from Amsterdam, the fastest option is to take KLM (4 times a week) with a short petrol stop in Singapore before flying with the same aircraft to Denpasar. Flight time is 16 hours and 05 minutes.

The second quickest option is to fly with KLM to Singapore and change on a Singapore Airlines flight to Denpasar. Total flight time here is 17 hours.

You can also take KLM or their code-sharing partner Malaysia Airlines to Kuala Lumpur and then transfer here on one of the many Malaysia Airlines flights to Bali. Total flight time is approximately 17 h 50 minutes.

The fourth fastest option is with China Airlines to Bangkok and change here on the Thai Airways flight to Denpasar. This flight takes 18 hours and 05 minutes.



Kuala Lumpur Airport (KLIA)is a huge airport with a lot of facilities. If you have some time to spare try to catch the train to downtown Kuala Lumpur. Even though KLIA is far out of Kuala Lumpur there's a KLIA Ekspres train that can take you within 30 minutes to Kuala Lumpur central for 70 Malaysia Ringgits return (around 14 Euro's).

When you fly from London Heathrow to Bali with Singapore Airlines, British Airways or their code-sharing partner Qantas you will transit at Changi Airport, Singapore where you will continue your last flight to Bali with Singapore Airlines.The fastest flight time on the LHR-Bali route is 16 h and 30 minutes.

Changi Airport has special computer desks with free internet (also free wireless when you bring your laptop), numerous tax-free shops and enough coffee bars to kill some time before your next flight to Bali.
When you have more than a couple of hours to spend, hop on one of the buses, taxi's or MRT trains to downtown Singapore. They are cheap and since Singapore is so small you'll be there in no-time.

Even though it's not the quickest route from LHR by Cathay Pacific from Europe and  transit at Hong Kong before continues the flight to Bali.

The best option to take from Frankfurt am Main airport is to fly with Lufthansa or Singapore Airlines to Singapore with a connecting flight to Bali. This will take 16 h 10 minutes.

For flights to Bali from Paris Charles de Gaulle it’s the same; take Singapore Airlines and it will save you lots of time.


Flights to Bali from the USA
From the USA there are a couple of choices but again no direct flights. From Los Angeles the quickest option is to take Singapore Airlines to Singapore and then transfer on Garuda Indonesia for the last stretch to Bali. All in all this will take you 21 hours and 35 minutes.

When you depart from San Francisco your fastest option would be to fly through Taipei with Delta Airlines (operated by China Airlines) and then take China Airlines to Bali. This flight will take approximately 21 hours.

When you fly from New York to Bali your fastest route is to fly to Hong Kong with Cathay Pacific or American Airlines and then transfer on a flight with Hong Kong Express Airways to Bali. This 'fast' option will take around 22h 15 minutes.

If you don't mind about time then another fly-around-the-world option is to fly from New York to Sydney and then take the last stretch to Denpasar with Garuda Indonesia but this option takes around 30 hours.


Flights to Bali from Australia
When you're leaving from Australia to Bali there are a couple of airlines with direct flights. Closest Australian city to Bali is Darwin with flights operated by Jetstar Airways/Qantas.
Anyway these flights from Darwin to Bali take around 2 hours and 35 minutes.

There are enough direct flights from Perth to Bali with Virgin Australia, Jetstar and Garuda Indonesia. Flight time is more or less 3 hours and 35 minutes.

From Melbourne the quickest and only direct flight to Bali is with Garuda Indonesia in 5.55 hours or with Jetstar Airways/Qantas in 06.10 hours or Virgin Australia in 06.10 hours.

From Sydney there are also direct flights operated by Virgin Australia and Garuda Indonesia in 06.25 hours and with Jetstar/Qantas in 09.40 hours.

Direct flights from Brisbane to Bali are operated by Virgin Australia and you'll be landing on the tropical island in around 6 hours and 30 minutes.

If you are in Australia and you want to compare all cheap flights to Bali, we recommend you have a look at FlightsAustralia.com.au which compares all major airlines for you departing from every Australian airport.


Cheap flights to Bali with domestic airlines --
Just in case you have no flights to Bali from your country, you can fly to Jakarta then connect to domestic airlines to Bali. There are loads of cheap flights to Bali from Jakarta and other smaller Indonesian cities.
There is a choice of various domestic airlines
Some of them are  AirAsia and Lion Air with a young fleet of aircrafts, good safety records and cheap prices.You can even book tickets online, which makes it very convenient when you're not in Indonesia yet.


Book your flights earlier for getting the cheaper rate as June is Peak Season 
Don't forget to arrange  Visa into Indonesia and check your passport expiry as it must still have minimum 6 months before expiry date



Make sure you have filled out the immigration entry forms given on the aircraft or provided in the arrival hall before passport control. Don't loose the little piece of paper that the immigration officer places in your passport. You will need it when you leave the island.



VISA ON ARRIVAL at Denpasar Airport (Ngurah Rai Airport)
Please follow the links as below :
http://indonesia-hult-alumni-chapter.blogspot.com/2012/02/visa-to-indonesia.html

http://indonesia-hult-alumni-chapter.blogspot.com/2012/02/passengers-arrival-procedures-at.html

http://indonesia-hult-alumni-chapter.blogspot.com/2012/02/jakarta-airport-guide.html



Another thing you should be careful about is to bring illegal drugs into Indonesia. The Indonesian authorities are very serious about it since you are likely to receive the death penalty.

 


Getting out of or to Bali Airport

You need to pass a row of foreign exchange counters first before going through the sliding doors only to stumble upon the heat and humidity. Welcome to Bali.
You will soon see a crowd of people of which most of them are holding a sign with a name. If you have arranged a pick up through your Bali accomodation then all you need to do if follow your friendly driver.
If that's not the case head to the TAXI stand located nearby. This is the only way you can leave the airport. These taxi's are linked to the Bali airport and the prices are all fixed.
Bali Airport Taxi Prices are fixed. These are from  2011)
 
Tell the person behind the TAXI stand desk where you need to go. He will then give you the price which you pay right there. Once you have the receipt your taxi driver will suddenly appear and take you to his car.
Remember, the prices are fixed so there won't be any charges afterwards. So you don't need to worry about already being ripped off within the first hour of setting foot on Bali.
The Bali Airport Taxis are well organized.
Our Official Hotel Venue is in Nusa Dua. Nusa Dua Beach is located on Bali's southern east-coast and it takes only 20 minutes from the airport to get here. Nusa Dua mainly consists of four and five-star hotel resorts  and Nusa Dua Beach is guarded by security personel who will check all the in and outgoing traffic through two gates just to be sure you won't be bothered. Besides being a popular tourism resort, Nusa Dua Beach is now also one of the most popular destinations for companies and non-governmental organizations to have international conferences, conventions and exhibitions.

Nusa Dua Beach

Nusa Dua Beach is perfect for couples or families who come to Bali for the first time and who like to make day-tours to see what Bali is so famous for; terraced rice fields, volcanoes, coconut plantations, fishermen, huge temples and colorful people.

It's also perfect for travelers who work like crazy all year and don't need much except for a comfortable sun lounger on the beach, a luxury hotel room and some fancy restaurants.

Nusa Dua Beach




When you leave Bali the airport charges you the airport tax of 150.000 Indonesian rupiah.
This has to be paid in cash at the check-in counters. When you take a domestic flight you'll pay 30.000 Indonesian rupiah.

Most of the airlines allow you to have 20kg check-in baggage and 8kg of hand luggage including laptop but when you fly with AirAsia they have a 15kg limit on check-in baggage and 7kg on hand luggage.
Pack light or be prepared to pay excess baggage per kilo.

It's prohibited to carry any sea shells, pieces of coral, souvenirs made from turtles or snakes such as handbags in your luggage.


Even when you stroll along the beautiful beaches in Bali and find some interesting pieces of coral don't put them in your luggage as cute Bali souvenirs. You will end up paying a huge fine when you arrive back home.So don't be tempted to buy it, it's nicer to see it in the wild than to place it on a dusty shelf.

One minor note, if you buy any liquids at the duty free shops at Bali airport exceeding 100ml then it might be confiscated at the security point on your connecting flight even though it is sealed properly.

Have a nice trip and Welcome to Bali.


Climate

Tropical paradise

With its location just 8 to 9 degrees south of the equator Bali offers a warm tropical climate year round, with temperatures ranging between 22 to 33ÂșC, with a comfortable average along its coast of 28 degrees. There are two distinct seasons of wet and dry.


Months                                                                                         Seasons
December to March Wet   Season
April to November Dry Season
June to     September Coolest and least humid





The wet or Rainy Season bringing heavy showers and humidity, however days are usually sunny, and rain passes swiftly. In the Ubud area you can expect cloudy skies and showers throughout the year, and in the higher mountain regions colder nights requiring sweater or jacket.

Thursday, March 8, 2012

Overnight 4WDJeep Adventure Tour (2D/1N Overnight Jeep Adventure)

Elephant Safari Ride

For you who like to have more adventure, you can spend 2 day 1 night for the overnight jeep adventure tour.


Bali is a volcanic tropical island, with 2 active volcanoes such as Agung and Batur Volcanoes. This overnight tour is the best Bali Adventure tour combination, the combination of Rafting, Jungle Fun offroad, Mount Batur Trekking, and Elephant safari ride. It will take you to explore Batur Volcano as the highlight of tour, driving our 4WD open canvas roof jeep around the foot of Batur volcano in the lava field and also climbing mount Batur to witness the beauty of the sunrise from the top of Batur volcano.

 
Batur Volcano and the Lake of Batur in the clear weather

Sun rising view from Batur Volcano and Batur Lake

you will be here on the top of Batur Volcano and surrendered by the clouds

Sunrise

Sunrise


In the first day, exploring the North East of Bali, the tour is started by White Water Rafting, jungle scenery and a wet and wild adventure experience in the heart of natural Bali await you. go get the nature paddle, splash and trill the rhythm of the paradise river. The professional trained guides will safety maneuver you around 10km of exiting class 2 and 3 rapids. International safety standard equipment is used throughout the 2 hours of white water rafting action. The Indonesian buffet lunch will be served here at the finish point of rafting. 



Continue the tour to Sangeh monkey forest, Bali's first famous monkey forest and consider as the best monkey forest in Bali, with its nutmeg trees and the temple inside the forest.




After visiting Sangeh the tour continue driving up to the mountain direction to visit Nungnung waterfall.



 Nungnung waterfall is the highest waterfall in Bali. with the rain forest around make this place as one the most beautiful waterfall in Bali, leave the waterfall behind continue to plage agro tourism for your Indonesian food lunch with its emerald green valey views around. 


From here we continue to go to Kintamani, on the way to kintamani we will make a stop at the Bali's higest and longest bridge, which is located in Pelaga village. This bridge connects two valleys with a very wonderful scenery around. A long the way to Kintamani you also can see the villagers valley farming with a lot of coffee plantation and oranges.
Coffee Luwak or Civet Coffee Plantation
Kopi Luwak or civet coffee, is coffee made from the beans of coffee berries which have been eaten by the Asian Palm Civet and other related civets, then passed through its digestive tract.The aromatic coffee with much less bitterness is widely noted as the most expensive coffee in the world.
Tasting the Civet Coffee / Luwak Coffee



Driving at the snaky forest road and finally we arrive in Kintamani, from kintamani we can see the row of the 3 Bali's mountain such as Batur volano, Abang and Agung volcano. Continue the trip driving down to the black lava field, which is only can be entered by a special vehicle like our 4WD open canvas roof jeep, along the track you can open our roof and we also give you chance to stop as many as you want for taking picture. After about 1 hour at the lava field then we arrive at the hotel, take a rest, save your energy and preparing for the next morning Batur volcano trekking. The hotel located near the lake Batur.

The view of Batur volcano from the hotel that we stay overnight to wake up at 4 AM for climbing to see sunrise

In the second day the tour started early in the morning, wake up at 3.30 am for Batur volcano trekking, trekking start at 4.00 am, its need about 2 hours to the top of the volcano, where you will see the wonderful view of the sunrise. we will serve your breakfast at the top of the volcano, and then going down back to the hotel, reach the hotel around 9.00 am.

climbing
trekking at 4 AM in the fog to see sunrise


The dogs at the top of Batur Volcano
trekking on this top of batur volcano

cooking bananas with volcano steam

cooking eggs for breakfast wit the volcano steam




The hotspring water  that is great for Healing...Relaxation after mountain climbing to see sunrise

Take a little rest and then checking out from the hotel at 11.30. continue the tour going back to kintamani again, driving down to temen village, temen village is village famous for Bali coffee processing and their spices garden, here we give you chance to try our pure Bali coffee. and then going to Tegallalang for your Indonesian food lunch. Tegallalang is a village well known with its beautiful rice terraces.


Lunch




Elephant safari park Taro Ubud, The experience of sitting high top an elephant in a teak wood chair, through the cool jungle of Taro, is an experience you'll never forget. Without a doubt the Elephant Safari Park in Taro is a MUST for visitors to Bali, and is the ONLY complete elephant experience in the world - making it truly unique. Acclaimed as the World's Best Elephant Park. Get up close and personal with these incredible animals in a beautiful tropical park setting.













Continue to Ubud, along the way we will pass the handicraft villages and then tiny road again with its village life, Balinese house compounds with its unique entrance gate and the family temple in every houses, rice terraces, beautiful green scenery and finally we arrive in Ubud for your 2 hours SPA treatment, including 1 hour full body massage, body scrub and flower bath. We offer two choice of SPA treatments such as Balinese Boreh treatment and Javanese lulur treatment. You can choose one of our treatment. Ubud will be your last stop for 2D/1N Jeep Tour.

 2 HOURS FULL BODY SPA MASSAGE

BALINESE MASSAGE

BOREH / LULUR / SCRUB

Flower Bath for Couple or Single only
TOUR INCLUDES : 4WD transportation, driver, petrol, pick up and return to your hotel, all the entrance tickets and donations, wet towel after trekking, 1 night accommodation, cool mineral water along the tour, 2x Indonesian food lunch, 1x breakfast, insurance , experience English speaking guide ( other language on request ), good time and unforgettable experiences.


and then before  going back to your next hotel, you may enjoy Jimbaran Sea Food Dinner right on the beachfront that you can see sunset and feel the sands come into your feets.




If you are interested in this overnight tour, please feel free to contact Indonesia Hult Alumni Chapter for booking and price by May 1st, 2012.