by Gordon Hamilton

Created on: November 21, 2008

Bali is a dream destination for a great many people and it was always a prominent item on my wish list. Some of the following comments are negative but let them be helpful information rather than discourage you from visiting what is an extremely beautiful and interesting holiday destination.

I have had four holidays there, the first in 1999. Unfortunately, each time I see a deterioration and after this year's experience, it is now excluded from my future plans, as many other Asian destinations becken. Prices have shot up since my previous visit a year ago whilst services and the general attitude of the people has declined.

The airport arrivals area is a disaster. Chaos extraordinaire! The checking of your visa on arrival service is so badly organised that it must be experienced to be believed! It needs at least four people to process each visitor. One to take your money, 25 dollars, one to give you the visa, another to check your passport and attach the visa, followed by somebody just to stamp both documents. They have more people to take the money - which takes a few seconds - than they have to check the passports, which can last several minutes. You will have to wait so long that a toilet visit becomes necessary. For ladies this can be an extremely unpleasant experience in out of date and sometimes non-functioning facilities. Once we got through all this hassle we could not even find a trolley for our cases. I know that some business men who are regular visitors put a 50,000 Rupiah note(about 6 dollars) in their passport and use the channel reserved for airline crews. No problem, immediate stamp and entry!

Corruption is rife in Bali. It has still many wonderful attractions and most of the people are kind and friendly. All beach and street traders, many shops and especially the money changers will try to claw some extra cash from you. So getting value starts by making sure you get the right amount of Rupiah for your own currency. Check the rate in advance and calculate what you are due. Do not believe the figure on the calculator used by the changer. When buying, always negotiate on the price. If not happy, begin to walk away and you will often find the price you offered is suddenly acceptable.

Eating out in Bali is now much more expensive but good value and very good food can still be found. Check the drinks prices before deciding on a particular restaurant. A bottle of Bintang beer can be 40,000 Rupiah or 20,000 in the next restaurant where the food prices are

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