JDWoowoo50

As I've written in another post, this year I'm searching out places in Bali, with an eye to relocating here for a few months at a time as my 'home base' for other travels around Asia.

I'm no stranger to Bali. I first went there in 1972 when it was entirely another world, and since 1985 almost every year. I retired in 2012 and moved to East Java, specifically five years in Surabaya. Then to Bali in 2017. We rented a small villa in Sanur from 2016 to 2020 until Covid when we were forced to vacate.

Unlike many expats, my travel plans were never to be permanently in Indonesia, only to stay for a few months, then leave Indonesia to wander round Southeast Asia, and occasionally go home to Australia. Which I've done, successfully and happily, since 2012 until Covid forced us all to go home and replan our lives. Now Indonesia (for most this means Bali) has reopened, sort of - unsurprisingly, in many ways nothing is the same.

We flew from Melbourne. Jetstar did us in yet again. Four hours' delay, a smaller replacement jet eventually came and we were crammed into every available seat. So-so in-flight service (to give them due credit the staff coped well, even managing a sense of humor, and most passengers behaved, all of which helped). Not so happy were the Business Class passengers who got downgraded to Cattle Class. Another airline was added to my bucket list, never ever again!

We landed in Bali at 11.00 PM, not a good time to arrive anywhere in Asia. The new Indonesian visa is for 30 days (it can be renewed one time) and costs Rp500,000. We had rupiahs and paid quickly but the AUD$ payers had to cough up a few extra dollars. Visa service was polite and efficient. Then passport control, long queues, few staff, slow processing so more than an hour before we were finally at baggage retrieval. Customs staff waved aside our paper customs declaration, saying "you must online!" We smiled, turned back, went round and sneaked out. Nobody stopped us.

The new(ish) Ngurarai airport has all the modern services. ATMs to draw cash from our debit cards. A few good cafes and restaurants, open late. Outside, the usual chaos, a mob of hopeful drivers shouting the usual come-one, "good price", "special price for you", "promo". Sure, sure. All polite, but many drivers quoted high prices in dollars, Euros, marks, even lira. One said "for you, only one hundred" (US dollars) to take us 10 kilometers to Sanur. Only? Sorry, tidak, mas. In the parking lot, more sensible driver prices were offered. A pleasant driver quickly agreed to 200,000 and off we went.

Our driver was friendly and gave me useful information. Many villas for rent, prices high, no great demand. Car transport same. Indonesian tourists everywhere in Bali but they travel in groups, bargain for everything, don't spend much, only walk around and eat street food. Europeans slowly returning, mostly older Dutch and Germans, some French. Not many Aussies in Sanur, they flock to the fleshpots of Kuta-Legian-Seminyak-Canggur. All the Balinese eagerly awaiting the return of mainland Chinese.

In our room at 1.20 AM. SO, exhausted, had a double duty free gin and warm bottled water and went to bed. I sneaked a swim in the hotel pool, diplomatically ignored by the security staff. We were, I was told, one of three lots of guests, in a 125 room resort.

A late morning breakfast in a pleasant setting, a pendopo, in a lush tropical garden setting. Food so-so. Not impressed with prices, AUD$20 for two meh! Bali breakfasts, a delicious banana pancake, small pots of strong Bali coffee. Ants in the sugar bowl, hey, this is Bali!

Weather at 10 AM, blue sky, hot, high humidity. Hotel staff said it will probably rain later. Which it did, three times. Short downpours. I got soaked but was dry again in 10 minutes. Bali...

Not many tourists around. Older couples, Dutch and Germans, some Aussies, a few Japanese. No Chinese to be seen as yet. Many Indonesians, wandering in thr usual groups, eating street food. A relaxing ambience of no tour buses crowding every available parking space on Jalan Danau Tamblingan. They will come later.

SO went out shopping. I wanted to change money and I went to Hardy's. In a cramped moneychanger's shop (like a hotel bathroom, if smaller) three Balinese hangers-on, all drivers, hustling for business. They wouldn't go out so I left.

Then an arranged meeting with the son of our former landlord, who had contacted to say the villa we rented was again "available" - yes, but at three times the price. "We poor now," he insisted. So will I be, if I pay you that much. I made polite excuses and left, to his entreaties of "no many villas now, all rented", "many people want rent, you must take now!" and inevitably, "you good friend, special price for you" and "how much you want pay?". We'll let you know, I promised - with two fingers crossed behind my back.

On to a travel-tour-villa rental agency. The baby doll at the counter sighed. Many come in to ask, nobody rents. Indonesians want to live in Bali, but they all insist on bargaining. The first offers they make start at half the pre-2020 prices. She had the look of one resigned to reciting the same script too many times to would-be callers who come and go. Hers was the same story. A glut of villas for rent, prices too high. "Everybody in Bali poor now" she said by way of explanation when I queried the new high rental prices.

Back on the street, I asked about a car and driver to Bedugul. The usual hustler prices, one million, no? 900,000 then, okay? 800,000, okay? 700,000. Alas, the reputable Denpasar travel agency I often used pre-2020 is now closed, so I no longer have any bargaining edge. A nearby agency wanted 550,000, a fair price, I thought, but then - this fee per person plus 150,000 for "booking". Tsk tsk!

On Jalan Danau Tamblingan our driver from the airport greeted me. A few minutes' negotiating and a good price, 400,000 for an eight hour day. No extras to pay. Deal done. We go tomorrow via Ubud, so two birds with one stone.

I still had time for visits to two rental agencies. The same story.

At 1 PM, time for lunch at a charming small cafe, Retro, renowned for its chef who does fish without incinerating it. Here the old Bali politeness (if not the menu prices) prevail. I was there early, frazzled by my local encounters and the heat-humidity, and I had a arak cocktail with a well-chilled Heineken chaser, which put me in a calm stupor.

SO arrived with news. Hotel and restaurant prices are up, some higher, most still reasonable. Cafe menus not as elaborate, portions smaller. Unsurprisingly, bar and beer prices 25% higher. A few local places have vanished. The legendary Cafe Batujimbar is closed "for renovations", which in Indonesia often means it will never reopen. Never mind. Retro will do nicely.

After an excellent lunch, a leisured stroll to Hardy's mall. Not many customers. We didn't venture upstairs (SO had been there earlier, reported all the usual tourist rubbish on offer, prices medium to high). Hardy's supermarket much the same as pre-Covid, service is now better, staff are polite to foreign customers. Amazing. The Periplus bookshop is open, huzzah!

Afterwards SO returned to the hotel to relax and swim. I decided to check out our old villa and called the owner's son, who raced over in minutes on his motorbike and took me to the house. Not much to see. The place was vacant since 2020,with my last coffee cup still in the sink and some old food items I bought in the pantry. Dust everywhere, the garden neglected and a mess. I could easily and quickly fix all that, but the rental price is still too high for my liking. Given its location, this villa is no longer a bargain. Over the half hour I was there, the price went down by 10 then, then 20 per cent, but the final offer was still much too high.

I could have bargained still more, but I no longer wanted to relive the past. A new future elsewhere now appealed more.And I was no longer sure if I wanted to be in Bali. Too long in the one place tends to make me bored and stultified. And Bali has changed so much. More polite excuses and I took my leave. This time no new offers and, tellingly, the owner's son didn't drive me back. Telling, this The walk took 20 minutes, in my old neighborhood. Nothing to repor or see there. Que sera...

Dinner in Seminyak. With old friends, in a favorite old haunt we enjoyed in the past, legendary in its time but now somewhat out of things. The new 'scene' has shifted to Canggu, I was told. I won't name itr. The same ambience, only a few diners, so-so service. We waited 20 minutes for menus, the waiters flitted past every five minutes to ask, "another drink?" Food okay but unmemorable. Fish overcooked, salads past their best, the once generously heaped nasi campur platter much diminished. Mixed drinks watered down.The bill was high and I paid it for old times' sake. Later the downside of our gala night out - back at our hotel, SO sick with food poisoning, fortunately only a minor case. A sad ending to our past enjoyable times. .

So far our day has been so-so. Mixed. Sanur still charms and pleases, but no longer delights. For us the Kuta 'strip' is best avoided, we decide - but then I've felt the same about it for many years now. Maybe I'm too old. Or not Australian enough.

Tomorrow to Ubud and Bedugul. We went to bed wondering what to expect - would it be the same or too greatly changed? Time will tell, and we'll see.

To be continued in my next post.

OzSheila

Sad to read. Many fond memories of our times in Sanur. First visited in 1980; last visit 2018.

Will be interested to read your update on Ubud - our preferred destination in Bali. Many happy times there. Excellent accommodation, first rate cafes & restaurants at reasonable prices.

We’ve always thought we might spend a few months a year there in retirement. But with your insights & what we’ve picked up on other blogs looking less likely. Bizarrely some places in Europe looking more attractive price wise, Two weeks ago we were paying €2.50 for the most beautiful seafood tapas dishes in Malaga. One thing is for sure, travel post Covid is very different!

JDWoowoo50

Covid has changed Bali. In some ways drastically, in other ways less so. Costs for transport are much higher, food (at least in Sanur where I usually hang out) has not seen such big increases in cost but the serving places are cutting back on portions, service isn't quite as good as it was, alcohol prices have soared. Hotel prices are much the same, when we were there (early March) there were fewer guests around. Many shops have now reopened but some have closed for good. My laundry lady (I've used her services since 2006) is back in business, bless her, she also sells cheap tourist gewgaws (carvings, batiks, sarongs etcetera) but told me not many are buying now. Supermarket prices (at Hardy's) were a little lower than pre-Covid, amazing but there you are. So business as usual, 90%...

Sanur circa 1980 was a small slice of heaven on earth. In 2023 it still has its charm, but business has taken over and thanks to the tour companies and there busses full of buying-mad traveling Asians, the peace and quiet of the place has largely evaporated. But as we know time passes, things change.

In my next post (when time allows) I'll write about Nusa Dua and Ubud. Two places I explored, ere briefly, as possible hidey-holes for my next long-term stay in Bali. I quickly changed my mind on either. We stayed in ND for a few days but only visited Ubud as day-trippers, so again, opinions. ND is now too expensive and as poorly serviced as always. Ubud is the new Mecca for Liz Gilbert wannabes hunting for their Bali experiences (and their Felipes), not a few dozen but hundreds, even thousands. Prices have soared. To lunch or dine at the old haunts now means standing in a long line to wait for a table, all the budget homesteads have doubled or tripled their rates but at least most now have split system AC which is now a must in all of Bali. Traffic jams such as we've never seen in Sanur or even Denpasar,often it can take up to 40 minutes to travel three kilometers from the southern outskirts of the town to the Campuhan bridge.

OzSheila, you could consider time in Spain or Portugal for your few months away from Oz. I personally would opt for one of the quieter parts (and there are still many) of Italy, but admittedly this will be more expensive. Not much of Europe attracts budget visitors now. I have Sydney friends now in Malta who say if they did not have family there (she is Maltese born) they couldn't afford the place. There are still a few countries left in Asia for the more impecunious to hang out in, butter us, not Indonesia. The visa system there is a cash-grab, you now pay upfront on arrival for the first 30 days and the renewal for an additional 30 days means paying up to $250 per person plus an expensive taxi trip to immigration in Denpasar. After which time you will have to leave the country every 60 days.

Which means in a nutshell, if you are okay with staying maybe 30 days or even 60 days in Bali, it's still possible to do. But not so much long-term visa life there, which now means a lot of money.

A few other Asian countries are more generous with their visas - the Philippines, Thailand, Malaysia come to mind for longer term stays - but it now looks as if the good old pre-Covid days have gone and Asian tourism has shifted gears to attracting the big money travelers. As a good example of this, check out the Global Nomad Visa offered by Indonesia which seems to be the way that country is going. Sad, but there you are. Reality again, 2023 style.

For those who would consider staying out of Bali, East and Central Java are still affordable but bear in mind that even the big cities in Java are not as well serviced for Western visitors as Bali is. As well, few Indonesians speak much English beyond the usual deadly"dari mana?" questions taught by the English schools there and widely practiced by the students on every hapless visitor.

So yes, Covid has changed everything. There area few small encouraging signs that things in Bali are slowly going back to what they were pre-2020, but like in Australia, post-Covid life even for tourists will most likely never go back to what it was. This is the new 'given' and we must all get used to it.

More about Bali in my next post.

Fenella

We are just coming to the end of a 5 week stay in Lovina (North Bali). We're in a wonderful villa, on top of hill with sea view one side and jungle on the other. Lovely staff who do the shopping and cook amazing meals for us. We came to Lovina thinking it might be a place we'd like to spend more time. Nice as it is, it is just too quiet and too far away from everything (not so much in distance, but the roads are bad so getting anywhere takes a long time).

Now we're really looking forward to the hustle and bustle of Sanur again: Great restaurants which cater to every taste; Sitting on the beach drinking a cold beer and people watching. Yes, it is much louder and more expensive than it used to be, but Sanur is still the place we want to be. Now if only the visa situation could be sorted out, we would certainly consider settling down here. In the mean time we're going to enjoy our next 3 months in Sanur and see what happens after that.

Hoping that you find your forever place JDWoowoo50!