Travel information around your Bali holidays considering medical care and vaccinations, visa and passport, airlines and airport transfers, time and climate, money and national currency, country and people...

Bali Weather

Country and people

Bali is with a surface of approx. 5500 km² the most western one of the small islands of the Sunda-Archipel in the Indian Ocean. Bali belongs to the biggest archipelago of the world, Indonesia. The north south expansion amounts to approx. 90 km, to the east west expansion approx. 140 km. The island is of volcanic origin and the ground is thereby very fertile. Hence, beside the tourism which became very important today for the life of the local population, the agriculture still is decisive. The volcanoes are revered by the inhabitants as „holy mountains“ because of their fertility. On nearly no other place on the earth the regional variety is made as clear as on Bali. On the smallest surface the nature offers all manifestations which it is able. Starting from up to 3000-m-high mountains with accordingly scanty vegetation, over opulent, green rice fields, tropical rain forest with mangroves, black-sandy lava beaches in the north up to the long-pulled white sandy beaches in the south, the visitor can’t understand and explore everything in a short visit at all.

There are just 4 million Balinese, while approx. 95% of them are Hindus. The Hinduism has on Bali his own form which is not as strict as in India. Most people are integrated in a village structure whose life and daily routine is marked by public weal and ceremonies to the honor of the gods and appeasement of the demons. The community is higher settled than the individual well-being, the uppermost principle harmony. The role allocation between man and woman is divided clearly, children are preferential creatures. This strong village and social group has firmly resisted the even in the paradise greater and greater becoming problems up to now which brings, among other things also the tourism with itself. However, it also subtends in the guests who visit the island and in their respect for the people and the nature that the "paradise" is preserved. The faith, the religion and the warmth of the Balinese make this island so unique. Somebody can hardly avoid the spell of the gods and demons in numerous temples.

Climate

Bali lies approx. 8 ° to the south of the equator. The rather atypical permanence of the tropical weather is also to be owed to this situation. With a nearly constant temperature between 28 and 32 °C and a continual sea breeze, the climate is experienced in contrast to other tropical areas pleasantly and not humid. There is a drying time from March to October and a rainy season from November to February but there are absolutely wonderful sunny days also during the rainy season. Most precipitation falls in January and February, mainly in the afternoon all together in the mountains more than in other areas. On the north coast there falls all together less precipitation than in other areas of the island. The "chilliest" months are from June until August. The water temperatures are rather constant all year around approx. 28 °C what makes Bali popular for water sportsmen from all over the world. Accordingly Bali is a whole summer holidays area and because of the rainy season the best holiday season lies between April and December. The sunrise is all-year around 6 am and sunset around 6pm.

Money and national currency

The national currency for Indonesia is Indonesian Rupiah IDR. The prices of hotels are often quoted in US $. Due to a strong euro Bali is on site a relatively favorable travel country. Currently (state March, 2010): 1USD = approx. 9,200 IDR. Current exchange rate. Cash or Traveller-Checkes are recommendable. With dollar banknotes it can become a little problematic, because not all series are accepted.

Time

During the CET the time difference amounts from end of October till the end of March to Europe +7 hours, during the CEST from April to October + 6 hours.

Visa and passport

For your entry to Bali you need a passport which must be valid at least another 6 months. As a tourist one buys a tourist visa ("Visa on Arrival") for currently 25 US $ at the airport which has a validity of 4 weeks. For a longer stay a visa must be applied at the Indonesian embassy in Berlin or at the General Consulate of the republic Indonesia in Frankfurt or Hamburg. At the moment the period of validity is 60 days. Please, enquire about it at the suitable places. The price for this is at the moment approx. 50 €.

Airlines and airport transfer

There are different airlines that approach airport of Denpasar Bali (DPS). From Europe best of all one flies with the suitable Airlines via Singapore, Bangkok, Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur, Brunei with a flying time between 14.5 and 17 hours. Our partner travel agency “Pauli” helps you with the flight reservation and searches for you the best connection, with pleasure also with a stopover in the suitable metropolises. If requested we organize your airport transfer on Bali. The journey from the airport to the north to Sambirenteng lasts approx. 2.5 hours.

Immunizations

For Bali there are no general inoculation recommendations, hence, it lies in your own judgment. It is no malarial territory, therefore also no precaution inevitably. Nevertheless, for the personal protection you shouldn’t drink tap water and don’t eat unwashed fruit and salad. As a tourist you should also avoid the moving cookshops.

Medical care

The medical care is widely well, there are some wards in the neighboring places as well as Balinese medical centers in Singaraja (approx. 30 km). In private clinics the care corresponds to European standard. Anyway it is recommended to conclude a travel health insurance. Special medical centers with worldwide good call are found in Singapore. Further there are a lot of excellent healers on Bali.