What must I see while in Bali and Bangkok?

[West Ireland Diver]

I loved Bangkok. Although after a day walking around I've never been so tired. It's a mad mad place but if you like that kinda thing its great.

We only had 2 days there passing through and just went to some of the more well known sites. If you take a boat ride on the river just keep your gob shut otherwise you could pick up god knows what disease if any water gets in.

Bali is a love it or hate it place as well, personally I loved it. Kuta is a hole, but again I found it entertaining and stayed there for a week or so. Stroll down poppies 1 and 2 and get in with the Aussies!

Ubud is the one for culture. I much prefered this place. Admittedly it's nowhere near the sea but it's well worth a walk through the paddy fields and meet some of the artists living there.

The volcano was impressive to walk up, just do it early in the morning because the heat is unbearble when doing that kind of exercise.

We also took a boat out to the Gili's. This is where we went diving. Three tiny tropical islands and lots of great diving. Well worth a visit if you have time.

In both places you will get hassle hassle hassle. But just wave them off and say no thanks. In Kuta it can get really excessive, but hey ho it's all part of the experience.

Have fun, I can't wait to get back to that part of the world!!

[londonsean69]

You certainly want to avoid the chamber in Denpasar (Incident report being moderated)

[John63]

I've just come back (Thursday last week) from 2 days in bangkok and 2 1/2 weeks in bali, so very similar to your trip.


We've been to Bangokok o several occasions so have managaed to see a bit each time we went. Depends what you what culture / seedy / shops etc.

The Royal Place & grounds are awesome. There are loads of temples well worth seeing but don't try to do tomany in one day.

Outside of Bangkok (1 -2 hrs) there are a variety of options. There are floating markets where you go around in small boats and the seelers are either on the waterside or in boats too. There are several of these markets, some aimed at tourists and others primarily for locals.

The Bridge on the river Kwai is interesting if ou like WW2 history.

There is also a tiger temple where you can "pet" tigers. This is a but touristy but the monks who run it seem to have the best interests of the animals at heart.

We squeezed in the floatong market, bridge on the kwai, and the tiger temple into 1 day on our layover to Bali. It was a long day but very interesting.


Bali was great. It was a touch cooler than we expected and on the beach at sunur, fairly windy.

If you can get across to the Gilli islands or to Flores that is said to be the best diving in the area but if you are staying on Bali itself I would recommend the following sites as a starter, but watch out for the water temps as I got caught out.

The liberty wreck at Tulumben. It a superb wreck shore dive but very busy (27 deg C).

Manta Point on Nusa Penida - it lived upto it's name on every occasion I was there (18 deg C)

Cystal Bay on Nusa Penida - Mola Mola (22 deg C)

Nusa Penida drift dives - superb at crazy speeds (27 deg C)

Tepegong, Padang bai - Mola Mola, white-tips, giant cuttlefish (24 deg C).

Dive day trips ran at about USD150 for a 3 dive trip and 110-120 for 2 dives.

There is a marine park in the far NW of Bali but I didn't get over there so cannot comment.

For non diving interest we went to Ubud - artists and rice paddies.

The volcanos are great - we went with a company who took us to the top of one of them then gave us a guided back roads tour on mountain bikes. Mostlay back lanes but through villages and filds that we wouldn't have otherwise seen. Bset bit was it was all downhill !

Usual opportunities for elephant rides, camel rides. There are a couple of companies who offer horseriding tours through the countryside.

If you like bird and animal life there is a very good bird & reptile park. One of the attractions there is a huge aviary that you go inside the cage with the birds and trees.

taxis are all metered and okay value.

Watch out for the number of zeros when you pay / get change. Some of the shops tried to give us change that was a tenth of what it should have been.
There are around 18,000 rupiah to the pound

I'm by no means an expert on either Bangkok or Bali but having just come back a few days ago it's fresh in my mind. If you want any specifics drop me a line.

Cheers, John

[John Parish]

nusa penida for the mola mola and the liberty wreck at tulamben are great. i dived with bidp in sanur, highly recommended... bidp

if you have time, try the gili islands in lombok, easy ferry ride over or short flight

gili trawangan is a beautiful tropical island with no cars motorbikes etc. good food, nice bars, relaxed atmos, great beach

http://digilander.libero.it/stefania..._Trawangan.jpg

great diving all round the island and all only a ten minute boat ride. i dived with blue marlin, again great guys to dive with. dive indo



i shouldn't need to tell anyone how to kill a few hours in bangkok...should i???

[Allan Carr]

The Liberty Wreck at Tulamben is well worth doing - if for the sight of the little lady porters who carry up to two sets of dive gear on their heads! The coral in Bali is nowhere near as spectacular as Sulawesi but the fish life is better. We saw a school of 19 bump head parrot fish - huge things, about 5 feet long and two and a half feet wide! They looked for all the world like a herd of underwater buffalo. Also large barracuda, Napoleon Wrasse, massive cuttlefish and some tiny pygmy seahorses but you will need a good guide if you are to spot them.

Wasn't over impressed with Bangkok - crowded and dirty. The river is filthy with dead dogs floating in it. The Royal Palace was closed for the mourning of the King's sister when we were there but the temple containing the reclining Buddha was worth seeing. There are some good deals on tailoring but beware of some of the traps. Some of the prices seem too good to be true and they are. They will show you good quality material but make up the suit in cheap material of the same pattern. The suit will also be pressed into shape rather than tailored so in humid weather it goes all out of shape.

I bought a raw silk jacket (superb lightweight summer wear) and several silk shirts at a shop called the Siam Emporium which is run by a Sikh family. This was recommended by a South African couple at our hotel (he had just ordered three suits there) and is the place where his brother-in-law who has lived in Bangkok for twenty years gets all his tailoring. The jacket was made in a day and a half - ordered 10 am one morning, 7 pm fitting and collected at 7 pm the following day. It is a superb fit, bespoke rather than made to measure because the cloth is cut to suit my shape, something which would cost a fortune in this country.

[Foggy]

All I remember of Bali was being ill, violently ill, I mean projectile vomit in the lift ill....

Well it was back in the 60's, I would've been about 4yo...

Cheers, Paul

PS Actually, I do have a monkey god mask, so I must have done something other than puke out my guts - I just don't remember it

PPS Sorry I can't be more helpful

[NotDeadYet]

Get measured for a suit - although time is not on your side for fittings. They keep your measurements on file and you can order suits when you get home. Handmade with two pairs of trousers for £100 ish

Definitely! I got a hand made silk lined cashmere suit for £120. Got measured at lunch time, first fitting at 6pm, very impressive serivice. I used International Fashions at the river end of Kao San Road.

[thehappychappy]

Thanks all, I had a blast.
the diving was pretty good and thanks to replies to this thread I took an extra 2mm vest to keep me warm under my 3mm suit.
Blogged here:Under Pressure » Blog Archive » Diving in Bali, August 2008

Also the Advice re Bangkok was spot on, we arrived at about 7.30 pm and by the time we went to our hotel and got changed we went straight to the Vertigo bar, just wow, what a view, an amazing place, we stayed till we got thrown out (not off, thankfully) when it closed at 2.30am.


Spent the next day visiting a temple, shopping for tat, wandering round markets and having a laugh in Tuk Tuk's.

Just didn't have enough time to fit everything in, but YD once again came up with the right information.

Cheers

Davie

P.S They don't like bank of Scotland notes in Bali or Bangkok banks or money changers.

[Zero-Viz]

Also I have 36 hours in bangkok on the way back and are there any must see's from a tourists perspective? (I am not interested in the seedy side(ok I am curious but with only 36 hours Id rather see some culture)

Cheers.

We had 36 hours there recently and the same problem of so much to see. We ended up getting a longtail from Thai Pier on advive of a local which shouldn't cost any more than 600 bhat each. It's a 2 hour trip that takes you down the canals so you get to see the poorer side of Bangkok, it was fantastic. We had te boat to ourself and you get dropped off at the Grand Palace but in all honesty that's a day trip on it's own so we took a tuk tuk to the Kah San road and did the market there and then lunch. That night we went to Patpong just to see what the fuss was about. My wife and I loved it. It's not all go-go bars. there are normal bars there as well and it's another world, really good fun. We went to the sky bar (pic below) which was mind blowing but also mind blowingly expensive. £20 for a beer and a wine which was a shock when you've become accustomed to Bangkok and Island prices.

skybar.jpg

[aqua0]

Not Gary Glitter - He's off to Hong Kong