Showing posts with label Star Bali Tours. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Star Bali Tours. Show all posts

Tuesday, November 17, 2015

Bali Tour Series D: Besakih Temple and Ubud Monkey Forest

Besakih Temple: This is the biggest temple in Bali. Located at the slope of Mt. Agung. This place is very high and can get very cold towards the end of the afternoon. You can see fog and feel the coldness in your skin if you are not prepared. 


Common statues you will find inside the temple premises
The Temple is huge, it was after all the largest temple in Bali; to this day it is still being used for ceremonies, even if it is also a tourist spot. Outside, there are a small road that leads to the temple entrance. a free tour guide will accompany you inside the temple and will explain and give information about it; you and your companions will be asked to give donation as well after you register how many of you went inside the temple. =) 




The view from the top of the temple

Mini Temple (pagoda) inside Besakih Temple



Ubud Monkey Forrest: I was a little hesitant about this, because i am a bit scared of the primates because I have had a bit of a bad experience with them. Upon arrival in Ubud, Monkey Forrest Area, you can already see a lot of monkeys walking around the parking lot and was just minding their own business. 

We have a baby with us during the tour, she was just a year old, actually and she was so fearless in walking around the premises and just chasing the monkey and trying to touch them. They (monkeys) are very used to the tourists and would go near you if you have a banana with you (It is also sold inside the premises). 


A Family we chanced upon taking a rest in one of the statues inside the forest area

 Spending no less than an hour here, it was quite an experience too, seeing the monkeys and their families, they are just really cute and are fun to watch especially when they try to wrestle with tourists who hides banana in their pockets.  Also, the monkeys are clean! I haven't encountered one that smells bad! Not one tourist who has had one jumped into them (even on top of their head) complained about foul smell whatsoever. 






Sunday, November 15, 2015

Planning a TRIP to Bali, Indonesia

Not much expectations, but full of excitement. Bali, one of the known tourist destination in Asia! :D I have a lot of plans and how to spend them Bali Beaches. But we chose to avail a tour package, after reading through several blogs and travel sites as well that it is quite hard to commute around Bali since there is little to no public transportation available. 

Travelling to Bali from Manila is about 4 hours. Bali Airport is at Denpassar.


First, we booked a place to stay. It was booked through AGODA. the place is a good deal since we only have to spend about 1,000Php per day per room (for two). It is, however a bit within the (City) Denpassar area, and it would take 30 minutes to an hour or two to each of the other destinations. 

The hotel is clean, with very nice staff; but most of them do not speak english. The room comes with a free breakfast for two - and they do not open the restaurant for any other orders. The restaurant is open for guests who bring food from outside and you can eat them in their restaurant, but they do not take orders, not cook anything except for breakfast. 

CATUR ADI PUTRA
http://www.booking.com/hotel/id/catur-adi-putra-by-shailendra.html

The pool is small. it is also very cold. The pool water gave us a shock when we tried to dip in it, in a hot summer night. it was really cold. But it is very clean, nonetheless. 

Next, is the tour. there are a lot of tour packages, and travel agencies in the internet. We sent out a few inquiries to these sites, along with our planned itinerary. I have initially researched a few places that is a must visit. Some came back (via email) with an offer and a few did not. I managed to haggle a price that i think is suitable for us (group of 6), but other tours have fixed price. 

We booked about $125 worth of tour packages for 5 days, including our private ride of 8 hours, tour entrances and a lunch. Our Tour Agency's name was STAR BALI TOURS and they are very easy to communicate with. Our package was semi customized because it is a private tour, we also are able to do our sightseeing on our own time.  

I was not even asked for a down payment upon booking. We paid on the day (First day of our tour) and Wayan (our tour guide/ driver) was always on time each and every day. 

Their direct URL is http://www.starbalitour.com
Phone : (+62361-7943706)
Mbl  : (+6281.338.591.311)  / (+6282.145.316.381)
E-Mail : starbalitour@gmail.com , starbalitour@yahoo.com
WhatsApp : 082145316381
Skype : starbalitour
Messenger : starbalitour@yahoo.com or infostarparadise@yahoo.co.id


Each of our Day Itinerary will be posted separately in this blog for a more detailed (and more pictures) account of the whole tour.