Bali being a province of one of the 3rd world countries, I expected it to be inexpensive. Bali was more expensive than I thought, especially comparing it to other 3rd world countries I have visited. In all fairness, food and accommodation were decently priced depending upon where you chose to stay and eat. However, transportation is the real culprit in this country. Hell, Australia is much cheaper (not really), but I felt that way.
I would say the cheapest expense, for value, in Bali is probably the accommodations. With hostels starting from $6 CAD/ night, you can’t go wrong. If you have a little bigger budget, you can get a private Vila starting from $60 CAD/ night in Bali.
Probably the most inconsistent expense depending upon where you choose to eat. Food is one of those factors, no matter where you go, the pricing is going to be inconsistent. Average food cost in middle to medium-high restaurants are between $5 – $10 Canadian depending upon what you get; also add in the 10% tax and 5% service charge (could be higher at different places). These restaurants are likely owned by foreigners.
Your best bet for cheap food is to go to a Warung – local, tax-free, Indonesian family run restaurants. The food here cost between $1.50 to $5 depending upon where you go and what you eat. But watch out for some medium to high end restaurants advertising their restaurants as “Warung” too but the prices will be more expensive along with taxes compared to the actual Warungs!
Definitely the most expensive part of Bali! All the drivers are greedy here. Is it fair for me to judge them trying to out smart a foreigner, absolutely not, but as a backpacker on a budget, I am going to be that person. From the Denpasar airport to Canggu, based on the Go-Jek and Grab prices, it should have been around 75K IDR ($7.50), however, my friend and I had to spent around 250K IDR ($25) to get to our hostel in Canggu, and this was after negotiations.
Oh and public transportation is nonexistent in Bali!
Speaking of which, Go-Jek and Grab will be your friend in Bali; they are equal to Uber in Bali. Taxis can be tricky and expensive. Go-Jek is an Indonesian company, but Grab is an international company. But… WATCH OUT! Some drivers on these apps will contact you separately on WhatsApp or the ride share app’s messaging tool to ask for more money. For example, for one incident, the Go-Jek app quoted me 50K IDR ($5) for a trip, but the driver contacted me separately asking for 400K IDR ($40).
Boat/ferry trips are also expensive. To go to the islands, expect to spend about $50 CAD round trip for a 30-minute ferry ride. A 15-minute boat ride is around $6 CAD.
Personally, I thought Bali is cheap if you are going down for a quick vacation. But if you are planning to head to Bali as a backpacker, it might not be the best place to start your backpacking trip. *Learn from my experience* 😀
#BlackLivesMatter Photo by frankie cordoba on Unsplash One of the biggest misconceptions is that only Caucasian people are…
“You won’t last 6 months,” and “You'll be back in a week.” Two statements I…
Game Face via standard.co.uk; Getty Images This was not how your story was supposed to…
Turkish Flag In All Its Glory! Turkey was a bucket list country for me. Having…
Expecto Petron(us) :D. Petronas Tower, Kuala Lumpur. Okay, the title is not a fair assessment…
Poor Man's View Of The Infamous Hotel - Marina Bay Sands Hotel, Singapore. Anything and…