Now that the wedding/holiday/damn-good-reason-to-travel is 'this year', we thought it may be a good chance to give you some information on hanging out in Bali. Part one of this is actually getting through the airport!!
In days gone by it wouldn't have been unheard of to stand in line for up to 3 hours waiting to purchase your visa and then be processed by immigration. Thankfully this has been a lot quicker in recent times, although you may still get 4 planes all landing at once!!
Most planes now land out in the airport and require you to jump on a bus to the terminal. Once your bus pulls up at the terminal, the seasoned Bali travellers will be pushing past you to sprint to the Visa Counter. This counter is now on your left as you enter the arrivals hall. You will need to line up aong with everyone else and pay $25USD per person to enter the country. They do accept Aus or Rupiah however I'll leave the calculations to you!
Once you've received your visa, you'll need to take it, your passport and your customs declaration form (which you'll receive and fill in on the flight) to one of the open immigration queues. The queues are fairly straight forward and once through you'll need to find your bags.
Beware! From here on out, assume that anyone offering to assist you will want to be paid! There are porters in the baggage area that will pull your bags off the conveyor belt. This is fine and no payment is required. There are also additional porters who will try and start wheeling or carrying your bag to 'assist' you. Politely but strongly say 'No thanks' several tmes if they're persistent or just grab your bag and keep walking!
The final hurdle is getting through customs. Standard rules apply here so declare if you have something (food etc) or hit the other line if you have nothing. All bags are scanned though so be prepared. Once through here it's a hairpin turn to the left and you'll come out into the loudest, most crowded arrival area you've possibly ever seen! Head to the right, there's a gate to get out and a reputable taxi queue. It's a set fare to each of the suburbs so you'll just need to tell the guy at the window which suburb and your hotel and you'll be billeted out to a driver to get you on your way!
In days gone by it wouldn't have been unheard of to stand in line for up to 3 hours waiting to purchase your visa and then be processed by immigration. Thankfully this has been a lot quicker in recent times, although you may still get 4 planes all landing at once!!
Most planes now land out in the airport and require you to jump on a bus to the terminal. Once your bus pulls up at the terminal, the seasoned Bali travellers will be pushing past you to sprint to the Visa Counter. This counter is now on your left as you enter the arrivals hall. You will need to line up aong with everyone else and pay $25USD per person to enter the country. They do accept Aus or Rupiah however I'll leave the calculations to you!
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| A Balinese Visa |
Once you've received your visa, you'll need to take it, your passport and your customs declaration form (which you'll receive and fill in on the flight) to one of the open immigration queues. The queues are fairly straight forward and once through you'll need to find your bags.
Beware! From here on out, assume that anyone offering to assist you will want to be paid! There are porters in the baggage area that will pull your bags off the conveyor belt. This is fine and no payment is required. There are also additional porters who will try and start wheeling or carrying your bag to 'assist' you. Politely but strongly say 'No thanks' several tmes if they're persistent or just grab your bag and keep walking!
The final hurdle is getting through customs. Standard rules apply here so declare if you have something (food etc) or hit the other line if you have nothing. All bags are scanned though so be prepared. Once through here it's a hairpin turn to the left and you'll come out into the loudest, most crowded arrival area you've possibly ever seen! Head to the right, there's a gate to get out and a reputable taxi queue. It's a set fare to each of the suburbs so you'll just need to tell the guy at the window which suburb and your hotel and you'll be billeted out to a driver to get you on your way!
Finally, if all of this sounds too difficult there is such a thing as a VIP Visa. A nice man will meet you in the arrivals hall where you'll hand over your passport and US dollars. They then bypass the line and get your visa, escort you through immigration skipping those queues and getting you to the baggage carousel before the bags have even come out! They'll then assist you through customs and deposit you safely and quickly outside the arrival area! While handing over your passport to a complete stranger in a foreign land is not normally recommended, we and many other have used this service several times and it can be very worthwhile. We make it out in around 15 minutes. Cost is around $30Aus and we can coordinate this for anyone who would like it. This company can also have a car ready and waiting to drive you for a pre-arranged fee, it usually costs less than $15 to get to your hotel.
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