Travel & Holidays Holiday ideas - Bali and Phuket

Have been to bali 3 times. Bkk 4 times . Phuket 2 times in the last 18 months

It really depends on what you want

If you want a cultural experience. Id do bkk.
If you want cheap drinks. Cheap food. Cheap souvenirs. Do bali. Especially kuta and seminyak

If you want to do lots of nature and temples. North kuta such as ubud. And the islands are great

Bkk and surrounds has a wide variety such as shopping food drinks temples nature sex

Phuket is quite touristy with a lot less nature and cultural.

Just really depnds on what you want to do

Ive been ducking over to bali for a getaway from everything. Sometimes alone. Sometimes the girlfriend comes along. Sometimes its friends

I love them all though

 

No its not. Beer, wine and spirits in Bali are comparable in price to Australia.
You want good value, try Vietnam.

 

We stay in Sanur in Bali - trust me, 10 times better than Kuta.

 

Or just go to Gold Coast if wanting a beach holiday...... Been to Thailand, prefer GC I think!

 

Not sure what your definition of comparable is but 15 to 17k ($1.50-$1.70) for beer and 25k to 30k for spirits is cheap enough for me

As for wine. Most of the wine there is imported so its going to be expensive

 

Show me where you get real drinks for that price.
It cost more than that buying beer and buying bottles of spirits at Hardys and the like.

 

whats your def of a REAL drink?

1990 Grange?

I too must like fake drinks

 

One with branded alcohol, not Arak.
Branded Alcohol (Smirnoff, Johnny Walker, Jim Beam etc) by the bottle at the supermarkets is dearer than in Australia so I cant see how they can sell it for $3 a drink as you claim.
I stayed outside of the tourist areas when there, so away from nightclub or resort prices and we were looking at on average $8 to $10 aud for a simple spirit and a mixer at the cheap warungs.
http://www.destinationunknown.com.au/cost-of-alcohol-in-bali-indonesia/
If you were paying $3 and less I would almost guarantee you were drinking Arak pored into premium bottles.
http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/bali-meth...s-mother-tells-of-ordeal-20141126-11uaue.html

 

i know the dangers of arak,
you gotta look harder, take advtange of happy hour or promos,

many places have happy hour from like 2 to 8pm

 

OK, so now the cheap drinks in Bali are only at a few spots between the hours of 2 and 8 and then you still have no guarantee that the spirits are actually real.
If not drinking between the hours 2 and 8 and if not in that select location , the drinks are expensive.

The reason I mention the real spirits is I had an appalling hangover after a few drinks at one of the more upmarket establishments. The Absolute was obviously not Absolute even though I saw them pour it and they certainly charged for it.

 

I miss those icy cold Bintangs from Bali. I don't need any other alchohol, other than those Bintangs when I am in Bali. Easily purchased at the Seven-Eleven next door.

 

Thats pretty much good enough for me!!!

I do try to stick to beer as well due to the arak problems. 15k to 20k in any bar except hotels . Even the hotels are like 25k.

Or does it need to be available 24/7 in every corner of the city?

 

24/7 no but certainly more than a few out of thousands.
If its only at a few out of the thousands of available restaurants and watering holes there are no prizes for guessing where the vast concentration of drunken bogans will be during the hours of 2pm and 8pm jockeying for bar space to get at the cheap drinks.

That is a sight and a crowd I would prefer not to be amongst or subject my family to and the last thing we want to be around when we travel overseas are other australians and tourists especially if in Ozzie, Irish or english themed pubs and clubs.
I can easily do that here at home with the several thousand dollars in my pocket from the money I would have spent on airfares and accommodation.

 

Hawaii all the way!!

 

Never been to Hawai, but does it present the same value for money places like Bali and Phuket offer? I am unashamedly a cheapskate. More to the point, the current economy and my workplace retrenchments doesn't give me the confidence to go out and spend big on holidays.

 

If you're after a cheap holiday, you could try a Cruise. We've just booked our first Cruise, & didn't want to go for too long or pay too much, in case we didn't like it. We leave in Feb! 10 nights for $800 each with an added $200 on-board credit.

We're planning on having a few small holidays next year. Will probably go to Japan a few months after the Cruise.

 

How is it different to the Gold Coast and I dont mean the accents.

 

Look at Vietnam
Suites in nice hotels cost all of $40 to $50 a night
A good quality double half that.
Meals cost a few dollars if eating local and beers can cost less than $1. We even found it was cheaper to drink cocktails than juice or softdrink.

I just looked at one I stayed at last year and rooms are less than $20

 

Emoi, I enjoyed backpacking through Vietnam before I got married and had a family. I enjoyed the history and culture of that place. But apart from Hoi-an most places I went to was quite crowded and not something I would call suitable for a week or two of relaxation. Maybe there are pockets inside Vietnam which will be comparable to Bali.

 

Nice one Skater!
My tips for Cruises.

1. Always take the stairs..... This gives you some exercise (it's way too easy to go lazy on a cruise, plus waiting for lifts is a waste of time)

2. Don't overeat! It's tempting to do so as all the food is all included (and it's generally good quality too and you don't have to do your dishes), but at the end of the day, if you eat everything in sight you end up not fitting into your clothes and getting a few kilos heavier, and that's even on just a 10 day cruise. So don't treat it as 10 days of all you can eat.

3. Still be prepared you will probably buy extras so the $200 on board credit is unlikely to cover your expenses. Also some ships (more non Australian based ones) charge a daily tipping amount. About $10 per person per day. Not huge, but it is there. Cocktails etc can be expensive and the charges will all add up onto your tab...