Prices in Bali Continue to Rise
Plus - Latest on the new Bali Railway and the Monthly Hidden Gem
Welcome to the new home of The Travel Author!
Before I get into the nuts and bolts of this newsletter, I just wanted to get that out there.
I’ve recently moved a lot of The Travel Author across from my traditional website, to a shiny new home here on the Substack website. Why?
While the website still exists, the latest Google updates have been making it, and many many other websites, hard for users to find. Here on Substack, I have the means to post all my latest articles and info, and it’ll be sent directly to your inbox.
It also means I can publish what I want by way of these newsletters. No more conforming to what Google wants, and no more spammy advertising!
Just the information you want delivered directly to you.
Also, if you want to join Substack yourself, you can follow me there and even chat to me directly on the app if you want some quickfire travel advice!
So, let’s have a look at the latest info I have for you. Today, it will be some local Bali and Indonesian news. In future emails that will come every couple of weeks, I’ll cover other regions as well.
Jatiluwih Rice Terrace joins the Bali price revolution
If you haven’t already heard, Bali holidays have become more expensive recently.
First, it was a general price rise. The island, tourism operators, hotels and clubs suffered so much during the pandemic that it was only natural that prices would rise when tourism returned. The price rises recently have been a bit more than that though.
Next, there’s the “culture tax” that has to be paid by all visitors to Bali.
While I don’t disagree with this tax (it apparently goes to a good cause) it does make it just that little bit harder for struggling families to afford a holiday to Bali. Especially with the rapid and, to be honest, shocking inflation in places like Australia.
The culture tax has to be paid before, or upon arrival in Bali, to the tune of 150k IDR per person. It’s not much, but it adds up for a family of, say, four or more. For people like myself, who are coming and going every couple of months, we’re expected to pay up to 6 times a year. But - it is what it is.
Now we’re seeing tourist attractions around the island raising their prices. This is something you will have to be aware of when you visit, and budget your holiday.
The latest of these is Jatiluwih Rice Terraces. They’ve lifted the entry price to 50k IDR for foreign visitors. While the rise in price isn’t substantial, it’s raised eyebrows that they haven’t raised the price for locals, who still only pay 15k IDR.
The stated reason is to upgrade facilities at the UNESCO World Heritage Site, which is fair enough. But still, this can be added to a long list of price hikes seen around the island in the past several months.
New Bali railway set to break ground shortly
Have you heard about the new Bali railway?
This popular/unpopular new project will apparently solve all of Bali’s traffic problems.
Good luck with that!
Starting from the airport, the first line installed will run via tunnel to Kuta. Further connections will be added over time to Legian, Seminyak and eventually to Mengwi. There are also big plans afoot for further expansion with a view to having lines running all over the island.
Whether that comes to fruition is anyone’s guess.
For now though, the first stage is set to begin construction in September of 2024. Locals are expecting a lot of pain and increased traffic chaos while construction is underway. Hopefully the end result will be worth it!
Hidden Gem of the Month
In each edition of this newsletter I’ll be bringing to you a new Hidden Gem. These could be from Bali, Java, Vietnam or even Turkey.
Today’s Hidden Gem is right here in Bali (keeping with today’s theme) and can be found on the Bali Bukit.
Green Bowl Beach is one of my favorite beaches, and can be found not far from my home at Nusa Dua. In fact, it’s located about halfway to Uluwatu, so is a handy place to find for anyone visiting either area.
Green Bowl is one of the smallest beaches on the island, and can only really be visited on the low tides. At high tide it nearly disappears!
This beautiful little crescent of sand is a great place to relax without the crowd, explore rocks pools and listen to the distant surf on the outer reef.
Just be aware that you’ll have over 300 steps to climb down to get to the beach, and then back up again! Also, there’s plenty of mad monkeys in the carpark and the road in that are always seeking attention and food scraps.
Well, that’s it for the very first edition of this new Newsletter. I hope you’ve enjoyed it!
Till next time.
Jason