In Bali with a small child - first impressions. Holidays with children in Bali: I will dispel the fears of many mothers

WITH A CHILD IN BALI.
After spending many hours on the Internet in search of useful information about traveling to Bali with a child, I promised myself that upon arrival I would definitely write a post about all sorts of nuances with useful notes. Maybe some other parents will come in handy. Still, there is more information on the network just for travelers, even if useful. But the eyes of parents are not very many.
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From the very beginning, we were not completely sure whether it was worth going so far. And we had little idea what kind of island it was, despite the fact that many of our friends were there more than once and some live.
Flight.
And so, the ticket was booked a month before departure, and discounts did not apply to children (I don’t know, maybe this is specific in our case, it’s better to clarify) it seems that kids under two years old can travel for free on their knees .. In general, we paid for Nikita (2 years and 7 months at that time) as much as for myself. 26,000 r round trip. The door-to-door journey itself took 28 hours (please don’t be scared), but it’s not as scary as it might seem. Nikita really liked it to fly, of course, in the end everyone was tired, but not in such a way that they would not go there anymore)) The route was as follows: Moscow-Doha (5 hours on the way), night in Doha, Doha-Jakarta (9 hours of flight), night in Jakarta, and in the morning a flight from Jakarta to Bali (1.5 hours). We got only one night back.
We spent the night not bad enough, at the airport in Doha you can use the quiet room - the so-called rest rooms and rent a stroller-cane for free, it's very convenient. There are also similar rooms with a shower, food, drinks, etc. ($ 40 per person, 6 hours). airport free wifi.Jakarta has Jakarta Airport Hotel (http://www.jakartaairporthotel.com/), 6 hours seems to cost $70, but it's worth it if you're flying with a child. or inconvenience.
I almost forgot! For some reason, it was quite cool at Doha airport and you can easily freeze in shorts-T-shirts. Be sure to take hand luggage sweatshirts and a blanket for the child. It was very useful for us. We took one more blanket from the Qatar plane, which we didn’t regret in the future. It was also very cold on the Jakarta-Bali plane.
If such a long way to travel by three planes seems difficult, you can buy tickets for a direct flight much more expensive.
Insurance.
Knowledgeable people advised us to choose an insurance company that would cooperate with International SOS. It is considered one of the best companies in the field of insurance and is in Bali (http://www.internationalsos.ru/ru).
In Russia, SK Soglasie cooperates with International SOS (http://www.soglasie.ru/).
Maybe someone else, but I didn’t look for it. Insurance for a child under 3 years old costs 2 times more than for an adult. We insured for $ 30,000 and paid 4,000 r for three (2 tr for Nikita)
Oklimatization.
The three of us simply didn’t have it. Moreover, we continued to wake up and fall asleep at the same time as in Moscow, despite the fact that the time difference was 4 hours.
Accommodation.
We lived in Bali for almost three weeks. As a family, we rented a villa from our friends (they do this http://innabali.ru/).
In the Legian area. It takes 7 minutes to get to the beach by taxi. Even faster on a motorbike.
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And the guys with whom we went on a trip booked a chip hotel in Kuta, across the road from the ocean (Anggrek hotel). It’s quite normal to eat if you are young, cheerful, while childless and you go to surf and hang out))). A month of living in this hotel is about 5 tr per person, if not less. Most of the neighbors are Russian youth, someone came on vacation, someone lives there permanently.
The day began like this: we woke up in our wonderful villa ... got on a scooter and went to Kuta to the guys) We had breakfast all the time in a cafe, surfed and sunbathed on the beach. Then we went to have lunch and drove back to the villa to put Nikita to sleep. woke up and we returned to Kuta. When Nikita didn’t want to sleep during the day, we stayed with the guys and at the same time washed him there after the beach. On the second day of arrival, we found out that eating in Kuta was twice cheaper than in Legian. for a lot of competition, or maybe because the place itself is more casual and simpler.

And one more thing: when choosing housing, check if there are any noisy roads and construction sites nearby.
What worried us before the trip:
I thought that we wouldn’t even go to Kuta. I read that it’s dirty, noisy and a bad beach for swimming with a child. People are all different, of course, but we had fun and positive there. Kuta is like Kuta. The beach is quite good, clean (they say it was dirtier about three years ago). Nikita fiddled on the shore in the wet sand, ran through the water and we dipped him a little deeper. But still Kuta Beach is a place for surfers and if you want a family beach, then it’s probably better to live in another area, In Nusa Dua, it is more civilized. Although we didn’t break anything at all)) I liked everything.
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Nutrition.
All three weeks we invariably went to our favorite place - Totemo Varung on Benesari Street. We had breakfast, lunch and dinner. We liked that everything is delicious, high quality and good prices. The first two days we even tried to cook at home ourselves, but this idea was a success. It makes no sense. It turns out more expensive and not so diverse, of course.
In Bali, our child ate rice, vegetable dishes. Chicken, meat, salads, soup, pancakes. Fruits (bananas, mangoes mostly), freshly squeezed juices. There were no problems with food. I was worried in vain, it’s even funny to remember)) The main thing is to clarify to the waiter no spicy so that the dish is not spicy. Sometimes we crawled out from the table, leaving 90 thousand rupees for three (300 r) This is freshly squeezed juice twice and delicious local food and coffee and pancakes)))
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For younger children in supermarkets there is everything that is in the homeland. And baby food and juices and diapers. Anything your heart desires.
I carried antiseptic hand gel with me and Enterosgel just in case. They gave it to Nikita a couple of times for prevention, when he drank water from the ocean and the pool.
I advise you to definitely take a sunscreen and Panthenol spray from burns with you. It was useful for our entire company. In three weeks, everyone managed to burn out, despite the fact that they rented an umbrella and protected themselves from the sun. Panthenol works magically.
Since we are talking about medicines, I’ll write what came in handy for us. Hydrogen peroxide + brilliant green. For boys, broken knees are inevitable)) Although for girls, too, of course))
Drops of protargol. Nikita was snotty for three days at the beginning, then he adapted. They also gave him aflubin when he was snotty, but maybe it was too much, we just really wanted our vacation to go without problems)) Practically none of the medicines were useful to us, thank God But you should definitely take a first-aid kit. I carried the most necessary things in my hand luggage (thermometer, bandage, brilliant green, peroxide, heat-reducing panadol, plaster), I checked the rest in luggage.
Climate.
We rested in October and caught the rain only a couple of times it seems. Basically there was always sun and sometimes clouds. Very warm and good)) T-shirts, shorts and flip flops were useful to us from clothes. ) and lay at the bottom of the suitcase.
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And I’ll write more about one nuance. It seems to me that if you are going to rest not in resorts Krasnodar Territory)) and not to Europe, but choose islands in the open ocean, you are exposed to some kind of risk, but there was an earthquake during our trip to Bali. 100 km from the island in the ocean. that everything is destroyed, the tourists leave the island. In fact, it just shook the earth a little for about 5 seconds, maybe that’s all. We were sitting in a cafe, even the cups didn’t fall. Although, to be honest, everyone was scared. often happens. We were even asked: What, in Moscow, doesn’t this happen to you?))
Wash.
Several times we handed over linen to the laundry, mostly things that are not very well washed by hand. In addition, it is very humid in Bali and things take a long time to dry.
A package of things cost us 20 thousand rupees, which is about 70 rubles. In the morning they handed over, in the evening they took it away.
I finished writing a post, my husband advised me to tell you about the place where it is better to buy souvenirs and compare prices))
In general, we spent about 60 thousand rubles for three in 20 days, we did not deny ourselves anything, we went on excursions for the whole day three times, only we decided not to go to Gili just after the earthquake, we left it until the next time.
Souvenirs were bought in the Geneva store. If you tell the taxi driver Geneva shop Kerobokan street, he will understand you)) Souvenirs there are three times cheaper than in souvenir shops on the street and in supermarkets.
What touched us:
The Balinese are very nice, friendly and kind people. And they have quivering feelings for small children)) Nikita was always in the spotlight, everyone knew him shouting Hello, Nikitaaa)) They sent kisses and constantly, constantly took pictures with him)) The child became even more chatty, sociable and open to the world))

What are parents afraid of?

First of all, I want to say that there are a lot of prejudices and myths around the topic of holidays with a child anywhere, and even more so in Asia. In particular, I recently came across such a mother's comment in one of the social networks "Anywhere with a child, but not in Asia! Adults get poisoned, and even more so children."

They are afraid of mothers, acclimatization, insects and reptiles, poisoning, infections and other things. To this I can only say one thing: if you are afraid of everything, it is better to stay at home. And you will save your nerves, and you will not be afraid. Although, to be honest, at home you are not protected from anything. One of my friends broke her leg while in her own apartment. So do not program yourself for the bad, think about the good!

I can’t speak for the whole of Asia, since the child and I have only wintered in Bali so far, but here are some myths I learned about and which I really want to debunk.

Myth #1

"People don't go to Bali to swim, children can only swim in the pool"

During the entire wintering, my daughter never swam in the pool. Well, I just don’t consider it necessary to bathe her in chlorinated water yet, when there is a real and live one nearby. We live quite far from the ocean, in the village of Ubud. But half an hour away from us is the Sanur area, where there is wonderful beach Sindu beach.

It is very clean and the water is calm as the coast is protected coral reef. The kids love swimming there! My Khanya is afraid of waves, but in Sanur she boldly goes into the water herself. I recommend walking to the beach at the Inna Hotel Grand Hotel, it is quiet there, no one imposes their goods and very comfortable.

We also love Karma beachon Bukit. It is not only clean and suitable for families with children, but also incredibly beautiful. Hanna especially appreciated the small pools formed after the low tide. She sat like she was in a jacuzzi. Two cons: 1) Go down to it 300 steps🙈 2)It is necessary to take into account the time of high and low tides, because at high tide the beach almost completely goes under water.

The Nusa Dua area is also beautiful. The beaches are clean even during the rainy season, when, for example, Canggu and Kuta turn into a pitiful sight due to the abundance of garbage. And the garbage brings the changing current. When the rainy season ended, Kuta and Canggu were transformed! So keep this feature in mind.

If you are going to Nusa Dua, pay attention to the beachGeger, it is also protected by a coral reef and the water there is very calm, there are no waves.

So you don’t have to worry about swimming in the ocean here. And if your children cannot imagine life without splashing in the pool, then at almost any hotel you can agree and let you in for a small fee at least for the whole day.

Myth #2

" Nothing to do in Bali during the rainy season "- say those who do not know anything about the rainy season. We arrived a couple of months before the start of the notorious wet season and, to be honest, we didn’t notice much difference between dry and wet. The rain gathers, pours, pours out and after half an hour it’s good and warm again Only once it rained for almost 3 days in a row with short breaks.Agree, you can survive 3 days of rain at a temperature of +25/27😁

Myth #3

"I'll save on insurance ".
It's like going on a trip with a child without medical insurance became really fashionable. . Let the insurance policy remain unused, but you will know that you can count on qualified assistance if necessary. Especially if you are traveling with a child.

Hanyu was hospitalized with rotavirus for three days. Of course I was with her. A separate room, food according to the menu, I’m not talking about constant monitoring of my daughter’s condition. When we checked out, my neighbor (by the way, mother of two children) shared her experience. Her daughter caught rotavirus while in Russia, and they were placed in a general ward, where there were 5 more patients with different infections. As a result, the accompanying adult also caught some kind of infection. So Hanya and I were even lucky to bring rotavirus to Bali.

How and where to choose accommodation?

For families with children, I highly recommend choosing quieter areas. For example, the same Sanur and Nusa Dua, Semenyak, Ubud, Jimbaran.

We are Ubud followers. It is green, fresh, calm in terms of security and nearest beach 30 minutes. Personally, Canggu and Kuta seem to me not the most suitable for family pastime due to the large concentration of tourists, and, as a result, the abundance of rogues.

However, I know a wonderful couple with a six-month-old baby who love Canggu, but our beloved Ubud did not please them. Every man to his own taste. It’s good that the island is quite compact and if you don’t like the chosen area, you can easily move to another one.

How we searched for a home

We initially knew that we were going for a long time, while still in Russia. We searched very simply: in all social networks we sent requests to groups in Bali about vacant houses in the area of interest to us and within our budget.

The answers were different. The most frequent were of this kind: “Are you out of your mind to look for housing for such a penny?”. Apparently, this is how agents answered us, who are completely uninterested in offering budget options. But we were not upset and continued the search.

As a result, we contacted a girl who lived at that time in Bali (she was preparing for childbirth), she sent us photos and videos of housing options. She also booked a suitable house, knocking out a good discount from the owner of the house.

Housing prices

The price category for housing in Bali starts from 10,000 per month for a room in a good guesthouse and goes to infinity. There are houses for every taste and budget. So do not listen to agents, their interest is understandable: to rent more expensive to get a bigger commission.

As a result, we rent a separate one-bedroom house on the territory, where there are 9 more houses and rooms for rent, and the Balinese family itself lives. Our nest is costing us unrealistically beautiful view on rice terraces, daily cleaning, good internet, electricity and hot water at 20 thousand rubles. Separately paid gas for the kitchen, drinking water and laundry services. For the same money, we rented a one-room apartment in Perm with a view of a neighboring house. What is called, feel the difference.

Another option for finding housing is this. You book a hotel for a few days, you arrive, you take a bike and drive around or go around the area, asking the locals the question "House for rent?". So you will see the house with your own eyes, touch it, and even bargain. By the way, bargaining in Bali is not only possible, but necessary. Russians are usually perceived here as moneybags, and prices are reported to us as highly inflated. So bargain hard. In the end, the right option will still be found. It's not just about housing!

Since I have no experience of staying in a hotel with a child, I cannot answer the question of which hotels are considered the best for families with children. I know for sure that many hotels have children's clubs and water parks, there are babysitting services, so start from whether the hotel has such activities. Where there are many children of different ages, there are many opportunities for natural stimulation of development.

What to do with a child in Bali?

For me, this issue resolved itself. We settled in the house at night, and when we went out to explore the surroundings in the morning, it turned out that the grandchildren of the owner of the house, aged 2-6 years old, live on the territory. Hannah was (and still is) delighted!

Periodically, more families with children came, and we have developed an almost international kindergarten;) In addition, we also live in a place where geese, ducks, cows, many hens and roosters graze. Hanna looks with interest, feeds the animals from her hand. For my daughter, a year and a half of such communication both with other children and with wildlife is enough, in my opinion. We try to go to the beach two or three times a week. In this big sandbox The child is always interested.

Bali zoo and other attractions

We also went to Bali Zoo, which is next to Ubud. Someone thinks that it is inferior to the Singapore zoo, but we really liked the Balinese one. I especially liked the territory where goats, small kangaroos, deer can be fed by hand! In addition, there is a small children's water park.

The large Waterboom and Greenpark water parks are suitable for older children. They are praised on the forums, but it is still too early for us to go to such places, so we have not yet formed our opinion about them.

Monkey Forest in Ubud is beautiful and dangerous at the same time. Monkeys run on the ground, climb trees, communicate with each other and do not consider tourists at all. Be very careful, because these are quite aggressive animals. But it’s worth taking a walk in the forest, it’s incredibly beautiful there.

We also, frankly, unknowingly went to Hidden Canyon. It's good that the baby was fastened with a baby carrier. The adventure is very interesting, but extreme: I still don’t understand how Hanya and I dared to crawl along these boulders and jump from stone to stone. Therefore, I recommend leaving the child with a nanny and go to this place yourself.

Hanna loves rides. Fortunately, there are enough of them in Ubud and their prices are low. We love the carousels at the Clandy's children's hypermarket. Tokens in our money cost 5 rubles each. Sometimes we stop by Macdonald's, but only at a certain one: if it has a children's slide. My daughter loves to crawl there with other babies while my husband and I calmly drink our coffee.

Also, in many parts of Bali, Russian mothers organize meetings where children have fun playing, and mothers have a pleasant conversation. There are kindergartens both international and Russian.

How are children treated in Bali?

In general, children are very fond of Bali. Hanna is never left behind, no matter where we are. She is photographed, hugged, treated with goodies, played with her. At first, this was very embarrassing for me, because in Russia we are not used to this. But after 6 months of being on the island, I am no longer surprised by anything and calmly react to these squeaks and squeals of tenderness;)

I think that going to winter in Bali was one of the best decisions in my life. In addition to the fact that both my husband and I do not like the cold, and thanks to the wintering we missed the frosts, we also witnessed an incredible leap in the development of our daughter. We arrived at 1.1 and Hanya walked a little upside down.

In Russia, doctors intimidated me with dysplasia, I was very tense about this. And here she began to walk completely normally, and then run! Communication with foreign children, the sounds of nature and the Indonesian language, a lot of movement in a minimum of clothes, swimming in the ocean - all this, of course, will not remain in her memory, but it will certainly leave an imprint on her worldview. And it will certainly be remembered by us parents.

In general, my husband and I have a poor idea of how you can leave our Hannah to someone and go on an excursion. That's why we carry it with us everywhere. My daughter happily swam in the waterfall, watched the monkeys, explored the rice terraces with us. And the pleasure from these trips increased, looking at these eyes burning with interest.

I am sure that children are happy where their parents are happy. Yes, perhaps we didn’t climb volcanoes, didn’t go to clubs or some kind of festivals, but all this will not go anywhere, it will wait. But there is no daughter: she changes every day and these moments are dear to me.

Do not be afraid to travel with your children, because the world is big and kind!

And to follow our movements around Asia and be inspired by bright pictures, subscribe to my instagram account @_honeymama

Bali is, of course, the island of the gods. Every year it attracts crowds of tourists. Including domestic, including with children. And yet Bali is not the case when you can rely on chance. There is a lot to think about ahead of time. For those who are ready to go with the whole family to the southern hemisphere, the advice of Ksenia Chesnokova, an experienced traveler and mother of Alice and Grisha, four and two years old.

I spent about two months in Bali, renting a house, cooking, going to cafes, entertaining children, enjoying the beauty of the island. First and foremost for parents with children: people come here not to swim. Is it possible to lie on the beach, but also look for shady beaches. If you buy a tour and go "all ready", you should choose the area Nusa Dua. Here is the realm of multi-star hotels, clean sand, trees with spreading crowns and a relatively bathing sea (although a certain amount of algae and waves seem to whisper "and why are you not lying on the Thai sand?"). And it's expensive.

In general, Bali is huge waves cut by surfers, these are volcanoes, these are bright boats on black sand, poisonous green rice terraces, "multi-story" pagodas of temples, these are incredible trays and handmade furniture, these are scooters flying in all directions, like flies. These are bright holidays and people who are able and ready to find mutual language with any child that comes their way.

What should not be surprised: the presence of decent traffic jams, the density of buildings in the southern part of the island and the number of Russian people (as if in Sochi, honestly).

Why then go to Bali with a child? I wouldn't go there for a child. But I easily took the children with me when I myself wanted to go to Bali. Here it is warm, sand, fresh fruits and seafood. There are many tourists and expats on the island, so there are enough international schools and developmental activities. As well as parmesan, bacon, French loaves and other products that are not typical for Asia, but sometimes so passionately desired. A large selection of private housing for reasonable money - here Bali will give odds to any other Asian country.

With seasonality, however, it’s not very convenient for us: in winter you can’t escape for warmth - until March it’s the rainy season. And it really rains - not all the time, but often and a lot. In addition, they provoke the appearance of mold on the walls, which can be fought with the help of chemicals and a housekeeper, but which still does not make life more fun and, penetrating into the drawers, spoils things (upon arrival, it is better to immediately remove the doors from the cabinets to everything was ventilated). But in the spring it is beautiful in Bali - it's time to eat Russian beriberi with durian. Not bad here in the summer.

Best Places

Arriving for a couple of weeks, you can stay in hotel room. But for a period of more than three weeks, it makes sense to rent a house - the price will be almost the same. Your house is good for its impressive size, the presence of a kitchen and the ability to find inexpensive household helpers.

If the main thing is swimming in the sea, then you can stop:

in the north in Lovina (far from "life", but there are shops and some necessary infrastructure, hotels right on the beach);
in the east in Amed or Tulamben (the beach is pebbly, the infrastructure is tight, but you can snorkel with fish),
in Padang Bai or Sanur. These areas are located in the port area, where you can rent a house and stay at a hotel. Far from noisy nightlife Kuta and the surfer beaches of Bukit, but many tourists with children stop here.
north of Kuta are more expensive and quiet areas of Legian and Seminyak. True, it is quite crowded here. If you dream of desert paradise island, building density unpleasantly hit.
south of Kuta is the small peninsula of Bukit. A slightly rural atmosphere reigns here: it is quiet, there are almost no traffic jams, the amount of greenery and other nature after Kuta is very pleasing. The beaches here are different - the five-star Nusa Dua, Padang Padang with its monkeys, Jimbaran with fish restaurants, the wide Balangan, which forms “baths” convenient for playing with children at low tide, and located almost in the Uluwatu cave.
cool in Ubud, monkey forest, houses with huge terraces and views of rice fields, villages with artisans. Everything is fine, but Ubud is located in the center of the island - far from the sea.

Home search

Housing can be found in advance via the Internet, which means an overpayment of $ 200-300 per month to the agent. Or already in place - take a taxi driver or a scooter and go look for signs for rent, ask locals, find out in shops. In 2-3 days it is quite possible to find good house with two bedrooms, air conditioning and hot water for $400-600 per month.

When concluding a lease agreement, you need to clarify and note a few points for yourself:

whether the "communal" is included in the total amount (water and electricity separately will cost about $ 30 per month),
what about the Internet (most likely nothing, but suddenly),
the availability of the necessary furniture, plumbing and utensils - and what of this can be asked from the owner (they brought me knives, bought a water cooler),
do all bedrooms have air conditioning, do all bathrooms have hot water,
is there a spare set of bed linen,
the size of the living room and the surrounding area (children need to play somewhere),
in the presence of a pool - the frequency of cleaning and care (if nothing is done, they bloom terribly),
the presence of cabinets and shelves around the house (things need to be laid out).

Having got a house, you can immediately ask the landlord or one of the neighbors to find you a housekeeper. In conditions of humidity and an abundance of ants, its presence will infinitely facilitate life. Cleaning once a day will cost about $60 per month, constant presence and childcare with one day off per week - about $110-150 per month.

Transport

Of course, in Bali you can survive without personal transport: settle near the beach and hire a taxi for long trips. But if you know how to drive at least something, own wheels will improve your life at times.

Firstly, this means that you can find housing not by the sea - that is, much more comfortable, more spacious and cheaper, without overpaying for the "first line".

Secondly, you will be completely free to move around without paying extra for them every time - at least hit the water park, even look for a new cafe for dinner.

Thirdly, renting transport in Bali is very cheap. A scooter for a month will cost from $55, a car - from $200. It is more logical to take a car with a child: it is comfortable to sleep in it, and you can hide from the rain, and it is safer.

However, traffic on the island is dense and quite chaotic. If you have already experienced driving in Vietnam, you can imagine how it is. If you often drive a car in Moscow, in general, too. In other cases, it is quite possible to master the features of driving in Bali, but do it gradually and carefully.

If you want to drive around the island (and there is something to see in Bali), you can hire a driver with a car or rent a car for a couple of days. With the driver it will be, of course, calmer. But there are many benefits to being independent. When you hire a driver, you can't avoid stopping by a friend's shop or eating with a crowd of tourists where your "guide" gets a commission. Yes, and how to refuse, if you are told that it’s not tasty here, it’s not interesting there, and to the right, a godforsaken village begins at all. But just wandering along the village streets, you can see the funniest scenes and the most sincere smiles.

Internet

There may be Wi-Fi in a hotel, but most likely there will be nothing in the house. But whatever Internet you get, it will be very, very slow - as in the "modem" youth. If you suddenly plan to work in Bali, remember this.

The two most popular options are: activate an unlimited package on your own SIM card - $11 per month, or buy a modem from the Indonesian operator Smartfren ($22 with a SIM card) and activate an unlimited package for $10 per month.

Wash

There are laundromats all over the island, just look at the Laundry signs. Some are ready to take things from your house and bring them washed. Good price- half a dollar (5000 rupees) per kilogram. It is better to try a specific laundry on clothes that you don’t mind: alas, things can be spoiled and lost here.

Food

Cuisine in Indonesia is not very diverse and not very tasty, after Thailand and Vietnam can be pretty dreary. But there are plenty of pizzerias, steakhouses and McDonald's for the nostalgic. From local cuisine children usually like soto ayam - chicken noodle soup. In a simple cafe, you can always get nasi goreng (fried rice with vegetables and sometimes meat) for one and a half to two dollars. From these 15,000 rupees, the countdown begins - then there will be crabs for $5.5 in a Chinese cafe, and lobsters for $50 where Russians are waiting. Without a husband, we with two children fit into $ 5-10 for one trip to a cafe. With my husband, the figure rose sharply and approached $ 20 (yes, men sometimes love scope and are not ready to save on themselves).

Having the opportunity to cook at home, you will probably use it at some point. There are large supermarkets in Bali (Carrefour in Kuta, for example), there are smaller ones - Nirmala or Pepito chains (the latter has a particularly large selection of European goods), there are completely "mini" markets (which still look like a supermarket, such as Circle K, Minimarket , Indomaret, but they are a little expensive). And there are local shops - and to find them, you need to look carefully. But the products are the same, and cheaper. And more choice. Eggs - $ 1.5, milk - the same, a bag of coffee - $ 1, bacon - about three. Already a good breakfast for a couple of days. Add fruit, fresh rolls for 30 cents, and the morning will seem joyful even in the rain. Vegetables and fruits are often sold in separate stalls. A bag of watermelon, large papaya, bananas and pineapple will cost about $5.

If it is more convenient to buy food in local stores, then it is more difficult with clothes. You can still find baby clothes - they will be cute and very cheap. But for adults it is worth getting to Kuta. In general, in Bali you can easily buy almost anything. There are a lot of children's toys here: both penny ugly ones and expensive high-quality ones. And at the same time and cheap good ones. There are cars, bicycles, swings and slides in the yard. There are any accessories for swimming, there is everything for drawing and various puzzles, but there are no watercolors - paints are only in tubes.

Medicine

There are large clinics in Bali, including Kuta (BIMC, International SOS) and Jimbaran (Kasih Ibu). Be sure to take out insurance before the trip, it will cost inexpensively, but in the future you will not guess whether it is worth paying for a visit to the doctor or "it will pass by itself."

In general, children in Bali get sick, it must be admitted. During our stay on the island, the children of the people living there permanently, and mine, also got sick. The temperature rose, since there was diarrhea, the child's friend vomited. But these ailments did not last more than two days and passed by themselves. In general, at home, my children get sick a little less often, but for a longer period of time.

What creates discomfort is high humidity, at which wounds do not heal well and any muck multiplies well. A combed mosquito bite can turn into something intimidating. At some point, I learned to pour antiseptic solutions on everything.

Entertainment

Having provided yourself with a decent life, you will surely find that sitting at home is boring, children are eager to become people, the soul asks for a holiday.

In order to swim, of course, it is worth exploring all the surrounding beaches and small beaches. Moreover, you need to inspect them both at high tide and at low tide - the situation can differ critically.

In Bali, there are small water parks for $5 (near the Nirmala supermarket in the Ungasan area of Bukit, for example). There are more - $ 10 each (New Kuta green park in Dreamland, on the same Bukit). There is also a huge water park in Waterbom in Kuta - just come in in the morning, otherwise there will not be enough time for everything. It happens that expensive hotels allowed to use their swimming pools separate fee(for example, Discovery Hotel in Kuta).

If you come for a couple of months, it will be interesting to take your child to developmental classes. They, of course, will be in English, but this is often not so important for children, and at the same time immersion in the language environment will take place. You can also send your child to school - every day for half a day - for about $ 200 a month.

When the whole island is explored, you can quickly fly somewhere else. In general, there are many airlines in Indonesia, but Airasia and Lionair tickets are usually the cheapest, and Garuda planes are the most comfortable. If you look through the promotions and think about everything in advance, you can fly to Kuala Lumpur for $20, for $15-20 to Java, for $40 you can go to Lombok in business class, for example.

What did we do in Bali?

They just lived. We had breakfast, went to dig sand on the beach, and sometimes to swim. We visited friends, dined in a cafe, watched sunsets. We went to the pool - children very quickly learn not to be afraid of water, swim, dive. They bought fish in the market, asked to cook it in a cafe and ate it at home. Several times we went to travel around the island by car. Sailing on a boat neighboring islands Gili - the sea is quieter there and you can see the fish.

Two-year-old Grishka fell in love with the waves and learned the words "crab", "mosquito" and "ant" well. Four-year-old Alice demanded a pool every day, easily swimming 25 meters without any watercraft. The kids went crazy over local popcorn (half a dollar each), drank endless amounts of fresh watermelon juice, learned to play alone and with Indonesian kids (lack of language wasn't a hindrance). The husband who arrived for three weeks tried to go surfing. At the same time, the children rode the same surf - closer to the shore, sitting on horseback.

Total: if you want paradise beaches and swimming, you don’t need to go to Bali. But if you want to live comfortably in warm places, the island is very suitable: there are large inexpensive houses, cheap housekeepers and nannies. Bali is small, and this compact area has everything you need for quality and interesting holiday- and infrastructure, and nature, and exotic.

WITH A CHILD IN BALI.
After many hours of surfing the Internet in search of useful information about traveling to Bali with a child, I made a promise to myself that upon arrival I would definitely write a post about all the nuances with useful notes. Here are the eyes of the parents is not very much.
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From the very beginning, we were not completely sure whether it was worth going so far. And we had little idea what kind of island it was, despite the fact that many of our friends were there more than once and some live.
Flight.
And so, the ticket was booked a month before departure, and discounts did not apply to children (I don’t know, maybe this is specific in our case, it’s better to clarify) it seems that kids under two years old can travel for free on their knees .. In general, we paid for Nikita (2 years and 7 months at that time) as much as for myself. 26,000 r round trip. The door-to-door journey itself took 28 hours (please don’t be scared), but it’s not as scary as it might seem. Nikita really liked it to fly, of course, in the end everyone was tired, but not in such a way that they would not go there anymore)) The route was as follows: Moscow-Doha (5 hours on the way), night in Doha, Doha-Jakarta (9 hours of flight), night in Jakarta, and in the morning a flight from Jakarta to Bali (1.5 hours). We got only one night back.
We spent the night not bad enough, at the airport in Doha you can use the quiet room - the so-called rest rooms and rent a stroller-cane for free, it's very convenient. There are also similar rooms with a shower, food, drinks, etc. ($ 40 per person, 6 hours). There is free wifi throughout the airport. There is Jakarta Airport Hotel in Jakarta (http://www.jakartaairporthotel.com/), 6 hours seems to cost $ 70, but it's worth it if you are flying with a child. Unfortunately, we did not get any free seats, but Nikita fell asleep wonderfully in a carriage without experiencing any inconvenience.
I almost forgot! For some reason, it was quite cool at Doha airport and you can easily freeze in shorts-T-shirts. Be sure to take sweatshirts and a blanket for the child in your hand luggage. It was very useful for us. they almost didn’t regret it. It was also very cold on the Jakarta-Bali plane.
If such a long way to travel by three planes seems difficult, you can buy tickets for a direct flight much more expensive.
Insurance.
Knowledgeable people advised us to choose an insurance company that would cooperate with International SOS. It is considered one of the best insurance companies in Bali (http://www.internationalsos.ru/ru). In Russia, SK Soglasie cooperates with International SOS (http://www.soglasie.ru/). Maybe someone else, but I didn’t look for it. Insurance for a child under 3 years old costs 2 times more than for an adult. We insured for $ 30,000 and paid 4,000 r for three (2 tr for Nikita)
Oklimatization.
The three of us simply didn’t have it. Moreover, we continued to wake up and fall asleep at the same time as in Moscow, despite the fact that the time difference was 4 hours.
Accommodation.
We lived in Bali for almost three weeks. As a family, we rented a villa from our friends (they do this http://innabali.ru/). In the Legian area. It takes 7 minutes to get to the beach by taxi. Even faster on a motorbike.
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And the guys with whom we went on a trip booked a chip hotel in Kuta, across the road from the ocean (Anggrek hotel). It’s quite normal to eat if you are young, cheerful, while childless and you go to surf and hang out))). A month of living in this hotel is about 5 tr per person, if not less. Most of the neighbors are Russian youth, someone came on vacation, someone lives there permanently.
The day began like this: we woke up in our wonderful villa ... got on a scooter and went to Kuta to the guys) We had breakfast all the time in a cafe, surfed and sunbathed on the beach. Then we went to have lunch and drove back to the villa to put Nikita to sleep. woke up and we returned to Kuta. When Nikita didn’t want to sleep during the day, we stayed with the guys and at the same time washed him there after the beach. On the second day of arrival, we found out that eating in Kuta was twice cheaper than in Legian. for a lot of competition, or maybe because the place itself is more casual and simpler.

And one more thing: when choosing housing, check if there are any noisy roads and construction sites nearby.
What worried us before the trip:
I thought that we wouldn’t even go to Kuta. I read that it’s dirty, noisy and a bad beach for swimming with a child. People are all different, of course, but we had fun and positive there. Kuta is like Kuta. The beach is quite good, clean (they say it was dirtier about three years ago). Nikita fiddled on the shore in the wet sand, ran through the water and we dipped him a little deeper. But still Kuta Beach is a place for surfers and if you want a family beach, then it’s probably better to live in another area, In Nusa Dua, it is more civilized. Although we didn’t break anything at all)) I liked everything.
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Nutrition.
All three weeks we invariably went to our favorite place - Totemo Varung on Benesari Street. We had breakfast, lunch and dinner. We liked that everything is delicious, high quality and good prices. The first two days we even tried to cook at home ourselves, but this idea was a success. It makes no sense. It turns out more expensive and not so diverse, of course.
In Bali, our child ate rice, vegetable dishes. Chicken, meat, salads, soup, pancakes. Fruits (bananas, mangoes mostly), freshly squeezed juices. There were no problems with food. I was worried in vain, it’s even funny to remember)) The main thing is to clarify to the waiter no spicy so that the dish is not spicy. Sometimes we crawled out from the table, leaving 90 thousand rupees for three (300 r) This is freshly squeezed juice twice and delicious local food and coffee and pancakes)))
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For younger children in supermarkets there is everything that is in the homeland. And baby food and juices and diapers. Everything your heart desires.
I carried antiseptic hand gel with me and Enterosgel just in case. They gave it to Nikita a couple of times for prevention, when he drank water from the ocean and the pool.
I advise you to definitely take a sunscreen and Panthenol spray from burns with you. It was useful for our entire company. In three weeks, everyone managed to burn out, despite the fact that they rented an umbrella and protected themselves from the sun. Panthenol works magically.
Since we are talking about medicines, I’ll write what came in handy for us. Hydrogen peroxide + brilliant green. For boys, broken knees are inevitable)) Although for girls, too, of course))
Drops of protargol. Nikita was snotty for three days at the beginning, then he adapted. They also gave him aflubin when he was snotty, but maybe it was too much, we just really wanted our vacation to go without problems)) Practically none of the medicines were useful to us, thank God But you should definitely take a first-aid kit. I carried the most necessary things in my hand luggage (thermometer, bandage, brilliant green, peroxide, heat-reducing panadol, plaster), I checked the rest in luggage.
Climate.
We rested in October and caught the rain only a couple of times it seems. Basically there was always sun and sometimes clouds. Very warm and good)) T-shirts, shorts and flip flops were useful to us from clothes. ) and lay at the bottom of the suitcase.
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And I’ll write more about one nuance. It seems to me that if you go on vacation not to the resorts of the Krasnodar Territory)) and not to Europe, but choose islands in the open ocean, you are exposed to some kind of risk. During our trip to Bali there was an earthquake .100 km from the island in the ocean. Our media managed to inflate it to incredible proportions, to the point that everything is destroyed, tourists leave the island. In fact, it just shook the earth a little for 5 seconds, maybe that's all. .Although, to be honest, everyone was scared. Local residents say that this is normal and sometimes, it doesn’t happen often. We were even asked: Doesn’t this happen in Moscow?))
Wash.
Several times we handed over linen to the laundry, mostly things that are not very well washed by hand. In addition, it is very humid in Bali and things take a long time to dry.
A package of things cost us 20 thousand rupees, which is about 70 rubles. In the morning they handed over, in the evening they took it away.
I finished writing a post, my husband advised me to tell you about the place where it is better to buy souvenirs and compare prices))
In general, we spent about 60 thousand rubles for three in 20 days, we did not deny ourselves anything, we went on excursions for the whole day three times, only we decided not to go to Gili just after the earthquake, we left it until the next time.
Souvenirs were bought in the Geneva store. If you tell the taxi driver Geneva shop Kerobokan street, he will understand you)) Souvenirs there are three times cheaper than in souvenir shops on the street and in supermarkets.
What touched us:
The Balinese are very nice, friendly and kind people. And they have quivering feelings for small children)) Nikita was always in the spotlight, everyone knew him shouting Hello, Nikitaaa)) They sent kisses and constantly, constantly took pictures with him)) The child became even more chatty, sociable and open to the world))