Bali
Travel Guide -> Currency, Shopping & Tipping |
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You
will need a credit card (MasterCard, Visa, American Express etc) for paying
your bill in the hotel. For all other purposes traveller`s cheques in US
or Australian $ or major European currencies or banknotes are best (the
rates for cash are slightly better but remember, traveller`s cheques can
be replaced if they are stolen or lost - while cash is gone forever if
you loose it). You can cash your traveller`s cheques at the money changing
booths in Sanur, Denpasar, Nusa Dua, or Ubud or in banks, but most banks
accept only traveller`s cheques in US $ (the only exception is the BNI
bank). Always ask if there is an extra commission to be paid for cashing
a cheque! Hotels also cash traveller`s cheques but the rates are worse.
The Indonesian currency is the Rupiah. 7875.50 Rupiah at the moment correspond to 1 US$ (20.05.1999). Or you can use our Currency Converter for the most up-to-date exchange rates! Tipping Some hotels have a non-tipping policy but in most hotels tips are welcome, although a service charge is already included in all prices. These tips, however, are not mandatory, and you should only give them if you are really content with the service offered. Shopping Personally, I do not like to spend too much time shopping on a holiday, so there are only some general hints that I can give you. The big hotels all have shopping arcades where you can buy clothes, swim suits, jewellery, films, drugstore items, books or magazines and of course some souvenirs like wooden bowls, animals carved from wood, ceramics, etc. A big shopping arcade can be found in Nusa Dua. The prices in these shops are fixed, but you can ask for a discount if you buy more than one item. Something I can recommend very much as a souvenir are tapes with Balinese gamelan music. Whenever you play them, they will remind you of your holiday! Typical souvenirs from Bali include silver jewellery, woodcarvings, or sarongs. (Pictures from a woodcarver`s and a jeweller`s workshop can be found at this personal Bali travel report. This site also offers a lot of other interesting pictures!) Of course there are lot of small shops and merchants found to be everywhere on Bali, but shopping there can be quite exhausting because the Balinese prefer a hard-sell sales technique and there is always a lot of pressure to buy. Bargaining is absolutely essential in these small shops. You "loose your face" when you just agree to the first price asked. But, on the other hand, try not to bargain too mercilessly. Remember, most of these small merchants are actually very poor people). The same goes for the many salespeople that offers goods on the beach. They can be quite a nuisance, and you should not buy things that you do not want, but try to refuse their offers in a friendly and polite way nevertheless. |
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