Extending Air/Land Packages Let You Enjoy Bali's Paradise for Less

When I last visited the island of Bali several years ago, I formed the definite impression that here was a place where $5-a-day living was still -- almost -- possible. Bali's price structure is unusually reasonable, and a great many travelers report obtaining guesthouse rooms, for two people, costing as little as $10 a night.

To learn whether this is still the case, I placed a phone call to Roe Gruber of Escapes Limited ( www.escapesltd.com ), the foremost operator of air-and-land packages from North America to Bali. She offers trips using either Cathay Pacific Airlines (flying to Bali via Hong Kong) or Singapore Airlines (going there via Singapore), but immediately advised me that Cathay Pacific's fuel surcharge is $300 round-trip, whereas Singapore Airlines charges $500 for fuel surcharge, round-trip.

Using Cathay Pacific, one of her packages to Bali costs $1,399 for round-trip air from the U.S. west coast (Los Angeles or San Francisco) and five nights in your choice of a number of Balinese hotels. (By paying $100 more, you can also enjoy a stopover of two hotel nights in Hong Kong en route). Many of her clients, she reports, extend their stay way beyond five nights, and simply advise her of the date on which they wish to return (she then makes the air reservations accordingly). She is able to accommodate those requests, as long as the total stay is no more than 45 days.

So what does Roe Gruber say is the probable extra cost of extending your stay in a lodging which you yourself choose, at a price that you yourself negotiate on the spot in Bali? If it's in the Ubud area, in the central highlands of Bali (which I enthusiastically recommend), it is easily possible, she states, to find good quality rooms costing no more than $25 a night per room. (Persons who have left comments on forums maintained by Frommers.com report that they have on occasion been able to negotiate rates of only $10 a night per room). And how much for meals? At a good restaurant in the Ubud area, for an excellent three-course meal, you can pay as little as $10 a person, reports Ms. Gruber.

So here's a chance to enjoy a lengthy vacation in the Indian Ocean (adjoining the South Pacific) for very little money. Bali is sheer fascination, and the Ubud area of Bali places you right in the center of a very authentic, unpretentious form of Balinese life. For $1,399, plus the additional cost of additional nights, you can enjoy the dream of a long stay in an idyllic tropical paradise.