Around $60-$70 / month

Hi,
Between 40’000 and 50’000 IDR per day, depending on how long you rent it for.

Luigi

Would exercise caution about driving without a license. Paying police here and there is one thing. But if you end up in hospital, it’d be highly unlikely that your travel insurance would cover you. I’ve had a friend need to pay $50k out of pocket - sure could be worse too.

You can get an Indonesian driving license whilst in Bali but it’ll only be valid for a month (unless you have a KITAS; then it’s a year).

I’d echo @jodie_taylor – the best of Ubud is outside of the centre. There’s so much tourism in the centre that it almost has a theme park quality. To the credit of the Balinese, it retains culture and the people are very warm.

But for authenticity and peace, you need to be outside of the town, ducking in when hungry etc. – which then requires a scooter. Having a scooter takes some courage and there’s no shame in opting to skip it if you don’t feel up for it. But it is liberating.

Canggu is quieter, but more spread out – potentially viable on a push bike. There’s also an ebike firm in Ubud, not sure about in South, which could be another option.

I lived in Ubud for 18 years. Currently travelling (and working) again through Sri Lanka and India so far.
The Ubud town centre now is pretty much gridlocked from early afternoon on to early evening. So cars getting around are out of the question. Plus there is no parking available.
To get best use of the place, if you don’t want to ride a bike yourself, hire a local to be on call so you can get bike lifts wherever you want to go. You could be some distance beween where you are living and using internet Hubs, and using the three main supermarkets.
BTW, much of central Ubud now has cable up to 100Mbits, with owners taking it at 10, 20, 50 or 100 Mbits. Nearly all cafes and restaurants have free wifi.
Walking is possible, plenty of tourists do it, but it can be exhausting. There are no real footpaths, but drain covers that rise and fall with access ways. They require your constant attention to avoid tripping and fallling. Much of Bali slopes upwards to the north, and so your walks in Ubud are either challenging going north or easy going south.

If you stay in the town centre its walkable, but I wouldnt advise that as the exterior of Ubud is what makes it special. Stay a 5 mins scooter drive outside of town in the rice fields. The town centre is very busy with traffic and tourists. Personally I prefer Canggu in the South as I think its more liveable, but Ubud is very beautiful.

I’m also in Chiang Mai trying to figure out where to go in February when the burn season starts. I was here last year, and it was terrible.

It is not easy to find a place that compares to Chiang Mai’s infrastructure and value.

In Ubud now, it is definitely walkable however there’s a huge caveat to that statement - it all depends where in Ubud you are and what your expectations are.

If you’re accustomed to large grocery stores and whatnot, you’ll need a vehicle (cheap and easy to get). If you’re happy with small shops and living near the busy tourist strip, you can walk everywhere.

You probably won’t though. Unless it’s for short trips.

(this is all based in you being used to Chiang Mai, others who haven’t lived in a SEA City would probably say it’s definitely not walkable)

Yeah, not advisable. (I lived there for a few months)

It’s not the distance, it’s the elevation changes, they humidity, the sun, the temperature, the exhaust fumes. It doesn’t make for a pleasant walk.

You can’t do bikes either (I tried). And dealing with cabs and motorbike taxis (gojek, grabcar, uber) gets old real quick.

So in that regard its nothing like CM. CM is doable on foot, especially if you stay in the centre. Ubud, not so much.

So as to answer my own question:

There’s a FB group called ‘Ubud Community’. Join and place a request for a long-term apartment (describe kind of apt you’re looking for, price indication, etc). Make sure you have a decent looking FB profile. This is how I eventually found my apartment.

An alternative is to go the Airbnb route. Some tips:

• Most of the ‘owners’ on Airbnb are just middle men, because everyone in SEA is a middle man Request an appointment, check out the place, and discuss pricing with the actual person showing you the apartment. You should get it for a lot cheaper than the asking price on Airbnb (maybe even 100% cheaper).

Villa Bhuana Alit

http://www.bhuanaalitvilla.com

Didn’t have to turn on our mobile hotspot the month that we were there. Quiet and a dude plays the gamelan every night. Walking distance into town. Banjar with a lot of Balinese ceremonies right down the alley.

Definitely possible. Find somewhere that can either be connected to Biznet (http://www.biznetnetworks.com/en/business/internet/biznet-Metronet/) or Telkom Indihome. Both fibre connections that can deliver up to 100mb (but crazy expensive). Getting a 6mb connection works fine for us.

Not sure what you mean by a “villa” but if you stick to the more populated area of Ubud and don’t let your purse dangle off your shoulder, you’ll be fine. (I did hear of a woman getting her purse snatched during a motorbike drive-by, but I’m not sure why anyone walking alone would let their purse dangle.) I think the best way to find housing in Ubud is to just show up at the bus/ shuttle stop. You’ll immediately get offers for all kinds of rooms, usually in family/ tourist compounds (that all look like temples!), which makes for an interesting experience.

Bali is generally safe. Renting villas in Bali is common for expats and nomads. I saw a lot of single female digital nomads in Bali and nobody complained it wasn’t safe for them. When I was there, I went home very late everyday (midnight) from a coworking space alone, drove through dark quiet areas, rice fields… but was always safe.

Yes. i lived in Ubud alone for fifteen months

We’ll be there starting March 15. You guys still around by then?

Here's a selection: nomadlist.com/places-in-asia-with-low-tax

Best to book an Airbnb for first 2/3 nights, then drive around and find a place yourself. Many apartments have a VACANT sign. Although renting 3 weeks is quite short.

I’d say Hep A & B and tetanus were essential anywhere in Asia. There is now a vaccine for Dengue fever, available in Indonesia & worth considering.
https://en.wikivoyage.org/wiki/Dengue_fever#Vaccine

I lived in Ubud for over a year and got no vaccines except Hep A and tetanus.
I got bitten by a dog there, very severe bite. It was my friend’s dog, so I knew it wasn’t rabid, however, no hospital would admit me for treatment until I got a rabies vaccine.
They run out of rabies vaccines on the island at times, but luckily they had it. I needed 3-4 in a row for possible post-exposure. I didn’t want to get it, but i had to.

Really depends on when and where you’re planning to go in Indonesia.

IMHO, the CDC and Travel Health clinic suggestions tend to be over cautious for most travelers. I think they’re written as if everyone is going to do aid work in some far off jungle village.

Routine + Hepatitis A & B + Typhoid and you’re good almost everywhere globally…

Note: the reason to get Hep B, is because if you end up in a local hospital (this is a a risk globally), plus it’s cheap and free of major side effects.

Japanese Encephalitis - Not unless you’re going somewhere rural where to JE is actively prevalent (ie. somewhere very rural…) .

Regardless of JE, take precautions against mosquitos… because there is also Dengue & Malaria…

However personally… forums are the last source I would trust on this topic… go talk to an actual doctor

If you’re thinking about heading to Bali, definitely get the rabies vaccine. The island has a rabies problem, there are a lot of aggressive stray dogs, and the island isn’t well equipped to deal with it.

No experience with adobe connect, but I ran the test from the UK server, these are the results

it says LAN speed and:
BW Test Results: up=2382.9 kbit/s, latency=28 msec, down=605.2 kbit/s

This is from Canggu btw.

Around $60-$70 / month

Hi,
Between 40’000 and 50’000 IDR per day, depending on how long you rent it for.

Luigi