What's up guys? And welcome back to my YouTube channel.
I know it's been a minute since I last posted,
but I was busy back in the UK with work
and I wasn't making the sort of content I wanted to make.
What I really wanted to make was travel content and vlogs
and what I was making was photography content.
As much as I really enjoyed the photography content,
it's not really where my heart laid and I felt like I was making the same video over and over again,
so I just sort of stopped making it really.
Travel content wasn't really a viable option for me
because I was working a full-time job
and Covid was obviously restricting the sort of travel that was going on.
But all of that leads me to where I am right now,
and you can probably tell by the title of this video that I am currently in Bali, Indonesia.
What I'm gonna be talking about is how I got here,
the entire process of what I had to do in the UK before I left,
the flight and the travel time that took me to get here,
and then sort of how to enter the country of Indonesia.
So let's take it back about 5 months ago.
Back in June, I had this really crazy idea to quit my full-time job, take my savings
and move myself to the other side of the world.
I thought this would give me the best opportunity to break into travel photography,
social media and content creation.
And that decision has led me to where I am right now in Bali.
So just a quick one, this video is going to be my own experience of how I did this.
Just remember that this may change from country to country, and also
the rules of how to enter Indonesia are changing all the time.
It literally changed from us leaving the UK to landing in Jakarta,
so make sure you do your own research on top of this.
But this video will serve as a really good basis of what you need to do.
So back in June is when I decided to leave the UK
and this is when I started doing my own research into how I could move.
But just as I was doing this, Indonesia unfortunately experienced quite a spike in Covid cases,
so they closed off their borders again,
rightly so,
and I had to wait until they reopened.
The lockdown that Indonesia entered seemed to do the job,
and actually the Covid cases dropped massively to where they are right now,
which is very minimal.
And a few after their cases dropped, they started to let foreigners back in again
on specific Visas,
but not without some strict entry criteria.
So my move was back on track again and in August, I decided to move out from my apartment,
I was leasing into my Dad's house so that I could save up a bit of money.
I then decided that it was going to be around mid-november that I would leave,
which gave me 2 months to get ready,
get prepared before I fly.
It was also around this time I met my girlfriend Robyn. I was incredibly lucky,
she was a very spontaneous person and instantly agreed to move to the other side of the world with me,
which made things a lot easier.
So what do you need to get into Indonesia?
The first and main requirement I needed to get into Indonesia
was the certification of vaccination to prove that I was fully vaccinated.
Because of the nature of the job I was doing at home, I was already vaccinated
since April, so I didn't have to worry about that one.
But Rob had to rush to get hers done,
which she managed to do luckily.
I don't think you need to be fully vaccinated now to come into Indonesia.
I think you can just have one out of two jabs,
but it just means that you're going to have to do a slightly longer quarantine when you enter Jakarta.
So once you're vaccinated, you need to look into Visas,
and at the moment Indonesia isn't giving out any tourist Visas,
so you can come on a KITAS or KITAP,
which are quite difficult to get,
or you can get a B211A visa, which is what we got,
and that looks something like this.
Pretty much anyone can get this business Visa.
You just have to apply for your Visa agency and it will cost you money.
The Visa agency that me and Robyn used was Bali Visas,
which were really helpful, really easy to use and I would fully recommend them.
The process is easy to follow and the turnaround is very quick actually,
so you don't have to worry about a slow turnaround.
The Visa starts at 60 days and then you have the option to extend another 30 days up to 4 times,
which gives you a total of 6 months on the visa.
We opted to buy the 6 month package, which means that we've already paid for all of our extensions,
and it comes at a little bit of a lower cost and cost us about £360 each.
But you can just buy the 2-month visa,
which is I think roughly around £180 on its own.
Don't quote me on that, but I think it's about that.
To apply for the visa, you need to make sure you have a few things ready.
We needed to have our vaccine certificate ready,
a scan of the passport inside and outside
and a bank statement to use as proof of address.
So then you just use the step-by-step guide that Bali Visas lays out for you
and upload your documents as evidence and wait for your visa to come in.
Usually this is around a 10 working day turnaround,
but when we bought the 6-month package, we automatically got upgraded to the express package,
so only took less than 5 working days for our visas to come in for us.
So once you have your visa, what do you need to do next?
Basically it's time to book everything else.
We booked our flights, one way from London to Jakarta
for about £355 each.
This particupar flight meant we had to fly to Milan first
and then catch the long-haul from Milan to Jakarta,
cause it's about a £100 cheaper each than flying directly from London to Jakarta,
and then you need to book your quarantine hotel.
After talking to some friends we decided, to quarantine at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel.
The pictures looked really nice and Rob's vegan,
so they had a really good vegetarian menu that she could adapt for her,
and this hotel cost us about £460 for 3 nights on four days,
which is roughly around £230 each.
When you book the hotel in Jakarta for quarantine,
they usually come as a package which includes the airport pickup,
2 PCR tests, one at the airport and one in your second to last day of quarantine,
3 meals a day and 5 pieces of laundry per person.
Once it's booked, you'll also receive a QR code per person,
which is sort of your exit ticket out of Jakarta airport,
so don't lose that and make sure it's printed.
In fact, I recommend printing all of your documents out
because it gets checked multiple times as you travel
and it's a lot easier to hand someone a stack of documents
than it is to keep trying to change things on your phone.
So one last thing we needed before we could then leave the country is a negative PCR test
done within 72 hours of departure.
We went to the clinic, had our test,
and the results came back the next day.
This cost us around £85 each.
And when you get your results the next day, you get a "fit to fly" certificate,
and that looks something like this.
So once you have all this sorted, congratulations, it's time to leave the country.
So, on one cold UK morning, on the 10th of November,
we got up at 4:30, took the long drive to Stansted airport
and got dropped off from the mid-stay car park to save a little bit of money.
We had to grab the bus from the car park to the terminal,
and then it was really easy for us because we just had to drop our bags off.
We'd already checked in online and we already had our boarding passes.
After a quick walk through security,
we had to fill out some passenger locator forms and upload onto a website our negative PCR test
and the covered vaccine so that we could then get into Italy.
This was all done online, so nobody checked this in the UK,
so we hopped on our first plane and took the first flight to Milan.
When we arrived in Milan we had to go through passport control,
pick up our bags because it was a self-connecting flight.
This was pretty easy and we got through with no issues.
And then it was time to check in for our long-haul flight to Jakarta.
In Milan, when we checked into our flight for Jakarta,
they checked all of our documents... twice.
They wanted to make sure that we had our visas, our PCR tests, our Covid vaccine,
our hotel quarantine booking
and an exit certificate from Indonesia, which we actually didn't have.
We tried to explain that our visas were extendable,
so we didn't know when we were going to leave the country again,
but they insisted that we needed an exit ticket,
so we got online and we booked ourselves two cheap tickets to go to Singapore in January,
which we may or may not use.
Finally, after a couple of hours of this, we got ourselves checked in and ready to go.
We got through security, had a very underwhelming Wagamamas
in the terminal and then got on the second plane.
After a six and a half hour flight,
we landed in Doha, caught our connection to Jakarta
and then had another 8 and a half hour flight until we landed in Jakarta.
And this is when all the fun stuff starts.
Firstly, we got off the plane and followed the crowd of people to a makeshift waiting area
where they had blocks of chairs out and everyone was sitting down in blocks,
and then slowly, block by block, they sort of moved you forward
towards where you would then have to present all of your documents to enter the country.
Once you reached the first block of chairs,
you were the chosen one to go up to the counter.
At the first desk, the guy asked your passport, your Covid vaccine certificate
and your negative PCR test,
and once you've checked all of these, he issues with a QR code that looks like this.
This is important.
Do not lose this, this gets checked a couple more times,
and then again as you leave the airport.
Once you finish in this booth, you then go up to another desk
who scans your newly acquired QR code.
and then you get put in another chair queue waiting for your PCR test.
After a short way, you'll get up to another desk before your PCR test,
and you have to hand them the QR code again,
which they then scan again.
Also, at this desk is the first time that you have to hand over your QR codes
to your quarantine hotel to prove that you have this booked.
And then a lovely guy will take you into a booth and perform a PCR test on you,
which is similar to the lateral flow test, I'm sure you guys have had it plenty of times by now.
Swab down the throat, swab up the nose and that's it, all done.
After your PCR test, the guy will stick a bunch of barcodes to your passport.
Again, don't lose these because they get used as you progress further through.
Once your PCR test is done, then it's time to go through passport control.
This is the usual stuff. You queue up, you go through, you hand over your visa.
The guy asked me how long I was staying for, I told him 60 days,
He checked my passport, stamped it, gave me the visa and that was it, we were through.
Oh, and he also checked this QR code again.
Congratulations guys, you are now in Jakarta, Indonesia.
But you are not allowed to leave the airport yet.
As you walk through to baggage claim, there will be a person there waiting for you.
A representative from the hotel with your name on a bit of card,
and he will then take you the rest of the way.
Our guy helped us collect our luggage and then wheeled it for us to another waiting area
before the exit at the airport
where you have to sit down with other people also going to your hotel
and wait for your negative PCR test to come back.
This can take anywhere between an hour and a half to 2 hours.
Once you've had your negative PCR test back,
your chosen representative will then herd you with your bags
out of airport where you have to scan your QR code one more time to get out of the airport,
and into a taxi to the hotel.
Our taxi ride was about 40 minutes,
but we both were very tired and fell asleep in this time.
And when we arrived at the Mandarin Oriental, we were blown away by how it looked.
The taxi drove in the entrance around the front it looked absolutely stunning,
and then carried on and took us around the back to the degenerate quarantine entrance.
So us Covid peasants were then taken through a back door
through the back of the hotel, up to a couple of floors
into an area where they sort of have conference rooms, meeting rooms,
and they sat us down in separate meeting rooms
where we had to wait for someone to come and check us in.
The check-in was really simple and quick,
the guy sat down with us, he went through everything,
and he actually told us that we only needed to quarantine for 2 nights and 3 days now,
because we were fully vaccinated.
This actually upset me a little bit, because this was a lovely hotel
and I was really looking forward to staying here for an extended period of time.
We ordered dinner at the same time as this
and it's really handy, because the hotel has a WhatsApp that you can contact 24/7
for anything that you need, dinner or otherwise,
and they will then help you out.
I literally cannot fault the service of the hotel at all,
everything they done was perfect.
Then we were taken up to our hotel room, we had a shower
because we absolutely stunk of travel,
and then we put the hotel robes on which we never took off
because we didn't have to unpack clothes then and we didn't have to wash them.
Our first dinner arrived not long after the shower and it was amazing.
The staff rang our doorbell, and then I opened the door
and I found our little bento boxes with our dinner in it on a little pedestal outside the room,
so there was no contact between the staff and the guests,
which quickly went out the window the next day anyway, so I don't know why they did that.
And the fact that it came in a little bento box was
fitting for our first meal in Asia, which I really enjoyed.
Honestly, not a lot happened on the first night, we chilled out a bit
and then we got an early night because we were pretty tired.
Until we woke up at 3 o'clock in the morning,
both of us, and couldn't get back to sleep.
So we just put on a film, chilled out for a bit,
and then we eventually did manage to get back to sleep again, but jet lag is a bitch.
Because of the little midnight wake up we overslept,
which was a shame because we missed breakfast, and the food was absolutely amazing.
So this brings us to Friday and was our first and only full day in quarantine.
Honestly, we didn't do a lot of fun stuff.
I sat and did a bit of work at the desk and caught up with editing some photos,
and Rob honestly stayed in bed most of the time because she was feeling very under the weather,
but then...
Lunch is here!
Best time of day when food turns up at this hotel.
And Rob needed to do some laundry,
so I just quickly text them on the WhatsApp chat and let them know.
So in quarantine, you get five pieces of laundry that you can wash every day.
I've just texted the guy because Rob wants to wash some,
and she's going to leave them out the front
and they should come pick up straight away.
We left the clothes out on the pedestal out the front,
and they came and picked it up and then dropped it off later on.
The laundry actually came back in a nice little wicker basket,
which I thought was a really lovely touch.
That evening, a storm rolled in and we decided to sit there and watch it,
because it was pretty cool to see a tropical storm for the first time in a couple of years.
We had a quick bath because we could
and we don't often have baths,
and then Robyn booked our flights from Jakarta to Bali,
as well as somewhere for us to stay the first week there when we arrived.
Dinner came and was absolutely delicious again.
I have got, Katsu curry,
edamame, I think this is my rice?
- That's my rice. - That's your rice.
I got my own rice on there, possibly my cake dessert.
- That's your cake. - Yeah, I'm not really sure what that is.
And you have... stuff.
I can't remember what I've ordered.
That's kung pao tofu, I think.
- Kung pao tofu. - I don't know what this is.
I'm actually googling that one now.
- Rice too. - Wok-fried string bean.
Wok-friend string bean with garlic and...
Wok-fried string bean?
Yeah with golden garlic.
Golden garlic?
And then we decided to try and have another early night.
The last day in quarantine was a bit of a waiting game.
We had the staff come and wake us up at 4:30 a.m for us to take our...
Second to last day PCR test.
We managed to get back to sleep after that and then we got out for breakfast.
Hallelujah.
First breakfast of the trip.
Vegan breakfast nasi goreng,
fruit, crackers I think?
And some fritters, I don't know.
I have a western breakfast today, scrambled eggs bacon sausage,
maple syrup pancakes and a potato mayo salad,
with honey. Breakfast was delicious and then we had some work to do.
We were told that our PCR test should come back by 2 p.m.,
they didn't. They came back half an hour late but we booked flights to Bali
at 5 p.m., so this only gave us two and a half hour window to check out of the quarantine hotel
and get on our flight for Bali.
We got all of our stuff packed up earlier,
so when we did get our negative results back, we were good to leave straight away.
This was a bit of a kerfuffle actually,
because we ran downstairs, we checked out,
caught our cab from the hotel to the airport.
It turned out, we were at the wrong terminal,
so we had to catch a free shuttle bus from one terminal to another terminal.
When we got to the check-in desk, we had to request to go to the front,
which they let us because we only had less than an hour until our flight takes off.
After we checked in, we went to go through security, which is a whole other palaver
because I forgot that you can't travel around Asia with your tripod
for strange reason, not in your hand luggage anyway.
It has to be checked, so we were pulled over to the side for a bit
and a guy was like pointing at my tripod and stuff and talking to another guy.
In the end, they were really nice, they actually checked my tripod in under the plane like late,
so when then we arrived in Jakarta, it actually came out on the belt with all of our baggage.
Because of the whole tripod fiasco, we were then escorted to our gate,
and then we got on the plane, which actually left
I think it was almost an hour late anyway,
so we were pretty good with the time.
We could probably could have made it regardless.
The flight took less than 2 hours, we landed in Denpasar,
we picked a taxi up at the airport
which drove us straight to the hoste we were staying for the first week.
And that is it really, that is a story of how we got from the UK to Bali.
Honestly, the whole thing is a bit of a process at the moment,
and if you're only coming for a couple of weeks, I really wouldn't recommend it.
You can't get Visas on arrival at the moment, you have to pay for the Visa to turn up,
and then you also have the quarantine, so if you're only coming in for 2 weeks,
and you have to quarantine for 3 days...
it doesn't really seem worth it.
So if you are going to come here,
I would really recommend doing sort of like a month plus,
just to make the entire process more worth coming.
But like I said at the beginning, the rules can change quite quickly, so just keep an eye on it,
and there may be a chance that you can come soon.
Just a couple of weeks ago, they made it possible for i think 19 countries
to be able to get a tourist Visa and fly straight into Bali,
but they still have to quarantine.
However, as far as I'm aware, there are still no international flights flying directly into Bali,
so that's not really possible at the moment.
But things do change quickly, so you never know.
We may be out to get tourist Visas again soon.
Regardless of all of that, I really hope that you found some value in this video,
and it's given you the information that you needed to know,
as well as give you a bit of insight into my own experience
and my own story of coming from the UK to Bali.
If you enjoyed this video or you found it useful, then please, please,
just help me out, give a little like,
write a comment down below, let me know any feedback,
let me know if there's any information you think that I should have added.
Any constructive criticism at all, I'm really happy to receive,
and I have so much more content coming up.
I'm looking to post weekly, it's going to be mainly Indonesia, Bali content obviously.
Mostly travel stuff,
maybe it'll be things like exploring the waterfalls or some temples,
or maybe I even might get some foreign food here and try out that.
And there'll be some more videos as well
where hopefully I'll provide you with more value and information
into what it's like living in Bali.
So make sure you subscribe, so you don't miss any of those videos
and you're here with me the entire journey.
But I've just arrived in Bali,
so everything you're gonna see from now on is from me arriving to however long in the future.
It was really cool to put our video again, I hope you liked it, I hope you found it interesting,
and I will see you in the next one.