Visa Runs from Bali

Staying in Bali for an extended period of time, is a fairly straightforward affair when it comes to immigration.

For those who plan to work or live in Indonesia on a more prolonged basis, a resident permit card called a “KITAS” is required.

But for those who just want to stay for a year or two, there are a couple of other options.

B211 Visa:

One is to apply for the B211 visa before arriving in Indonesia. It’s a single entry visa that lasts 60 days and can be renewed twice. It means you can stay in Bali for six months without having to leave Indonesia. It’s a great option for those intending to live and/or travel within the country for a longer period of time. The downside is that if you exit the country, the visa becomes void and you need to reapply for the more costly visa all over again. It’s really only advisable for those wanting to stay in Bali for more than 60 days. In our case, it was not a good option as we planned on traveling throughout Asia on school breaks during our time abroad.

Visa on Arrival (VOA)

The better choice for us was the simplest: the Visa on Arrival (VOA). You don’t have to apply for it beforehand. You simply land in Indonesia and pay for it at the airport. It’s valid for 30 days but can be renewed once. After 60 days you must exit the country. We had to carefully plan our trips to Japan, Vietnam and Australia to coincide with our visa constraints. But we also had to do a few “visa runs” in between to ensure we didn’t overstay our visa. It’s technically illegal to exit the country and then re-enter it within a 24-hour period so it’s advisable to at least spend a couple of nights away before returning.

The top destination for a visa run from Bali is the closest: Singapore. There are many daily flights from Bali and it takes less than three hours to get there.

Singapore:

Singapore has gotten a bit of a bad rap. Yes, there are very strict rules on jaywalking and gum chewing but I don’t agree with the notion that it’s boring. Not for a weekend at least. For us, the clean streets and highly regulated hawker stands were a welcome change from Bali. It’s also chock full of activities for kids.

The fun started the minute we landed at Changi airport.

Changi Airport:

Singapore’s airport has consistently been ranked the world’s best. I haven’t been to every airport in the world but I’ve never seen anything like it. It’s a destination in itself for good reason.

The gem of the airport is the “Jewel”, which is connected to the arrival hall (terminal 1). Its main draw is the indoor waterfall. At a height of 40 meters, it’s the tallest indoor waterfall in the world. It cascades over a whole area of fun consisting of slides, bouncing nets, mazes and more.

Designed by the architectural firm started by Moshe Safdie, who famously also designed Habitat 67 in Montreal, it is full of green spaces. We spent hours there before I could tear my son away.

Robertson Quay:

Another highlight of our trip was a long walk by the Singapore River starting at Robertson Quay. Never mind that it was raining.

On our walk we bumped into an arts collective that asked us to participate in a mural project. I painted one of my favorite flowers – a frangipani. Jamie drew some Greek symbols. It’s random experiences like this that justify aimless walks and make traveling so much fun.

Now that we’ve left our mark we have an excuse to return one day. Let’s see if our paintings pass the test of time.

Gardens by the Bay:

Our destination that day was Gardens By the Bay- a giant park that is near the Marina Bay Sands (an iconic hotel and casino also designed by Safdi).

Within the park there are many exhibits including the interactive one we saw dedicated to the movie “Avatar”. The blue characters came to life in a lush setting complete with misting areas.

The next day we took in another exhibit at the Art Science Museum, near Marina Bay Sands. It too was a blast for kids (and playful adults).

Interactive exhibits seem to be the way to capture our short attention spans these days as this one also asked us to participate in the exhibit. There was something slightly meditative about creating sea creatures on a stencil and then watching them come to life on a giant screen.

The next thing we needed to experience was the food – more specifically hawker food.

Hawker Food:

Singapore is famous for its stands that sell foods from all parts of Asia – most notably – Malaysia, India, China and Indonesia. Some of them are Michelin rated.

We headed to the Maxwell Food Center, where we found a few seats and hopped from stall to stall sampling different foods at rock bottom prices.

We met a few locals who advised us on which stalls had the best offerings. It was so much fun to see all these people from different cultures clearly delighting in the experience of a shared meal.

Our last day in Singapore was spent exploring the Raffles Hotel, a throwback to Singapore’s colonial past when the Brits dominated the area.

Raffles Hotel:

The Raffles is a beautiful and historic hotel worth visiting even if a cup of tea will set you back a penny.

Author Joseph Conrad was reportedly one of its first guests. It’s also where the cocktail known as the “Singapore Sling” was invented. Sampling one while tossing peanut shells on the ground at the Long Bar is a rite of passage for travelers in the area.

It’s no surprise it was deemed a national monument by the Singaporean government.

Singaporean Architecture:

Our remaining hours before returning to Bali were spent walking through various neighborhoods sampling the city’s architecture. The city has become a hot spot for starchitects showcasing their modern designs but it also has some beautiful art deco buildings dating from the 1920s and 30s. The influence is a mix of Asian, colonial and avant-garde making it a feast for the eyes.

It was the perfect weekend getaway filled with yummy food and a shot of culture.

A few months later we needed to go on another visa run. This time we headed to Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia.

Kuala Lumpur:

KL is only slightly further than Singapore, and has the distinction of being the best place in the world in which to stay in a five-star resort. The saying goes, you get a five-star experience at South East Asian prices. It’s true. You can stay at the Mandarin Oriental for what I’ve paid for a Motel 8 in Maine in peak season.

Luxury Hotels:

We opted to spend our two nights in KL at the Four Seasons. It was a Mother’s Day gift to myself. For obvious reasons, we spent the first day just lounging around basking in the luxury.

At night, we were lucky to be right next to one of the world’s tallest buildings: the Petronas Towers.

Petronas Towers:

All we had to do was walk outside and lay down in the park, taking in the brilliance of the night’s lights among the many locals who seemed as in awe of the looming towers as we were.

The next day, on Mother’s Day, I fulfilled my wish to visit the Batu Caves – a Hindu temple in a cave with ultra colorful stairs and cheeky monkeys.

Batu Caves:

The Batu Caves are a bit of a tourist trap with everyone angling for a picture of those colorful stairs (myself included) but it was nevertheless enjoyable. The most fun was watching the monkeys just be monkeys.

We ended up extending our stay in KL because we felt like there was more to explore.

Bukit Bintang:

I booked an extra night at a completely different type of hotel called KLoé in the Bukit Bintang area. The boutique hotel is owned by a Malaysian filmmaker and attracts Malay digital nomads and creatives. The restaurant served excellent western food. It’s in a bustling part of town full of shops and restaurants and street performers.

With our extra time in the city, we went to the bird and butterfly parks in the center of town.

KL Bird Park:

KL’s bird park was surprisingly fabulous. It’s an over 20-acre apiary with countless species of birds walking and flying around freely. One little dude kept following us. We encountered a grandpa like squad of yellow billed storks sauntering along the path as if on their way to the golf links. We also got to feed a pack of parrots.

Most of the birds in the aviary are indigenous to South East Asia but not all including the grey crowned crane, which knocked my socks off with its good looks. It comes from Africa and is the national bird of Uganda.

Overall, Kuala Lumpur felt like a grittier, less-sanitized version of Singapore. There are plenty of malls, high-end stores and cool coffeeshops but there are also some pretty dingy looking buildings and streets. Nevertheless, Jamie and I liked it. It was bustling and we left with the feeling that stuff is happening there. The best is maybe yet to come.

Singapore and KL are two of the more popular destinations for visa runs from Bali. But there are other cities like Bangkok and Perth, which are both easy to get to with direct flights from Bali and are not too far away. We never made it there but I’ve heard good things about both. It’ll have to wait for another time!