Countries for wintering: Thailand - Koh Samui, Indonesia - Bali, Malaysia - Penang - what to choose, where to go, subjective assessment. Prices for air tickets Samui – Denpasar Bali by month Bali or Koh Samui what to choose

We bought a Samui-Bangkok bus ticket for me in advance at the bus station on Nathon. When purchasing, we were surprised why the price was 1,066 baht, while we arrived in Samui for 700 and a few kopecks on a VIP bus, and then they showed us a layout of the cabin and offered to choose a seat. At first glance, it seemed to me that this was a layout of a minibus, and not a large bus, there were so few seats there! There are 8 rows in total and 3 seats in each (2+1). I chose my favorite seat number 5. Apparently, we arrived in Koh Samui by a VIP bus from another company.

The bus itself is simply gorgeous. The chairs are very comfortable and very wide. The distances between the rows are huge; when the person in front leans back, you hardly notice it. And there weren’t many people at all, about 7 people left Samui, then someone else got on, but in the end no more than half of the bus was occupied. While the first and second classes were packed to capacity. By the way, they started at the same time and rode with us the whole time. In the VIP bus, besides me, there were no foreigners at all, only Thais, but the “conductor” duplicated all the announcements for me personally in English.

I took the morning bus; it leaves the bus station at 7:30. Of course, I didn’t have time to have breakfast, I thought we would be fed normally on the way. For breakfast they gave us two cookies (one of which was so-so) and half a glass of coffee. And around 11 they dropped us off and told us to go eat. There is a Thai buffet: rice and plates with additives on it on a rotating stand. I even found a non-spicy dish there and ate almost all of it without sharing with the Thais, especially since they were not interested in it. Well, after that they didn’t feed us. For a night bus this is normal, but for a day bus it’s somehow not enough.

We were told that it takes 12 hours, but it turned out to be 13. The bus was an hour late. It’s good that I still didn’t decide to take the daytime bus at 15-something, otherwise I would not only have overpaid for a taxi, but I might even be late for the plane, which was leaving at 6 in the morning. By the way, about the taxi, as soon as I got off the bus some Thai guy started waving his hands at me, smiling and calling me to him. He consulted with his girlfriend for a long time and gave out the price - 700 baht! Yeah, now! Then the second one jumped up - 400 baht. It’s good that at that moment I saw the stop where the taxi drivers were standing, otherwise these prices scared me :) According to the meter from the Southern Bus Station to Don Muang Airport - 240 baht.

Dom Mueang Airport is a different story. There is no Internet there! The seats are absolutely uncomfortable, the backrests are incredibly short, reaching only to the middle of the back, which means you can’t sleep while sitting, and you can’t sleep lying down either, because... The seats are concave and when you lie across they dig into your body terribly. But there is no Internet, so I had to sleep, and in fact my eyes were drooping. I even wanted to sleep like the Thais on the floor, but unfortunately I’m not so prudent, and I didn’t have a sleeping bag or anything like it. I had to sleep for a long time, 6 hours. On such a “bed” it is simply incredibly long. If you have the opportunity not to spend the night in Don Mueang, you should use it.

The flight to Bali was great. I met the dawn already in the sky. It was incredibly beautiful. I slept almost the entire flight, I woke up only before boarding, because you can’t miss boarding. When landing, I saw familiar places, it was so interesting. Volcano Batur, the new road along which we rode in the first days of the opening, the airport and the place where we looked at the planes. The sky was clear, so the whole island was visible.

I was met at the airport by my personal driver. He took me to the hotel. We drove for a very long time. I had already forgotten how narrow the roads are in Bali and how crazy the traffic is. The Ecosphere Hotel is located on the oceanfront in Canggu on the world famous EcoBeach beach (at least that's what it says on the sign:). There are only villas and hotels around, you can’t reach civilization (Kuta, for example) on foot, and I don’t drive a bike. I haven’t found where to buy fruit here yet, there is only a minimarket, but as usual in Asia, there is no fruit.

The hotel itself, as I understand it, is Russian. Their website is in Russian, the managers are Russian, they offered to pay for the reservation also to a Russian account, the menu includes “Borcsh moskovskii” and “Sharlotka”. Space here is catastrophically limited; in Ubud, our homestay had much more space. Everything is so compact here: a swimming pool and several houses. There are rooms for one, two and four. Judging by the photographs, the rooms for one and two look good. But I live in a room for four. This is absolutely creepy. Bunk beds, although there is space to put regular ones, the door to the bathroom does not close, the shower only provides hot water in exceptional cases. At least I'm alone for now. And the prices here are wow! I don’t know what this has to do with the proximity of the ocean and surfers or Russian greed. In Ubud we rented a room for $10 a day for two. Here a place in a room for four costs $22 per day, that is, from all four of them they can get $88 per day! Seriously, they could lower the price, maybe these rooms would be filled. Now I live in one of these and my surfer neighbor in the second, also alone. The hotel is quite dirty, at least in the "cheap" rooms.

In general, this is a completely different Bali than in Ubud. There is no such riot of nature and beauty of architecture.

Swimming pool in the yard:

There are even workplaces, but there is no Internet in the room:

View from the window, and so on everywhere around:

I was very surprised by my number:

Today our trainer arrives and we will begin Flexible Strength. I'll definitely tell you about it later

The cost of a flight always depends on the time of travel. The chart will allow you to compare prices for air tickets from Samui to Denpasar Bali, track the dynamics of changes in their cost and find the best offer.

Statistics will help determine the season of low prices. For example, in April prices reach an average of 49,343 rubles, and in May the cost of tickets drops to an average of 32,738 rubles. Plan your trip now!

We analyze this information and create charts to make it easier for you to plan your trips.

What is more profitable – to buy air tickets in advance, avoiding the general rush, or to take advantage of a “hot” offer closer to the departure date? The chart will help you determine the best time to purchase airline tickets.

See how the price of air tickets from Koh Samui to Denpasar Bali changed depending on the time of purchase. Since the start of sales, their value has changed by an average of 22%. The minimum price for a flight from Samui to Denpasar Bali is 20 days before departure, approximately 32,738 rubles. The maximum price for a flight from Samui to Denpasar Bali is 13 days before departure, approximately 49,343 rubles. In most cases, early booking helps you save money, take advantage of it!

Airfare from Koh Samui to Denpasar Bali does not represent a fixed and constant amount. It depends on many factors, including the day of departure. The dynamics of changes are visible on the graph.

According to statistics, the most affordable option for flights from Samui to Denpasar Bali is on Wednesdays, their average cost is 32,738 rubles. The most expensive flights are on Sundays, their average cost is 49,343 rubles. It is worth considering that flights on holidays are usually more expensive. We hope this information will help you plan your travels more effectively.

The cost of air tickets depends not only on the date, but also on the time of departure. An airline can operate several flights on one day, and they will differ in price category.

The graph shows the cost of departure depending on the time of day. For example, the average cost of a ticket from Samui to Denpasar Bali in the morning is 38,161 rubles. Evaluate all conditions and choose the best offer.

The graph shows comparative prices for air tickets from Koh Samui to Denpasar Bali on the most popular airlines. Based on this information, you can plan your trip and buy air tickets from Koh Samui to Denpasar Bali from the carrier that suits you.

Statistics will help you choose a flight based on your financial capabilities, as well as your wishes in terms of comfort and flight conditions. The lowest prices for air tickets from Samui to Denpasar Bali are offered by Singapore Airlines, the highest prices are offered by Singapore Airlines.

We have been asked more than once how life is different in Thailand and Bali, and where is better. In this post I will try to answer these questions. I will compare life on three islands - Phuket, Bali and Koh Samui. We lived in Phuket for a month, in Bali for two months, and we’ve been living in Samui for the fourth month.

Since the three of us are traveling with a small son (he was one and a half years old at the time of the trip), our choice of place, accommodation and everything else is focused, first of all, on comfortable and safe living with a small child. Walking distance to the sea and the beach and the opportunity for a relaxing swim with the baby also mean a lot to us. Well, another important aspect, on which everything else often depends, is the cost of living (house rental, food, transportation, entertainment). The available budget has to be optimized taking into account the fact that we do not know how long our trip will last, and we do not have any stable large income. Therefore, you have to save money.

Flights

We chose the first point of our journey Phuket, because we found cheap tickets Moscow → Phuket with one change in Novosibirsk company S7. The flight Moscow → Novosibirsk lasted 4.5 hours, Novosibirsk → Phuket - 7 hours. We specifically looked for a night flight so that our son could sleep on the plane. By the way, Tyoma survived the flight quite well. He actually slept the entire flight in his mother's arms.

To fly from Russia to Samui, there are several options. You can fly directly to Koh Samui (with one or two transfers), or fly to Surat Thani (cheap AirAsia flies there), and from there take a ferry to Koh Samui.

The cheapest option is to fly to Bangkok (you can take a direct flight from Moscow), from there fly to Surat Thani and then take a ferry to Samui. But you need to be prepared that the move will take a day, or even more. And yet, the arrival time in Surat Thani should be no later than five o’clock in the evening, because the last ferry leaves at seven in the evening, and it still takes an hour to get there by bus.

Visas

Both Thailand and Indonesia allow you to stay in the country for 30 days upon arrival.

IN Indonesia Until recently, you were required to buy a “Visa on Arrival”, which cost $35. The visa on arrival could be extended for 30 days (total period of stay - 60 days), which costs approximately $27.

Since June 2015, citizens of the Russian Federation can enter without a visa (using a stamp in the passport, which is placed at the border). This option is not suitable for long-term stays, because... This visa cannot be extended.

If you go to live in Bali for a long time, it is better to do the so-called. social visa. To do this, you need an Indonesian citizen who acts as a guarantor. There are many agencies and individuals in Bali who will help with this visa for money. A social visa allows you to stay in the country for 6 months. It must be done while outside the country. True, it must be renewed every month during immigration.

IN Thailand Your stay with a stamp can be extended for another 7 days. It costs 1900 THB (approximately $57-58).

If you get a tourist visa, you can stay in Thailand for 90 days without leaving the country - 60 days on the visa, plus 30 days by extending it. Then, in any case, you will have to leave. Thai tourist visas come in single, double and triple entry. A double and triple entry visa allows you to enter the country two and three times respectively (you can do a border run). The Thai tourist double-entry visa we received in Bali cost 1,120,000 IDR (approximately $87). One-time, of course, is half the price (560,000 IDR).

Visa extension for Bali- he's still a hemorrhoid. You will have to go to the immigration office at least three times: the first is to submit an application, the second is to pay, take a photo and take fingerprints, and the third is to receive it. And every time you have to stand in line. One family member can apply and receive passports with a visa, but everyone will have to be photographed and fingerprinted. We were especially lucky - on the day when we arrived as a whole group, something broke down at the Denpasar immigration office. We waited for about an hour, but as a result, we had to come again.

On Samui The visa extension took us about half an hour. We arrived, wrote applications, handed over passports with money and photographs, and 15 minutes later received them back with stamps. Extending a tourist visa for a month costs 1900 THB.

Unfortunately, obtaining a residence permit in both countries is quite difficult. Therefore, most of the people I met here travel back and forth, or open a work visa (the right to stay for a year and other goodies), but for this you either need to pay money, or pay money and bother with registering a business.

Choosing a location and renting housing

During our journey, we developed a certain pattern of searching for a place to live. Even before the trip, we try to study as much information and reviews on the Internet as possible about the place, beaches, infrastructure and roughly estimate where we would like to stay. Then, via the Internet (Booking, AirBnb or Agoda), we rent inexpensive housing for 5-7 days without any special complaints, not far from the intended future home. Again, we rent a car via the Internet for these 5-7 days. Upon arrival, we go to see the selected beach and, if we like it, we drive around the area in search of suitable accommodation.

A trip around the area will definitely give you more good and cheap accommodation options than you can find online. Local landlords are not friendly with the Internet (both in Bali and Thailand).

In all cases, except for the hotels where we stayed for the first few days, we rented directly from the hosts, which allowed us to cut down on the commission costs that Internet search engines usually charge.

The criteria by which we choose housing:

• proximity to the sea (so you can walk with a stroller);
• good internet (we work on it);
• availability of a kitchen, stove and refrigerator (we prefer to cook at home);
• general cleanliness and comfort;
• an area near the house where our son could walk on his own and we wouldn’t worry about him;
• the presence of mosquito nets on windows and doors (mosquitoes in Asia can be carriers of Dengue);
• our budget.

On Phuket The choice of accommodation is quite large and finding what you need is quite easy. But circumstances turned against us - Artem ended up in the hospital on the second day after arriving and spent most of the time there allocated to finding housing and moving. And we are with him, accordingly. So we looked for habitat for the next three weeks, one might say, under extreme conditions of lack of time. First we stayed near Kata Beach in a small bungalow for $20/day (found through AirBnb). This housing was so-so, a C grade. It was also a bit far from the beach, and we had to walk past a river that was full of shit. We didn't like it. And when Artyom was discharged, we went to see Nai Harn beach. This is a wonderful beach, clean, beautiful, one might say, the best beach in Phuket. But also the most expensive. We had only one day to look for accommodation, and with great adventure we ended up at the Nai Harn Relife condotel. We rented a nice one-room apartment with a small kitchen with a stove and refrigerator (a must-have for us), almost daily cleaning, and a shared pool. The beach is a 20 minute walk past a pleasant lake. There was also a wonderful roof there, which I went to work on in the mornings. Wonderful, but a little expensive for us - 1000 THB per day.

On Bali We immediately decided to live in Sanur, because... there is the best beach for swimming babies (in most other places there are big waves), and not as expensive as on Nusa Dua. For the first five days we stayed at the small hotel Dewi Dewi Villas with a swimming pool and free breakfast for $20/day. It was written that the room had a kitchen, but it turned out that there was no stove in this kitchen - only a refrigerator and a kettle. So we went to the common kitchen to prepare Tyoma’s morning porridge. For a short stay - a great place.

Once again we found ourselves in BIMC with insurance from Alfa Insurance.
BIMC- a major hospital for expats, but the doctors behaved more like Balinese. They didn’t do any tests (in other hospitals they immediately took blood and prescribed the rest), they only gave me a jar for feces, which had to be brought when it was ready :). The only medications prescribed were lactobacilli. It’s good that the situation wasn’t so serious that time.
Alpha Insurance, unlike Liberty, did an excellent job and paid for everything quickly.

Registering with BIMC

Comparison of insurance prices:

• Thailand Travel Shield - 5200 THB for three for 30 days (THB/RUB exchange rate is now about 1.8)
• Liberty Insurance - RUB 5,500. for three for 30 days
• Alpha Insurance - RUB 3,048. for one for 30 days

Summary: Thai medicine is better developed, including in terms of customer focus. Another confirmation of this is the number of pharmacies. In Thailand you come across them as often as in Russia - at every step.

Not so in Bali. There is a network of branded pharmacies (the whole island is good if there are 10 branches), and there are small private ones where the choice is limited.

In general, in Bali, as we were told, medicine is the preserve of the rich, because... Any medical care, even emergency care, costs money. And if suddenly something happens to a poor Indonesian, no one will just dial “03.”

In any case, good insurance rules.

Food

Honestly speaking, on Bali The food didn't excite us much. An abundance of fried and spicy food is the main characteristic of Balinese cuisine. The main dishes are Nasi Goreng (fried rice with egg, seasoned with kechap manis (sweet soy sauce)) and Mie Goreng (fried noodles).

Nasi Goren - fried rice is hidden under the omelette, on the left - krupuk - rice chips

Very popular among the Balinese population is Satay - small skewers of chicken or pork served with peanut sauce. There is also Ikan Bakan/Goreng - fish fried over charcoal or in oil in a frying pan, usually quite dry, and Ayam Bakan/Goreng - skinny chicken cooked in the same way. On the streets you can often find carts selling Bakso, a soup made from noodles and meat balls.

Ayam Goreng & Nasi

IN Thailand the food is more tasty and varied, such as the famous Tom Yam and Tom Kha soups, Som Tam papaya salad, and various types of curries. By the way, Khao Pad fried rice and fried noodles, the famous Pad Thai are also found in Thailand. But they are more tasty and aromatic here.

Tom Kha with chicken
Papaya salad Som Tam

Since we cook more at home, we eat about the same dishes in everyday life. In the morning it’s usually oatmeal, muesli, scrambled eggs, yogurt. For lunch - chicken or fish soup with vegetables and various dressings, and for dinner - rice, chicken/fish and vegetable salad. During breaks, unlimited amounts of fruit. :)

If you don't go to restaurants, three of you can eat on $10 a day. At the same time, the diet will be varied - with fruits and vegetables, which are seasonal in both Thailand and Bali. What is growing and ripe right now is sold cheap. What is brought from somewhere is expensive. For example, apples in Thailand cost 15-20 THB per piece ($0.5), and papaya - 40 THB per kg.

Longan, tamarind, herring, papaya - evening market in Karon (Phuket)

While we lived in Bali, there were several fruits that were in season, including papaya, avocado and durian. They could be bought very cheaply. And when the season ended, prices began to creep up.

But in Thailand, avocados don’t grow at all, but there are delicious pineapples and mangoes. During the mango season, you could buy a kilo for 20 THB.

Guava, durian, mangosteens, tangerines, pitahaya, passion fruit - roadside fruit stand in Bali

Sometimes we eat potatoes instead of rice. In Tesco on Samui it is now sold at 28-30 THB per kg. It was more expensive in Bali. Also everywhere there are the usual vegetables - onions, carrots, cabbage (white, cauliflower and broccoli), tomatoes, cucumbers and eggplants.

In general, in both Thailand and Bali you can eat cheaply and variedly, but foods that are not included in the diet of the local population and are produced or purchased exclusively for foreigners are quite expensive. For example, butter in Thailand costs 90 THB for a 220 g pack, and cheese starts from 300 THB and reaches a couple of thousand per kilogram. They don't produce cheese here. In Bali, cheeses are also expensive. Bread in both Bali and Thailand is also not cheap, especially those baked by different bakeries (private bakeries). A loaf of grain bread with seeds in Samui Tesco costs 72 THB.

Internet

IN Thailand, unlike the rest of Southeast Asia, everything is fine with the Internet. In all the places where we lived, we did not have any special problems with communication. The Internet speed was quite sufficient to watch YouTube and download movies from torrents. If necessary, you can connect telephone Internet. Any small store (Family, 7/11) sells SIM cards from different operators. For example, dtac, which we use, offers various packages - for one day (49 THB - 150 MB), week (199 THB - 1 GB), month (650 THB - 6 GB or 799 THB - 12 GB).

On Bali With the Internet it’s noticeably worse.

Hotels usually have free WiFi. In some cafes too. It is possible to install cable Internet in houses if there is a highway nearby, but this is not possible everywhere. In the house where we lived, the “master’s” Internet was distributed via WiFi from a CDMA modem and was of disgusting quality. So we had to use 3G mobile Internet, for which we bought prepaid SIM cards. The cheapest option cost 45,000 IDR (~$4) for 3 GB, but before we found it, 3 GB cost us quite a lot - 300,000 IDR from Telkomsel.

Some parts Bali are covered by Telkomsel's 4G mobile internet network, which provides excellent speeds but costs comparable to their 3G internet.

Activities

Bali is a big island and there is a lot to do and see. Ancient Hindu temples, volcanoes, the ocean, rice terraces, a forest with monkeys (be careful, they sometimes behave like gopniks, taking away glasses, cameras and everything they can reach; at Tyomych they tore Crocs off his leg), thermal springs, excellent places for surfing, yoga, snorkeling, diving, hiking, biking and everything else you can think of. There is even a palace and a park with fountains. All this is located in different parts of the island, but everything is quite accessible.

Gate to Pura Tanah Lot Temple

Ulun Danu Beratan Temple

Monkey Forest

On Phuket There are also plenty of activities. You can climb up to the giant Big Buddha statue and visit many different temple complexes. You can snorkel, there are diving centers, you can find where to ride a kite (but will there be wind?). There are adventure parks and off-road rides on quad bikes and elephants. You can go for a walk in the old city - Phuket Town and take a walk in the jungle to the waterfalls.

Phuket town
Chinese temple Jui Tui

Samui in this respect the poorest island. Small area, almost nothing to see. There is also a statue of Big Buddha, various temple complexes (Wat Plai Laem with the eighteen-armed Guan Yin, Wat Khunaram with the mummy of a monk) and several stupas and one pagoda (Laem Sor Pagoda). There are also several waterfalls. Not so much, but now we have enough, our main activity is Tyoma. :)

Hin Lad waterfall

On Bali They charge money to visit anything more or less interesting. Sometimes a lot of money. Even if you have already paid for the ticket, be prepared for the fact that local guides, conductors and sellers will begin to impose additional services on you. We were once not allowed into the territory of the Pura Besakih temple because we refused to pay for the guide’s service (the ticket we purchased did not work). Buying a ticket is not a problem, but selling it is on the verge of extortion. There really are enough services.

In Thailand, temples are free. In many tourist places, fees are collected using a donation box where you can throw in a few coins. No one stands over your soul. The only things that are a little expensive ($10-20) are all sorts of water parks, safari parks, Paradise and others that are made solely for the entertainment of tourists.

Shopping

Go specifically for shopping Bali It’s not worth it, but there is a lot of variety of souvenirs here. Non-trivial wood carving and painting are very developed - both traditional Balinese and modern (at the airport of Denpasar - the capital of Bali - all the gates along the perimeter are hung with paintings created in different styles. A couple of dozen gates with 20-30 paintings in each. You can also buy interesting jewelry (there is even a village of jewelers in Ubud), pearl jewelry, batik clothes, colorful sarongs.

Painting at the Ubud Art Market (Traditional Art Market)

From Thailand It is worth bringing natural hygiene and skin and hair care products (soaps, shampoos, creams, toothpastes), famous Thai balms, pastes, sauces and spices for preparing Thai dishes, herbal teas. You can also buy inexpensive, high-quality clothes and shoes here.

Toothpastes, creams, coconut oil - evening fair in Maenam

People

Thailand called the Land of Smiles. And this is a very accurate name - everyone is smiling here. Just. And you get so used to it that you also start smiling at everyone. The locals are mostly welcoming and friendly. We have never encountered any negative human manifestations here.

The Thais are perfectly characterized by the following incident. As we stood in line for passport control at Phuket airport, a little girl was crying in the next line, tired from the long flight. One of the officers who was checking passports came out and escorted her and her grandparents out of turn. The queue, by the way, was quite long - about 30 people.

When we arrived at Bali, the first thing that caught my eye was that no one was smiling. But this is not so, the Balinese also smile, but less. In addition, many visitors from other parts of Indonesia live and work in Bali. They are different from the Balinese - after all, they are here for the money.

The only people who smile constantly in Bali are the street barkers and sellers, but they only want money from you. In some places it gets really annoying. So, in the 15 minutes we walked to the beach from our house, we first brushed off the annoying taxi drivers, who every time they saw us shouted to us: “Yes, taxi!” A month later, they finally more or less remembered us and stopped jumping up when we appeared. Then from saleswomen from a small market near the beach (these invited us to their store every day for two months. :) As soon as we walked along the beach along the promenade, hostesses from restaurants and cafes sat down on our ears. In this regard, Thailand is wonderful; no one imposes their goods and services.

Both Thais and Balinese have a positive and attentive attitude towards children. And not only women, but also men. Once on Samui, Temych was running along the beach and fell. This was observed by a group of young Thais swimming in the sea. One of them first started shouting to him something like “come on, get up,” and then went ashore, picked Artyom up and put him on his feet.

In Bali, attention can sometimes be too much - almost every time we walked with our son, someone was constantly touching him, patting him, hugging him, or simply smiling and shouting “Hello, baby!” Where's his mom?" Many took pictures of him or tried to take pictures together. This is boring. In Thailand, too, it happens that someone will hug him, touch him or take him in their arms, but less often, without fanaticism.

When we find ourselves in a big store, Tyoma likes to run around and grab something from the shelves. In Bali, he usually attracted a crowd of saleswomen who ran after him, groaning and squealing and happily chirping with him.

In Thailand, I’m not afraid to let him run around the store alone - if something happens, they will definitely help him, lift him up and console him. And if he suddenly decides to go somewhere on his own, he will definitely be stopped by local aunties from nearby massage parlors and a laundry until Lyuba or I come running for him.

The Balinese take their religious and cultural values ​​very seriously, and if you ignore them, you can actually end up with lula. Numerous gods and guardians with large clubs (some tear off their heads), who stand at every temple, or even just like that, as if they were saying that the people here are harsh, if anything :)

Local life and customs

We haven't had much contact with the Balinese and Thais outside of the "tourist world" (a bit more here on Koh Samui), so my perceptions are probably skewed.

Life Balinese densely filled with Hinduism. Almost everyone regularly (at least three times a day) makes offerings to the gods and demons. For this purpose, every home has a small temple or at least an altar where these offerings are placed. Also, offerings are placed on the threshold of the house, on the roads, and brought to the sea (after all, gods and demons live everywhere). Then they float along with algae and debris. Offerings must be made in national clothes (sarong, blouse with a belt), and, having put it on in the morning, many Balinese wear it all day.

There are a huge number of temples in Bali, all of which are active to one degree or another. Gates and altars are usually guarded by sullen stone monsters. In general, the temples in Bali look quite gloomy and intimidating.

The altar is guarded by severe demons
In Bali, temples are found at every turn

Visits to temples are subject to strict rules; clothing is required (closed top and bottom). Naturally, near the temples visited by tourists, there are markets where every second person will grab your hand with the exclamation “Sarong, sarong!”

Typical Balinese temple
And if you go inside, it will be like this

Thailand- a Buddhist country, but here they are tolerant of all religions. There are more temples on Phuket, but fewer on Samui (though Samui itself is smaller:). There are Thai Buddhist temples with red tiled roofs decorated with golden horns on which bells hang, and there are Chinese Taoist temples with rich, bright paintings and the inevitable dragons. You can walk around in them for a long time and look at every detail.

Bells hang near Buddhist temples and stupas
Buddha at Wat Plai Laem
The shutters in the temple are decorated with wooden paintings

Near Thai temples there are also signs prohibiting visiting the temple in shorts and T-shirts, but if you have already arrived in this form, no one will kick you out. Before entering the temple, you must take off your shoes.

When you walk down the streets in the area where we lived in Bali, you get the feeling that you are either in a workshop or in a cemetery - stone carved gates and facades are everywhere. Each house is surrounded by a high fence. There are broken glass and barbed wire on top of the fences.

Every house in Bali has a carved stone gate and a high fence
Sometimes the gates are decorated with intricate wood carvings

In Thailand, if there are fences, they are very symbolic, low, often in the form of green spaces. Fences the size of a man are rare and, as a rule, fence off some wild territory (to prevent animals from interfering?). In Phuket, I also saw tall fences around some villa-cottage community, but this was rather an exception.

Both in Bali and Thailand, many people make money by trading, there are many small businesses and shops. People don’t do business “just for fun”; here it’s a way to feed themselves and their family.

There is a pancake shop on the street near our house in Koh Samui where Mister Pancake works. He's been eating pancakes to the max every night for the last ten years. He is famous, and people line up to see him. He earns well (turnover, I think, is up to 1000-1500 THB per hour), but he is not even close to the “business youth” we are used to. He is about 55 years old, wearing old jeans and a shirt. I think he will work like this as long as his health allows. Other people around live in much the same way - measuredly and without envy of other people's successes, everyone does their own thing and will do it for ten years or twenty. Happy and with a smile on your face.

Bali is a more “moving” place in large cities, but in the villages (of which there are many) everything flows very slowly. I think that life here has not changed for the last 500 years. However, in the cities, not everything is so fast either. For example, extending a visa takes several days (in Thailand - within a couple of hours). Fixing something around the house also takes a long time (but the result is not guaranteed :).

General feelings

Indonesia is a rather poor country, and you can feel it. The Balinese are more closed than the Thais, so to speak, “in their own minds”. For them, foreigners are walking wallets from which they need to squeeze as much money as possible. In Bali, you feel something wild, something primitive, especially if you go to remote places away from tourist areas, where visitors are extremely rare.

On the streets and beaches, unless there is a pretentious hotel near the beach that monitors cleanliness, it is quite dirty. Remnants of offerings, plastic bags and bottles, and various household garbage are littered not only on the shore, but also floating in the ocean. One evening we arrived at Jimbaran beach. While we were swimming, plastic bags constantly clung to our feet. It was very unpleasant.

The beaches of Bali are not particularly clean

Thailand is a civilized country, with enforced laws and order. All government services that we encountered here, be it the post office or the immigration office, work clearly and without any special bureaucratic hassles. The beaches are relatively clean, the locals don’t make a big fuss, tourists behave worse - they leave cigarette butts behind. Unfortunately, dirt is also found on the streets. Also in the evening you can see bags of garbage on the roadsides. But garbage trucks drive every day and clean everything regularly.

In Thailand I feel very simple. Everything around is simple, and everything inside is simple.

In Bali everything is very complicated. Completely different sensations. When at six in the morning at sunrise you are sitting on the balcony and trying to fix a broken WordPress, and then in the temple nearby they turn on the morning mantra, which is chanted by a brahman against the backdrop of a traditional Balinese xylophone chime, suddenly everything inside comes together and the chaotic complexity of the sounds coming is intertwined with the smell of incense, which neighbors have already taken them out onto the street as offerings. This doesn't help the work at all.

Thailand is straight, like a line graph. Bali is like a fractal. This is manifested in architecture (imagine a Vologda carved garden in 3D and made of stone), and in conversations with people (you look into their eyes and see... no, not a double bottom, but something very cleverly woven), and in handling bureaucratic system, and in road traffic.

I feel better in Thailand. Here you can breathe out and relax. This didn’t work out for me in Bali.

Summary

If you are a fan of outdoor activities, reckless daredevils, lovers of adventure, drive and all kinds of extreme sports, then your choice is definitely Bali.

If you are an old fart family with a baby who are looking for comfort, safety and a quiet life, then Phuket or Samui will be the best option.

Regardless of the country of residence, it has similar features. These are stunningly beautiful beaches, clean (almost everywhere) sea, exotic nature, many monuments of history, religion and culture. And yet there is a difference, which is why sometimes the question arises of what to choose - or.

The first island belongs to Thailand, a power with which no one can compare in this part of the planet in terms of tourism. Bali is the largest of the islands, the first in the country in many tourist positions, the more interesting the comparison process is.

Koh Samui or Bali – where are the beaches more beautiful?

Koh Samui offers various options for beach areas. Chaweng, located on the east coast, is considered the best. Fine sand, clear sea, picturesque bays surrounded by greenery. Many hotels are built simply on the shore, which allows you to enjoy the sun and sea without going far from your place of residence. The second most popular beach in Lamai, the sand here is slightly coarser and there are rocky areas, but hotels offer beauty treatments and spa massages.

The dream of tourists coming to the island of Bali is to find a paradise beach. There are such places all over the island, but in some places strong winds blow, so it’s good to go sailing there and not sunbathe. In other parts of the island, strong ebbs and flows interfere with comfortable swimming. The best beach is considered to be Pang Padang, which became the location for the filming of the famous American film “Eat, Pray, Love.”

Entertainment

Among the entertainments on Samui, hiking and trips to beautiful places on the island are popular; the list of natural monuments includes: Hin-Ta (“Grandfather”) and Hin-Yai (“Grandmother”) rocks; a beautiful waterfall called Namtok; turtle island Koh Tao. You can have fun at the local aquarium, where the most famous tropical fish are presented. The Tiger Zoo offers to get acquainted with the more formidable inhabitants of these territories - Bengal tigers and leopards. Other entertainment activities include visiting a transvestite show, a crocodile farm, and a butterfly park.

Among the entertainment options in Bali, the most popular are various sports and sea activities. Divers from all over the world come to this island because they know about the most beautiful underwater landscapes and the richness of the animal world. There are opportunities for a one-time dive and organizing multi-day dive safaris, daytime and mysterious night encounters with the depths of the sea.

The second popular sport is surfing, due to the strong winds that blow in a certain part of the island throughout the year. Beginners in this business go to the resort of Kuta, experienced surfers meet in, where long, constant waves await them.

Sights and monuments

You can find many temple complexes and traditional Buddha statues on Koh Samui. They are located throughout the island, in cities and outside urban areas. Tourists also love to visit Ha Thon, the main city of the island, where you can walk along the streets and watch the life of ships in the port.

It is interesting that Uluwatu, one of the resorts in Bali, is famous not only for its waves and a large number of surfing fans, but also for its temple complexes. They also attract curious tourists from different parts of the island. They come not only to see the temple, but also to appreciate the amazing music and dance show, in which up to 150 participants can appear on stage at the same time.

The main attractions of Bali are religious buildings, thanks to which this corner of the planet received the name “Island of a Thousand Temples”. It is interesting to look at them from the point of view of history, culture, architecture. Particularly impressive is the “mother of temples” - the Pura Besaki complex, which includes more than 20 religious buildings and structures.

Another stunning sight awaits guests at the Tana Loch temple; during high tide, all approaches to it are covered with water. The second feature of this structure is that it is a “link” in a chain of temples built in such a way that only when you approach one, you begin to see the next one.

A comparison of the Indonesian and Thai islands, well known in the tourism world, showed that they have a lot in common. And yet, holidays on both islands are different from each other. Therefore, Samui will be chosen by tourists who:

• want to relax on heavenly beaches;
• love to have fun and play sports;
• love traveling around the country in search of attractions;
• ready to explore the depths of the sea.

Travelers who:

• they know that they need to look for a good beach;
• are going to join the world of surfing and sink to the bottom of the sea;
• are fans of Buddhism and ancient Buddhist culture.

I am a fan of holidays in Thailand, and in particular on Koh Samui. I am also partial to Bali and have been there more than once. A couple of times on vacation I was able to warm bones first on one island and then on another. I share my experience of traveling along this route.

From Koh Samui to Bali by plane

Unfortunately, there are no direct flights on this route. You can get there with a transfer. It can be done, for example, in Singapore. The journey will take a little over eight hours.

Both flights are operated by Singapore Airlines. You can also fly from Samui to Bali via Kuala Lumpur (the capital of Malaysia). You will spend more than seventeen hours on the entire journey.

conclusions

Ferries do not operate between the two islands. I personally suffer from seasickness, and if they ran between Samui and Bali, I would hardly dare to make such a trip. It’s a pity that there are no direct flights between the islands, but maybe something will change in the future.