Travelling in June

hi, my partner and I are coming to Lombok mid june, and have just found this forum. I've lots of questions, hope you dont mind me asking here! First up is the best way to book a flight from Bali. We touch down in Bali at 11:30 from Bangkok. Seems you can book on line with Merpati, which is good, but the next flight after we arrive is 15:00. Trigana Air website
http://www.trigana-air.com/html/module.php

doesnt seem to list Depasar to Mataram. Indonesia Air Transport websites doesnt seem to have online booking. I saw mention of garuda flying Depasar to Mataram, but again no mention on their website. So any tips on firstly whether there is a flight before 15:00 and secondly, if there is, how I go about booking it, would be greatly appreciated.

I have lots of other questions, but will ration myself After about 10 days on lombok (3 on mainland and 7 on gilis we think) we want to do a boat tour to komodo etc for about 6-7 days. We have seen a few online but was wondering whether its better to wait until we get there to book one? In other countries I've always found that better, but it depends on how many tour operators there are and how busy is lombok is in june/july. Any tips?

thanks alot, cant wait for our trip!

Tony

Hi Tony
If I was arriving at 11.30, I'd take the 15.00 flight - it allows for small delays (say your flight is 20 mins late), and long immigration queues (which can happen in Bali). Also you need to check in for your domestic flight 1 hour prior to the flight. You can cut it closer, but personally I don't risk it. If you don't have a pre-booked ticket then you need to allow that little bit extra time.

June is reasonably busy in Bali and Lombok, so you may not get on a 3pm flight and may need to go a little later (4.30 or 5). I have not booked online with Merpati - do they really have that facility now? In the past I have arrived, walked down to domestic and booked whichever flight I can get on next. We try to get a flight that gets in around lunchtime to give us the space to comfortably connect with a domestic flight to Lombok.

I can't help with recommendations on the Komodo trip. Maybe someone else can help there. You may also want to research that one on the Thorn Tree Indonesia branch as there are quite a few travellers on that site with up to date information. I believe that in general it is better to book once in Indonesia, but you should be armed with some recommendations on which tour to take - there are some dodgy ones I've read about in the past.

thanks for the help, merpati seem to have online booking, I'll let you know how I get on with it.

fyi, you can book a flight online, but not pay for it!

http://www.merpati.co.id

you get a booking voucher that you then need to take to a travel agent. After much frustration, I found a full discussion here:

http://www.lonelyplanet.com/thorntree/thread.jspa?threadID=1760503&start=0&tstart=60

GoonerTony wrote:

fyi, you can book a flight online, but not pay for it!

http://www.merpati.co.id

you get a booking voucher that you then need to take to a travel agent. After much frustration, I found a full discussion here:

http://www.lonelyplanet.com/thorntree/thread.jspa?threadID=1760503&start=0&tstart=60

Yeah, I posted on that thread myself (see info re booking through Perama tours). The upshot of that thread is that the Merpati online booking does not work very well for people trying to book from overseas. You have to pay for the ticket within 72 hours at a travel agent WITHIN Indonesia. Which is why the OP said "what a stupid system".

BTW - Garuda are now offering early evening flights to Lombok from Bali, and are giving some good discounts. I looked at their online booking to see if it was possible to book, but the Denpasar - Mataram option does not come up. Maybe once they update their website online booking and e-tickets will be possible with Garuda.

thanks for the tips,we are either going to buy a ticket when we turn up, which I'm hoping is ok. Alternatively we may ask the hotel we choose to do it for us. Speaking of which, any suggestions on accomodation? We are thinking of spending 3 nights lombok and 5-7 on the gilis, looking top end really. We particularly like being close to the beach and preferably to have coral we can swim to snorkel on without a boat. We asked quncivilla, they have ocean view rooms but the room with pool is booked and that was the one we were after.

cheers

Tony

I'd still go with Qunci Villas - even if the pool villas are booked the hotel rooms are very nice - there are two separate properties about 300m apart and they are pretty much the same, one is Qunci Villas and the other Qunci Pool Villas (which also has hotel rooms). Both are very nice and have a nice pool that overlooks the water. Rooms are very zen. Snorkelling is ok off the beach - the coral has been badly damaged over the years by bombing for fish and storms. But there is still some sea life and patches of live coral.

thanks for that, have booked qunci. It sounds pretty full, had to have a garden room. How busy is it in Lombok at this time of year? We were thinking of not booking the rest of our lombok leg, we are thinking up to a week on the gilis. I've always found better places by looking on arrival. However, if all the good places will be full we might reconsider and try book something now. Is the recession hitting tourism?

Tony

For me I am happy to hear that the hotel is busy, as it means more business for the local people in the area, some of whom are my relatives.
June is part of the 'peak season', and in times gone by, you would be hard pressed to turn up and get a room in your hotel of choice. In recent years it has been much quieter, so maybe things are picking up? The whole world is affected by the recession, but there are still people with money and Lombok does offer a value holiday - also in the region, Thailand and Fiji have had various political problems, so perhaps people are looking for an alternative?
Add to that some extremely cheap airfares from Australia to Bali at the moment (I just booked a return ticket for AUD 315, that's about EURO 175. And that's less than a third of what I paid last year for the same flight.
If you are planning on going to the Gili's I would recommend you book ahead, particularly if you are looking at the med-higher end properties. If it is busy in Senggigi it will be busier there. If you don't mind staying in budget accommodation (no air cond, salt water showers, no pool) then you may be able to turn up and get something.

Hope you have a lovely time. My trip is booked for September and I'm counting down the days