Climate, there are 2 seasons, dry season and rainy season. The dry season is from May to September, the rest from October to April is rainy season, with January being the wettest. Average rain is from 58 mm to 270 mm. Average temperature is from 26 to 31 degrees Celsius. This may drop to 20 degrees or lower in the highlands. Average humidity is about 75 percent or more. 

Language of the people is Balinese, but to tourists they will speak Indonesian or English. Currently tourist guides also speak Japanese, Mandarin, French, German, Dutch, Spanish etc. 

Business Hours, government offices: Monday - Thursday 08.00-15.00, Friday 08.00-12.00 and Saturday 08.00-14.00, commercial offices Monday - Friday: 09.00-17.00, some working on Saturday until noon,  local banks: Monday - Thursday 08.00-15.00, Friday 08.00-12.00, Saturday 08.00-11.30, foreign banks: Monday - Friday 08.30-15.00, shops: 08.30-20.00 or 21.00 generally, shops open earlier in market areas. 

Currency, the rupiah is divided into Rp 25, 50, 100, 500, 1,000, 5,000, 10,000, 50,000 and 100,000. Click for today's currency conversion. 

Electricity for all of Bali is 220 volts, 50 cycles. 

Communication; Telephone country ( Indonesia ) and area ( Denpasar and south Bali ) code is 62-361 when you call Bali from abroad. Some villages in Bali still don't have telephone facilities. In order to make an international phone call from out side of larger hotels you should see a kantor telkom (telecommunication office) or wartel (telecommunication stall) and warpostel (postal and telecommunication service) in a larger village or town. Some of those offices provide fax and internet services. To make a local call, beside the above offices there are coin and prepaid card phone booths. For postal service, visit a kantor pos (post office) or warpostel already mentioned. Mobile Phone Network is GSM. Internet Service; you can find internet services in towns and tourist resorts. Cost varies from place to place. It range from Rp 4,500 to Rp 15,000 for 15 minutes. Services include email and browsing the internet. Some will allow you to bring your own laptop computer to be connected to their network in other to make you easier to upload and download to and from internet and your hard disk or diskette. The cheapest of them are the kantor telkom in Denpasar and Roda internet in Ubud. 

Clothing, light clothing is advisable because the hot climate. But if you visit government office, more formal clothing is needed. Usually a pair of non jeans trousers and a shirt for both man and woman and dress for women is sufficient. You may also look at local people more formal daily dressing to get the idea. When visiting a Hindu Dharma temple or Pura on celebration days, traditional Balinese costume is usually required, or at least wear more formal everyday cloth with a sash around the waist. The later is sufficient outside the religious ceremony occasions. 

Health And Medical;  there is no need to avoid iced drinks, as all ice vendors monitored by the authority. However don't drink directly from tap water or unboiled water. Drink bottled water or boiled water. Generally the food is healthy, maybe you want to choose cleaner restaurants and food stalls. In every larger town of Bali such as Denpasar, Singaraja, Bangli, Semarapura, Gianyar, Tabanan, Amlapura and Negara there is a general hospital run by government and also some clinics or privately owned hospitals. Most major hospitals are open for the public 24 hours a day. Most villages own  a clinic called puskesmas. If you get sick you can visit one of them. Click for medical contact in Denpasar area. 

Time; Indonesia is divided into 3 time zones: Waktu Indonesia Barat or WIB ( Western Indonesia Time), Waktu Indonesia Tengah or WITA ( Central Indonesia Time) and Waktu Indonesia Timur or WIT ( Eastern Indonesia Time). Bali is WITA, 8 hours ahead of Greenwich Mean Time or GMT same as Singapore, meanwhile WIB minus 1 hour and WIT plus 1 hour.  

Tipping is not a must in Bali, often just by saying terima kasih or thank you will suffice. To a porter however Rp 2,000 to Rp 5,000 is an appropriate tip. 

Transportation; Transportation in Bali is particularly simple and inexpensive. We can explore the island by various modes of transportation, such as buses, mini buses, bemos (even smaller mini buses), dokars (small carts each pulled by one horse), taxis, motorbikes or for a sense of trekking, bicycles. Bali does not have train. 

Bemos; Miniature vans with set routes. Usually for shorter distances inside towns and cities, we can get in and out at any point, it is quite slow, but inexpensive. Cheaper still if we can ask or see how much other passengers pay for the route, however it is usually Rp 500 to Rp 1,500. 

Mini Buses; For transportation between towns there is relatively bigger mini buses compared to bemos. These mini buses connect all towns and most places of the island and can be stopped at any point of the routes. But they will be difficult to find at night, so secure your travel at day time or just after dark if to use them. Fares are between Rp 1,500 to Rp 10,000. Big buses are rarely used today for traveling inside the island as in the older times. But currently they are used as daily inter island mode of transportation, especially between Bali and Java. 

Taxis; Unmetered and metered taxis are available. The first mentioned are available at Ngurah Rai airport, the later we can find anywhere in the city of Denpasar. They are fair and inexpensive. 

Rental Cars, Motorbikes And  Bicycles; Hiring a car or mini bus with a driver is possibly one of the best ways to explore Bali. The average rate is from Rp 120,000 to Rp 200,000 a day. There is a choice, with or without guide. If you want to hire a self-drive car or motorbike, an international driving license is required and this  cannot be obtained in Bali. But it is possible to apply for a temporary permit of motorbike at Denpasar police station. It is compulsory to wear a safety helmet when riding a motorbike in Bali. Motorbike rental price is about Rp 35,000 a day. Bicycle rental is approximately Rp 15,000.  
 
Touring The Island; Bali is a relatively compact island, but to explore many parts of the island is almost always need longer time than originally expected. Bali has many genuine attractions that range from seas to beaches, hills to mountains, streams to waterfalls, coconut palms to rice fields, traditional dances to music, exquisite wood to stone carvings, paintings to architectures, colorful temple to cremation ceremonies, charming people to family life and more. If you come to Bali for the first time, try to cover most places of the island. Then for next visits, focus to explore specific interests, then you will find deeper and more varied new attractions and experiences.