Kimkim Trip Reviews for Indonesia

Our guide Tony and driver Daniel were fabulous. They took care of everything we needed and wanted. For example we had never had the opportunity to taste durian. Daniel knew a particular fruit stand that sold the best. He drove us through heavy traffic to find it. Tony made sure the fruit vendor sold us a tree ripened fruit. It was a very interesting taste. They recommended restaurants for us to try and took us there to compare menus. One evening we went to see the classical dance. It was pouring rain. Daniel sat in our hotel lobby while we changed and drove us there so we would not have to order a taxi.

The activities were well suited to our interests. We enjoyed the archeological sites, markets, palaces and batik. The birdwatching and cycling through the small village were highlights. Whenever we wanted to stop and take photographs Daniel accommodated us.

The trip was AMAZING! So great to see and explore so much of east Java in such a short amount of time; Plateau Ijen, Mt. Bromo, Yojakarta, Borobudur and more :) The landscape is breathtaking (especially the sunrise over Mt Bromo) and I found myself time and time again in awe of the lush green surroundings.

A few things to call out - 1) underestimated the amount of time you spend traveling from one spot to another due to bad traffic, a lot of time spent in a car, and 2) the travel agency was a primarily french agency, so challenges finding an english speaking guide for our group - should have more explicitly called that out from the start.

Ayu was so helpful and professional in booking our trip to Bali. With all the information available online, it is overwhelming to know where to go or what to do. She gave us invaluable information on which beach city was the least touristy and helped us come up with an itinerary that minimized travel time. Our Guide Leni and Driver Mady were so warm, personable and helpful throughout our trip. It was an amazing experience.

Our trip was amazing! From start to finish we were taken care of. Sharif and his crew were very friendly and their hospitality was great. Sharif was very knowledgable about the area, spotting Mantas, Dolphins and baby sharks! We had some enforced changes to our itinerary, as we were unable to see Padar island which was a disappointment, but we always had interesting places to go, snorkel and view the wildlife. The crew cooked us a banquet for every meal, so we never went hungry! The facilities were basic, but we had everything we needed.

The highlights of the trip were definitely the animals we saw. The Komodo dragons on Komodo island, swimming with Manta Rays at manta point and watching the flying foxes exodus in their millions against the backdrop of the sun setting were really special.

The 3 days on the boat were an amazing experience and we would both highly recommend it to anyone.

We had a wonderful visit to the Botanical Gardens on Bali with Susan the bird guide who accompanied us was impressive with her knowledge of the bird song enabling us to have some really wonderful views of the birds.
The arrangements worked very well, we were collected promptly from our hotel by the taxi, had a lovely lunch in a local restuarant and enjoyed our visit to the local fruit amd vegetable market.
Overall it was a very enjoyable day.

Keith Gooday

Was an excellent trip, the guides on the ground were great, the communication in advance was very good. There were a few issues but aren't there always.

We have Yudi for a day I Yogyakarta , then Ovan for the rest of Java with Obbie driving and lastly Merta in Bali. Jessica was the initial contact and office based organizer.

The local guides had a deeper understanding of the best order to do things, when something should be busy or quieter - so whilst the things in a day were the same, the sequence in the day was shuffled by the local guides.

Highlights were the Ijen trek, the Kalibaru plantations and Jatiluwih rice terraces

I only had a few days to plan my trip. Despite my time constraints and our travel plans being in high season, our trip went very smoothly. They ensured there was ample time to travel between places. There were a few pleasant surprises put in for us. We had our honeymoon planned with Wise Steps Travel and all of our accomodations are arranged with cute and small romantic touches.

We had honeymoon pictures taken in Bali, the photographers recommended to us were professional and very friendly people.

As Leni said before we left. We left our hearts here in Bali.

Had a terrific experience with Ayu and also with Leni our tour guide and driver. I have some feedback which is given with the intent to help you in the future with travellers visiting Bali and how to better serve them!!
(1) Travel Truama is a real thing in Bali - it takes a very long time - on average 60 - 120 minutes to get from one temple or sight to Ubud or to another temple or sight.
(2) On Day One - we saw two temples: Tirta Empul and Gunung Kawi and were meant to go to Tegalalang and Fire Dance and dinner. We probably spent 4 hours in the car getting to and from these locations. We had to drop the Fire Dance and were never going to get to Tagalalang as it was late and we were road weary
(3) On the second day we drove 2 hours to get out of Ubud and to Kintamani volcano,
temple Ulun Danu Batur, Les Village (for snorkeling). Again - on that day we spent at least 5 hours in the car to get to and from these places which limited our time when we actually got to them.
(4) Day three: Batu Karu Temple and Jatiluwih and we also got to the Tegalalang. We easily spent another 5 hours in the car. We spent more time in the car these three days combined than at the locations we were driving too.
(5) We ended up not doing the Nyambu Village - as once we got to Bali Eco Stay - we realized that the next day would have taken us 5-6 hours in the car. Not what we wanted.

Thank you Kimkim and Shanti for creating the best honeymoon experience for us! It was an unforgettable experience and we have fallen in love with Bali and all its culture. Wayan was an excellent driver and we will always be grateful for him. He took us to many of his favorite local warungs and even ordered our food for us and made sure we were ok (when there was a language barrier with the staff). Our trip would not be the same without him!

Matthieu was also wonderful. During our meeting, he made sure we were comfortable with our program and reassured us that he would be there at any time if we had any issues down the road. I am highly allergic to mold, and our initial room at Abian Ayu was covered in it. My husband and I are very low maintenance when it comes to room arrangements, but there was no way I would've been able to be comfortable in that room. Alvin contacted Matthieu, and within a matter of minutes, the hotel staff apologized and made other arrangements for us.

The service at The Alena was absolutely incredible. We felt so welcome everywhere we went, and the staff even remembered our names.

Places we visited that stood out the most: our entire stay at Gili, Uluwatu Temple (used on our free day), and Tirta Gangga.

All in all a fantastic, memorable experience. Thank you for everything!