Posted by Sissel on Tuesday, 9. February 1999 at 19:25 Bali Time:
I'd like to share my experiences after learning a lot from this Forum.
We were in Bali Jan 19th - Feb 6th. Stayed in Sanur most of the time, 2 days in Lombok, 2 days in Gili Air. It was raining almost every day, most days only during the evening, but we had a couple of days when it was pouring down all day. Still very warm.
First period we stayed at Ardana homestay, nice place, close to the beach. We had hot water, TV and refrigerator, price 100.000 Rp for 2 people. When we returned, we stayed at Gazebo hotel on the beach, US$ 54 for 2 people. Worth it!
We went diving on the shipwreck in Tulamben. It was a 2 1/2 hour drive. Feed the fish bananas, they were all over us. Good fun. We paid US$ 70 including gear rental, transportation and lunch.
Rented a car (85.000) and drove to Mount Batur, it was smoking. Tried to drive around, but were told we could not get all the way around. Nice experience to drive where there are not so many tourists, all the kids where shouting hello when we passed.
Stopped in Ubud on the way back. A lot to buy here, problem is to choose.
We took express boat to Lombok, from Benoa to Lembar, US$ 20 one way. It took 2 1/2 hours. From Lembar we shared a taxi/bus to Bangsal to take a boat to Gili Air. Problem was, the driver dropped us of before Bangsal and we had to charter a boat and pay per person, we paid 90.000 Rp for 8 people. Found out later that we should pay 20.000 for one boat. In Gili Air we rented a cottage, really cheap, only 25.000 per cottage, except that when we left, it was suddenly 40.000! Not worth a penny more, the sheets on the bed smelled bad and it was only salt water in the shower. It was not many people on the island at this time, so very quiet. We went diving both days, good dives, saw a big turtle, frog fish etc. Water was 28 C. Also good snorkelling from the beach. It was raining, so not so good for laying on the beach. And not much else to do.
In Lombok we stayed in Sengigi at a nice hotel, can't remember name, only 150.000 for 2. I think there were more hawkers than tourists here, so it was a bit frustrating. We rented a car with driver and went for a nice drive, in a monkey forest, to a waterfall, to see rice fields and along the shore.
My boyfriend took a shuttlebus from Lombok to Komodo, it took 28 hours and costed 95.000. When returning, he had to go to Flores, because there were no boat to Sumbawa because of bad weather. Flores - Bali took 38 hours. (around 500 km) So it took almost one week to spend 2 days on Komodo and Rinca, but he said it was worth it. Personally, I'm glad I went back to Bali and spend some time on the beach.
Advice about money changers:
If you want to be safe, don't change in the combined textile and money changers.
Best to change were there's only 1 person dealing with the money
Avoid young men.
Don't sign your traveller check before you have all your money.
Ask how much you'll get before agreeing to change.
Overall it was a nice holiday, except too much rain. The food and beer was very cheap. Clothes are cheap after some barganing. I bought my souvenires in the supermarket, fix prices, cheap.