Posted by Lynne on Friday, 12. February 1999 at 03:14 Bali Time:
In Reply to: Drivers, Massage & Money????? posted by Harold on Thursday, 11. February 1999 at 21:41 Bali Time:
We used a guy named Nyoman Sutapa in the middle of January this year.
We paid 200000 rupiah per day, which included his guiding service
when we needed it, fuel, tips, etc. You could probably get him cheaper if there were only two of you and you used a car instead of
a van as we did. His phone number is 773637. We also met a guy named
Widi (phone 731581) who spoke excellent English, but he was very busy
so we didn't get to use him. Try calling Widi between 8:30 pm and
8:00 am.
Woodcarvings vary in price. We bought masks carved of crocodile
wood for as little as 300000 rupiah. Then we paid $75 US for a
beautiful carving of a man with his fighting cocks in a cage. We
probably could have bargained for less, but the sticker price was
$210USD, so we figured we did okay, and the carving is beautiful.
There is a huge range of quality in carvings, so I suggest you
visit a woodcarving shop to see what the quality is and how to
determine it. Be sure to bargain hard in these places, because they
are very overpriced (3-4 times). As to paintings, we found the
galleries to be expensive, so we didn't dare ask the prices after
that. I wish I had, because the paintings are exquisite. Enjoy
your trip, you will love Bali.