In Reply to: Lots of Advice Needed Fast! posted by Michael on Monday, 12. April 1999 at 11:02 Bali Time:
Ok - I'm also from the US - NYC to be exact. Just returned from a 2 week trip yesterday and plan on posting my jaded-nyview-justbackreport very soon!
But to answer some of your questions --
1. Drivers - if you are travelling around a bit - you probably won't be able to use the same driver. There are great distances involved in travel in Bali - some drives almost 4 hours! Depending upon where a driver lives - they most likely won't want to drive you around in all of the places you will visit. Make sure the driver speaks English and doesn't have their own agenda. Many drivers try to take you to restaurants and stores of their choice as they receive a commission from these places. Sadly, these are usually not the best places to go.
2. In Ubud - we wished we had stayed at the Tjumphuan Hotel. Looked great. Rooms about $75 US... will probably work for you.
5. Drinks are expensive relative to other things in Bali. Liquor has to be imported so the prices for a Marguarita will run you about $3 - 4 US. Brem and Beer (local) are MUCH cheaper!
6. In Amed - heard the Hidden Paradise hotel is nice.
7. Stayed at the Watergarden in Candidasa. Beautiful property... Candidasa itself is UGLY! No beach to speak of. If you do decide to stay there - take a trip to Nusa Lembongan -- specifically Mushroom Bay. We took a car to Kosumbo and took a small boat across the bay. About 1 hour each way but it was great! The boat seated 3 people and looked like a fish...! Just us 2 and the driver. When we got to Nusa Lembongan we parked ourselves at the hotel on the end of the beach. Had a great lunch there, some drinks and used their pool and beach all day! The place goes for $150 per nite but they were perfectly happy letting us use their amenities if we just spent some money there!
8. It's SO easy to go to Ubud your first nite. We arrived at about 9pm and went straight to Ubud - no problem. About a 40 minute drive. Getting out of the airport took about 15 minutes including getting our bags. Best to have the hotel pick you up. They will stand there with your name on a sign. Will cost you about $10 US. It's expensive for that cab ride but worth it. The hawkers and cabbies absolutely ATTACK at the airport. We were very happy to have someone standing there to greet us and wisk us off to a car!
My boyfriend and I are also very realistic. Yes -- Bali is beautiful, cheap and has wonderful smiling people. But you have to realize that they are very poor and you will encounter many, many people trying to rip you off. It took us about 3 days out of our 2 week trip to stop getting sensely ripped off! I mean, nothing really bad! Many times we paid US prices for things and then realized a few days later how stupid we were! And this was with me reading this forum for 2 months before we left!!!!! You'll see.......
Beware of drivers bringing to their friends who are jewelers / painters/ etc. Also beware of overly agressive sales people. These are the places that you will get ripped off! If a driver takes you to a place of their choice - they will receive a commission on anything you buy and these places usually don't give the best deals. Paid $10 for sterling earrings at some backroads place that I later saw in a store in Ubud for a fixed price of $3.00!!!!!
yes - the fixed price stores in Ubud are the best for jewelery. There is one store called Hari Uni Silver. Great stuff for really cheap prices! I bought quite alot there..!
We also chose not to stay in Nusa Dua but decided at the end of our trip that we needed some real BEACH! We found this in Sanur but realized later that Jimbaran might have been better. If you do go to a beach area - check out the seafood places on the beach in Jimbaran. Really fun!!!!! Rows and rows of restaurants and you eat on the sand - on the beach... go around sunset - the views are great!
If you want other advice - feel free to send me an e-mail! cp