Just got back from 10 days in paradise (April 9 - 20)
Thanks to all of the information on the forum. I went with a notebook full of "tips". Okay, 1st impressions:
I was shocked when we got off of the plane and saw how dirty everything was. I was hoping things would get better until we got to our hotel in Legian (Hotel Jayakarta). Beautiful grounds, great staff, shitty room. We were trying to go with the flow, but the toilet smelled like a sewer. We finally had to request another room, which they gave us, and it was much better. Had a sinking feeling that night. Got up Saturday and hopped to Kuta. Shopped, looked around, talked to the hawkers :-). Just like everyone says, if you ignore them or say no thanks, they'll mostly leave you alone. There are the few aggressive ones - they can be pains in the ass - but being from New York, we just gave them the New York stare and they left us alone :-). One funny thing, we thought if we tried to blend in the hawkers wouldn't bother us as much, but my girlfriend has dreadlocks so the Balinese (and Austrialians) were pointing, coming up to us, etc. All of the Balinese men were calling my girlfriend Bob Marley! Anyway, had a massage and went to sleep early to prepare for our 6 days around the island.
Our driver picked us up that next morning to take us around and drop us off in Candi Dasa. We went to Denpasar and saw the Barong Dance, went to Celuk and bought jewelry, went to Mas (didn't buy anything b/c they were trying to pressure us, always a bad sign). Any hesitation we had about this trip was totally relieved once we got out of Legian. Why anyone would go and stay in Tuban, Kuta, Legian for the entire holiday is beyond me. If we hadn't of done our own research and traveled around the island, we'd probably be saying the same thing that Ronald guy said about Bali.
Anyway, went to the old village near Candi Dasa and bought fabric and played with the Monkeys. We really made the time and effort to talk to the Balinese people. Didn't regret it at all. They're so nice! Stayed at the Watergarden ($70/night). Beautiful hotel! I highly recommend it.
Got up the next day and drove throught the mountains, went to Mt. Agung, stopped by our driver's village to see his family,, went to the Bat Cave (Yuck - this was the worse experience, not just b/c of the bats, but the hawkers - little rude kids. By the time I got back to the car, my heart was beating fast and I was shaking!!!)
Drove up the coast to Lovina, where we stayed for 4 days. This was the best place. We went dolphin watching (saw alot of dolphins - yeah!), snorkeling, went to Kintimani, Lake Batur, and the town of Bedugal. We went to the great fruit and vegetable market there and we found the prices to be the best. Bought spices, cigars, windchimes, necklaces, sarongs, etc to give as gifts to our friends back home. Oh yeah, we also went to Git Git Waterfall, which was great. The day we left we took a bemo and got on an ojek (motorcycle) that took us up the mountain to the hot springs.
We were then heading back to Legian for our last 3 days to hang out and meet my uncle who was coming from the naval island, Diego Garcia. We were staying at the same hotel and he was in the room next to ours. Traveling around the island did so much for our impressions of Bali, that by the time we came back down to Legian, we were totally unfazed by the hawkers, tourists or trash! Here is where we did our serious shopping. I bought plenty of shoes - about $10-16 US dollars. Bought a leather coat from Tiamo – 461 Jl pura bagus taruna 0361-761-231 - fast, friendly and inexpensive ($68US).
Of course, we did get ripped off b/c we weren't sure the tru value of items, we tried to keep in mind, it's relatively nothing to us - I paid $20 for 2 windchimes that I should've paid $5 for. Again, nothing big, but after a while I was getting pissed off b/c the little things add up. Finally just stayed in the stores where there were set prices, or learned to bargain w/out feeling guilty :-)
Restaurants
Aromas Cafe - great
Kafe Warisan - French - great! Expensive by Balinese standards, but a full-course meal was $20 per person. Cheap compared to my $50/per person NY dinners!
Ceria Cafe/Jimbaran - despite great things on the forum, the food here was not good. The service was great, the owner was nice, but I was seriously disappointed. We had gone to another place in Jimbaran the day before that was much better (sorry, I forgot the name)
The Indonesian food was great as well. Ate in little small warungs that had the best food. Went to a place on JL Seminyak past GOA 2000 across the street from the Thai restaurant that was phenomenal. Dinner for 8 64,000rupiah.
All in all, a great, great holiday!!!! We are definitely going back next year for a month to explore Bali, Lombok and the Gilis. I had such a great time, I've never, never been to a place like it. Once you go and keep an open mind and for god's sake get out of the touristy areas once in a while, you will be hooked!
E-mail me if you'd like more information. saneli888@aol.com
Cheers