It seems the thing to do so I thought I would add my bali experience to the forum and hope someone gets something out of it.
First off there were 5 of us travelling together (2 couples, 1 single male). My husband and myself went for our first time last year - the others hadn't been before.
We travelled Garuda and found the service to be great (except the strike on the way home that left us without catering - we were given cold McDonalds hamburgers!!)
Our trip was only 7 days and was far too short - next year we will be sure to stay at least 10-14 days.
We stayed at the bounty which was great because of its central location. We are all in our mid to late 20's so the age group suited even though we aren't party animals. We had been warned that the hotel was noisey but we didn't find this a problem. The front pool was open 24 hours and was great for that late night dip after coming home from a late dinner etc. (In fact I think more people were swimming at 2am than 2pm!) The owners of the bounty also have connections with many other resturants and offer discounts all over Kuta. We ate at the Bali Rock Cafe - (very Aussie). This is great when your feeling a bit homesick for something that tastes a little more like home - they import aussie pies and beef from perth, so the burgers taste just like home and you can even make your own on the barbie!
We filled our time in by hiring a driver for the day. We paid 200,000rp. for all five of us (approx. A$10 ea.) He picked us up at the hotel at 8.30am and dropped us back at 5.30pm Our day consisted of stopping heaps of times for photos or stopping for bargains we had to get a closer look at. We went to Ubud and spent time at the markets and Monkey Forest. Lunch was planned for Mt. Kintamani but we decided against the buffet meal and just did the sightseeing and photos. We also visited the temple up here and ejoyed it all the more because temple celebrations were taking place with prayers and offerings (It was a full moon which is of religious significance to the hindu's). The hawkers around here were pretty full on but we had some fun with them and all was fine. On the way home we stopped at rice paddies and more shops and we also asked to see a cock - fight which our driver took us to. Although not everone's idea of fun I found it very interesting from a cultural perspective and didn't even feel intimidated by being the only westerners there and the only women standing ring side. The day was great and we ended up giving our driver another 30,000rp as a tip at the end of the day. He spoke English well and chatted with us about bali non-stop.
We spent a day doing watersports at Nusa Dua. We hailed a taxi from our hotel (as others have found the blue taxis are best with their meters always working) and this only cost us about 15,000rp to get there and the driver took us straight to the water sports area (probably a friend of his but thats OK). It cost 120,000rp for 15min on the jetski and 70,000rp to parasail. We had heaps of fun here and stayed for beach massages and hair braiding also.
I had never been white-water rafting before and swore I would never do it but was finally perswaded and cant wait to go back. We hired the same guide to take us rafting that we did our day trip through (Kristian Ph.0812.3803152 or 0812.3902590) The drive took about 1 - 1.5hrs from Kuta and then by the time I had reached the bottom of the 300 or so slippery stairs without railings my legs were shaking so much I could hardly stand, I was just about to abort the whole thing and head back to the bus when the guide told us he had grown up along the river and had been rafting for over 9 years. My fears under control again I decided to stay (thank God) I'm not sure if all the rafting tours are the same but this one was fantastic. All the safety equipment was provided (helmet, lifejacket and side ropes) There was a water proof bag for our belongings and the trip along the river was fantastic. We went over some small and not so small rapids and saw waterfalls, tunnels, batcaves and hot springs. We had plenty of time and swam in the river also and the guides were great fun. At the end we battled more stairs before a shower (towels provided) and a buffet lunch. And all this for only US$28 per person ($45 Aussie). We were then driven back to the hotel.
I had decided I wanted to see a cremation ceremony and booked on a tour (no one else wanted to come - so they headed off to Waterbom Park which they all enjoyed also) Unfortunately the bus I was to go on broke down and we were an hour late. By the time we reached the village the cremation was all but over. We insisted the driver take us back to the tour office where we demanded our money back. This took a little bit of convincing but we finally succeeded. It would have cost 50,000rp. I was a little disappointed but I figure it leaves something for me to see next time!
FOOD
we ate at: Jimbaran Bay - Pudak Cafe - the taxi driver from the bounty recommended it and it seemed the busiest which is always a good sign, especially when it comes to seafood. The sunset was lovely and the atmophere but the seafood a little overated. We had prawns, squid(very chewy) and lobster. The lobster was probably the best out of all the seafood and cost 170,000rp per kg.
Hard Rock Cafe - Great food - best chocolate milkshakes in Bali, very friendly service and also very expensive (as expected)
Bali Rock Cafe - as mentioned earlier, great food, good prices, friendly service. Good for a fix of home.
TJ's Mexican Resturant - great atmosphere, good food, good prices.
Rama Bridge (just near Kuta Squ.) - don't bother if you want western food, it may be OK for local dishes but we found the food average and the portions small.
SHOPPING
Wow, did we shop!!!
Watches 35,000rp for Baby G, Gucci and Tag (after much hard work!) These were cheaper and easier to buy in Ubud which is opposite to when we were there last year!
mobiles 15,000 - 25,000 depending on size
Bali shirts with floral prints 20,000 - 25,000
Female singlet tops 10,000
Shorts 25,000
short skirts 15,000
Tshirts (coloured Billabong etc) 20,000
Playstation games (wow did we buy these!!!) 10,000
CD's 60,000 - 85,000 for latest releases
CD Roms 40,000 per disk
Leather Jacket (female) A$130 - I bought this at Dolphin Leather in Sahadewa St just off Melatsi St and was extremely pleased. I didn't have a picture but just went in told them what I wanted, was measured up and had the jacket in 2 days. (brown Sugar quoted A$160 for the same thing - I sure they do a good job too but I must say I am thrilled with mine.)
shopping notes - this year in comparision to last year we had to work a lot harder the haggle and found some sellers just couldn't be bothered. You need to just walk out and go somewhere else (I think it all depends on the sort of day they are having!)
Well I didn't intend to waffle on like this but as you can see we had a great trip (even if it wasn't long enough) and I hope this is of some help to someone :) And now all I am left with is 9 rolls of photos and lots of plans for next year!