This will be a bare bones JBR. Sorry, we don't really do much shopping or bar hopping. We are mostly interested in the culture and scenery of this great island. We do schedule happy hour every evening so we are not dead.
Ubud- Tegal Sari. This place is all it's cracked up to be. We stayed in the duplex room and thoroughly enjoyed our stay. The staff was most friendly. We had breakfast every morning on our second floor deck overlooking the rice field. Early morning walks through the fields provided endless photo ops.
Driver- Wayan Sueta (www.hiddenbali.com). I can't say enough about Wayan. He has become more a friend than a driver/guide. We took walks through river valleys and rice fields that boggle the mind. You learn so much more about a place on foot. I highly recommend his services.
Amed- Stayed at the Bali Beach House (www.balibeachhouse.com). Again, an amazing place right on the water. Your own house with pool and cook, Nengah, who is fantastic. If you split the cost with another couple it is most affordable. Get up early and watch the fisherman come in and unload their largess. Hire a fisherman to take you snorkelling at Yellow Coral and the Japanese Wreck. The food was some of the best we have ever had in Bali. Nengah's imaginative presentation is unsurpassed. My wife actually cried when we had to leave.
Driver- East Bali. Wayan Marep.(Ph#08123625712 or 0363-41110 No Problem Transport). A very sweet man. Very courteous and a safe driver. English is quite good and he won't take you to places you don't want to go. He took us to a temple high up in the mountains that I had never heard of before and it turned out to be a highlight of our trip.
Sideman- OK, here is the tip of the trip. I hesitate to even mention this place for fear of it being booked next time but it's too good miss. Sideman is a very quiet and picturesque place that artists and writers go to work undistracted. The place to stay is called Villa Cepik and is run by a woman named Ida. The ph# is 081 2364 7384. This is our 4th trip to Bali and by far this is the most wonderful place we have ever stayed. There is only two villas, a private pool, beautiful gardens, incredible rice terrace views, a great bale where all your meals are delivered and best of all only US$35 for the large villa and US$25 for the smaller villa. The food was excellent, more like home cooking and Ida couldn't have been more welcoming. We took long walks through the fields and along the river valley. On our next trip we will be staying much longer. Highly recommended!
Pemuteran- Stayed at Taman Sari. We had a couple of little problems here but overall a very nice place to stay. On our first night I spotted a rat in the room and ingnored it at first. Went to sleep and woke up with the critter up on the bed. That's a no go. The manager upgraded us to a much nicer room with no rats and ended up being worth it. Then the last morning they decided to fog for mosquitos. We were not prepared for that kind of extermination and ended up huddled in our room with towels over our faces. Went snorkelling to Menjangen Island with Reef Seen Diving. Another big highlight. Without a doubt the best snorkelling we have ever done. A great boat trip there, nice lunch, and tons of fish and live coral.
Nusa Lembongan- Stayed a Villa Wayan. A very nice place with great food. Be sure to order one of their signiture kebobs cooked over coconut husks. Another highlight is the trip you can arrange with Made, the manager, to go in his speedboat to Crytal Bai and circumnavigate the island. Crytal Bai has some fabulous snorkelling and swimming. The place looks just like the dream you might have of paradise with crystal clear water and white sand beach and a fresh water spring you can soak in. Then around the other side of the island you can visit the mangrove forests with small fishereman villages. Mornings and evenings at Villa Wayan provide endless activity from local villagers gathering seaweed and the days catch from arriving fishermen. Lembongan is certainly worth 3-4 days.
Back to Ubud- Tegal Sari was fully booked so we went back to a place we have stayed before-Ketut's Place. Ketut runs a really nice homestay and serves a Bali Feast two nights a week that should not be missed. The food is great but the real fun is meeting other travellers at the large family style table. This was our 4th time and we have stayed in contact with several of the people we have met. Some real characters! The super deluxe rooms at Ketut's Place are the best rooms. Real working A/C, super clean, and very quiet yet still close to town. I won't go into all the great restaurants in Ubud- we had no bad meals, but I must tell you about our last meal before heading to the airport. We had heard from other travellers about a small restaurant called Cafe Roda and Guesthouse. It's on a small side street next to Jalan Sueta. Just ask for directions, it seems everyone has heard of the place. We had drinks, a relly great Nasi Camur, and dessert for less than RP50,000. And if you can get 5 people together they will do a Bali feast for RP30,000 per person with at least 10 different items. I wish we had found this place earlier.
Well that's about it. I will be posting photos from the trip for the next few weeks on my fotolog if anyone is interested.