In Reply to: First time to Bali with a grumpy partner posted by Maya on Tuesday, 22. March 2005 at 18:16 Bali Time:
My husband is NOT a good traveller, and we often have Griswald like incidents during our holidays. I had previously taken the 2 kids to Bali by myself in 1997 and had a fantastic time, but all of us went in 2001. I was really worried Mr Grumpy would hate it and be a pain, but he loved it! We're going again 23 June with 2 other couples and can't wait.
In 2001 we stayed at the Alam Kul Kul when we first arrived, moved around Bali a bit, then to the Hard Rock at the end of our trip. Mr Grumpy had a ball at Waterbom Park, enjoyed the Bali Hai cruise and the fish dinner we had at Jimbaran Bay. We stayed at the Tjampuhan in Ubud and it became his favourite place in Bali, in fact he'd be happy if that's the only place we went to in future. We went rafting in 1997 and it was fun with great scenery, but didn't get around to it with the husband(maybe next time), so your partner might enjoy this. We also stayed in Lovina and did a snorkelling trip to Menjangan which he still tells people about. We don't have time to stay in Lovina this trip, but I'll look into whether a one day snorkelling trip to Menjangan is viable - it's a very long drive, but plenty of scenery along the way.
Mr Grumpy was surprised by the quaintness of the Balinese restaurants (and the low prices!) and of the beautiful gardens in the hotels (no matter how many stars). He wasn't quite so wrapt in the temples and art galleries I made him visit, so unless your partner is into culture, maybe limit these to one of each (if my husband had to choose only one temple, he liked the one at Tampaksiring nr Ubud best). There were hardly any hawkers in the Kuta area 2001 compared to our first trip in 1997, so that was a relief, as I didn't think he'd cope too well with the hassling. Hope there's not too many this time either, as we are taking some first timers with us.
He also became a bit obsessed with shopping around to get the best exchange rate which the rest of us felt a bit of a waste of valuable shopping time. This time we'll use cards/ATMs so he'll just get what the machine gives him!
Hope this gives you an idea of how a how a grumpy partner can turn into a happy partner on a Bali holiday and even become a Bali convert. Maybe present to your partner all the ideas people have come up with and see what the preferences are. Have a great holiday!