In Reply to: PLEASE HELP A LOST SOUL :) posted by SurferDan on Friday, 6. January 2006 at 06:33 Bali Time:
One time I was sitting in the Pantai Restaurant in Tuban and got talking to a young German guy who had all his luggage with him in a backpack and was looking a bit lost and not too happy. He had arrived at the airport late the previous night, knew nothing and no-one and accepted the offer of a taxi driver to get him accomodation. He had spent his first night in an unpleasant, uncomfortable room with not much sleep with the traffic going by just past his window. And he had been seriously overcharged.
I agree with the poster who recommended you check out Baliblog for accomodation in Poppies 1 and Poppies 2. If you are arriving during the day and have plenty of time to look around, then not a problem, you'll find something OK. But if you are arriving late, then it's a good idea to know where you will be for at least your first night. If you're just carrying a backpack, then that's not a problem either, but if you also have a board and maybe snorkeling gear too [a great idea BTW], then that can make things a little more difficult.
Moving around Bali and negotiating your own accom is cheap and easy once you get the feel for it and also lots of fun. You can get a vehicle and driver for the whole day for peanuts by our standards, or hire a motorbike. Best to have an international motorbike license, but the hire place won't care if you have one or not. And keep a 20,000 Rupia note handy if you don't have the correct license and/or you are nor wearing a helmet and you are stopped by a traffic cop. Some call this corruption, I call it a very favourable alternative to getting a ticket and having to go to court.
And whatever you do, get travel insurance. Good medical attention is available in Bali, but doesn't come cheap.