In Reply to: 5 'Must Do's' in Bali posted by Jimbo on Thursday, 20. April 2006 at 21:30 Bali Time:
1) Visit Neka Art Museum in Ubud. Even if you are not a 'gallery' person you will find it interesting to see how the history of Bali is portrayed through the decades, right up to some great contemporary art. (After going here I started looking for more individual and unusual art to buy instead of all the mass-produced stuff). Also, once you have covered all the surfaces in your home with stuff from Bali there is really only the walls left to adorn!
2) Get up really early one morning and visit the locals' morning market. Fascinating, and you can have a laugh as they charge you twice (or more) what they charge their neighbours.
3) Do a cooking class. You don't need to go with the intention of ever cooking an indonesian meal at home - it is just fascinating to learn about what it is that creates all those fantastic flavours in the food, and what the locals prepare for feasts. (I find the tourist fare quite bland after learning what the food can really taste like).
4) Stock up at Makro with a hundred or so dollars worth of goods at ridiculous prices and take to an orphanage, school in the poorer areas, or maybe your driver's village. Some ideas: Toothrushes and toothpastes (better than lollies for kids), scented soap, shampoos sachets, pencils, exercise books, felt pens, crayons, pencil cases, white school socks, undies, kiddy vitamins, little toys. You don't need to do a lot - just be a drop in the bucket, because buckets fill drop-by-drop.
5) Plan ahead! Every trip I kick myself for not doing some door-knocking on the previous trip and checking out some of the other hotels available in areas I like before I return home. Then as I book for the next trip I end up relying on website photos (often misleading) and other people's words. Set aside some time for taking a nosey at other hotels.