In Reply to: exactly-follow the black sheep posted by cintamu on Tuesday, 15. March 2011 at 21:02 Bali Time:
I decide on where i stay, what places interest me most to visit, what i want to do, and how to get there.
The places i visited i didn't visit because a book made the decisions for me. They were things i was most interested in doing or seeing and LP gave me more options, and very good options, than i would otherwise have had. (Few home computers at the time we went to Java, and even now some of the places we went to i've never read about online)
Hordes of tourists? - rarely. The hordes were at travel agent suggested places.
Eg a couple of the places we visited in Java:
LP gave examples of where to go to see shadow puppets and it was all local people watching the two different performances we saw plus just two tourists - my daughter and i. Because we stood out so much the puppeteers noticed us and at one stage during a serious performance made the puppets comically imitate me sitting there smoking.
LP gave great info about the sultan's palace and the adventure was that on the day we went it was the sultan's birthday (unmentioned in that year's LP) and again there were were no hordes of tourists, we two were the only non Indonesian people amongst thousands and we were invited to join in on cultural ceremonies.
No travel agent brochure at the time mentioned Taman Sari, but LP did. Again on the day we visited we were the only western people there.
Same again when i went to Mount Merapi National Park by motorbike
My daughter the only tourist at a place suggested by LP to learn batik painting. And so on.
Hordes of tourists at Mt Bromo, Borobodur, and the Ramayana performance at Prambanan temple but that is only to be expected. However LP gave lots of options on how to visit these places, and visit them cheaply.