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Bali
is full of colour and art! Until you
have been there, it is hard to imagine how such a small place could produce so many talented people!
You will find villages that are dedicated to wood carving, weaving silver
& gold smithing, mask making, furniture making.... It
is like driving along past one
continuous gorgeous shop  window, where you want to stop and buy virtually
everything you see! It
is only about 3 hours direct from K.L. so we have been a few times now -
me a couple more times recently. We
have come to the conclusion that it isn't really a 'beach lovers' island, it
probably used to be back in the
70's but now the likes of Nusa Dua, Kuta, Sanur, Candidasa have all
become far too populated with wall to wall
hotels to make it really feel like a "getting away
from it all" holiday.  Driving
around the roads is a nightmare as they are very narrow, and at night very
rarely lit. The
drivers here are very unforgiving of anyone who dithers for more
than a few seconds, so we opted to have a driver for a day, which is cheap and
much less hassle. The
countryside is stunning and a drive up to Lake Bratan is a must, we were lucky to arrive on a 'Ceremony' day and the
temple on the edge of the lake was awash with
colours
of flags, flowers, offerings, and the gorgeous sarongs the men and women
wear on special occasions.
Another
lovely aspect of Bali is that the Ceremonies are part of their every day life.
They are not put on for the benefit of the
tourists - dances and gamelan shows are, but even so
they are definitely worth seeing for the agility and poise of the dancers and
again the gorgeous colours.
Our two favourites are the Legong Dance and also the Kecak (or Fire) Dance.
The others, although lovely to look at are rather long winded and monotonous. If
you want to see the many carvings etc. being made first hand, you need to head
for Ubud, this is considered to be the 'Arts capital of Bali. Accommodation
here is much cheaper than at the coast - in fact it's ridiculously cheap!
There are a few very plush 5 star places over looking the rice valleys, but
these prices tend to be in US$, if you want just the basics i.e. hot water a
clean bed, fan and mosquito net and breakfast you can actually stay in some of
the small Bali style B&Bs for a couple of GB pounds!  Sadly,
the Bali paradise has got a few down sides - which can be coped with if you
are
prepared to try and stay 'relaxed.' The hassles at the beach resorts are
the
hawkers that hound you from sunrise to sunset trying to sell you anything
from
kites to watches to sarongs to belts.... They are extremely persistent, the
best way to
avoid them if you don't want to buy anything, is to pretend they are invisible -
it
seems to work! In Ubud it is the selling of "Transport," basically
men on the street trying to hire themselves as a driver to you,
usually at ridiculous prices to start with. We asked our Guesthouse to
organise somebody for us, and he was very good - word of mouth seems to be the
best option. We had one bad experience where the guy first said he had
air-con in the van, when we set off the air-con was the wind through the
windows! He then took us to the wrong place, and wanted to charge us more
for the place we asked to go to ...and so on! The last thing is having to
see all the mangy dogs everywhere! Because of their belief in
reincarnation, none of these pathetic creatures are taken off the streets,
because you never know it could be someone you once knew!
The
food is also very good and the people are very friendly, especially if you smile
- they get very upset by any angry outbursts - even if they have really tried
your patience (van drivers).  We
have bought some wonderful artifacts, mainly from carved wood, and also
fabric
and jewellery - all of which is extremely good value, and even more so if you
have an expert negotiator like Paul with you! Once you have got it into
your
head that there is 'NO' correct price for anything and if you are happy
with the
price you are buying something for, then that's all that matters.
There will always
be a kill joy around the corner who bought the same thing for
half the price!
We
also recommend The Raddin in Sanur http://www.baliwww.com/raddin/index2.htm which used to be The Park Royal. The
rooms and grounds are beautifully kept, and the staff are very good too.
Don't go to Nusa Dua unless you like HUGE hotels and fighting for sun beds with
people from a certain European country! It is also very much an 'Enclave'
and we can't believe that some people go there and never see anything of the real
Bali.  One
good place to stay in Ubud is the Honeymoon Guesthouse, it is owned by Janet
& Ketut, who also own the Casaluna and Indus Restaurants as well as the
Casaluna Emporium and Casalina Homewares. We have stayed there numerous
times, and it has recently had some extensive building work done to include some
beautiful delux rooms and also family rooms. http://bali-paradise.com/casaluna
We discovered a lovely place on the east coast near Ahmed
called the Indra Udhyana. http://www.indo.com/hotels/indra_udhyana/index.html It's
very important to remember that virtually ALL the hotels will negotiate their
rate - especially if they're not busy. Some
other Bali sites that we have found useful are listed here: http://www.bali-paradise.com/ http://home.mira.net/~wreid/ http://www.dnai.com/~kark/book_travel/03_indo_bali.htm http://www.balivision.com/ http://www.balitourist.com/hotels/
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Bali
