Hallo,
Ben in mei 2009 naar Bali geweest. Voor een Engelse collega heb ik wat zaken in het Engels op een rij gezet.
Mocht je vragen hebben, let me know!
Gr,
Wouter
Bali
First of all, Bali is a very good choice to travel as it has everything: amazing food, culture, white beaches, diving, surfing, etc. I would recommend to buy a Lonely Planet, it contains very good suggestions about the transport, accomodation, things to do, customs and some language phrases that will reward you with smiles.
Basics: negotiate everything, especially if they find out that you are an American they want to offer you a price that you are used to. Lonely Planet offers a great reference points on price. If you stay longer in your accomodation you should always ask for a discount. Taxis always on the meter and/or other means of transport offer 50% of what they are offering. (Yes, I am really Dutch.) During off season hotels have always space.
My (ex) girlfriend and I landed on the only airport in Bali which is connected to cities like Kuta, Seminyak and in-between Legian. Kuta is comparable with Cancun as it offers cheap accomodation and lots of drinks to young folks that want to party. You could skip that part.
Seminyak is up-scale, chique and has big hotel chains with locations next to the beach and with crazy nightlife. Amazing beach resort ku-de-ta is the shining pearl in Seminyak.
Check out the pictures at: Search: ku de ta | Flickr
Official website is: http://www.kudeta-bali.com/
So where should you stay when you get out of the plane?
**
Legian**
This is a small village which is lying between Kuta and Seminyak, is quiet and lies just next to the beach. From here it’s a 15 minute walk to Ku de ta or 3 minutes to your next place to score sushi.
Legian, Seminyak, Kuta are not places to stay long, there is nothing more than food, (crowded) beaches, exciting nightlife, surfing and nice beachbars. I would recommend doing a crash course in surfing offered by one of the surfing schools. For 39 dollars you are able to stand on your board after 4 hours or the next lesson is for free!
Places to stay in Legian:
We stayed in the Kumala Hotel aka Grand Kumala. This hotel is cheap (25 euro per night), has great fresh omelettes for breakfast and is completely built in Balinese style. The rooms have air-con and the more luxury rooms (the ones that costs 25;)) have a TV. Staff is brilliantly friendly and will help you with transport to other places on Bali.
Pictures: http://www.flickr.com/search/?s=int&…+legian&m=text
Official website: http://hotelkumala.com/
If you have more budget and want more luxury I would recommend the neighbouring (5min walk) Kumala Pantai (be clear to the taxi driver!) It’s bigger in space but also offers more luxury. Just what you would like.
See http://www.kumalapantai.com/
Ubud
Next stop should be Ubud. About 1,5 hour away from Legian (200.000 rp at the most = 14 euro with private transport). Ubud was the former capital of the royal kings and is nicely located among rice paddies. There is a lot of culture in Ubud. Artisans, painters and dancers that make up the population. Also the monkey forest is true delight. The monkeys are walking free in an old temple complex (jungle book) and are numb to human beings. They will eat out of your hand and spot any banana you have on you.
Pictures of Ubud, Monkey forest and especially the rice paddies surrounding can be seen here: Search: ubud | Flickr
Ubud offers great spas, yoga, detox, cooking courses (http://www.alamindahbali.com/cafe_wayan.htm), rice paddy walks, mountain biking and reading. There are multiple book shops, both with new books as second hand books. You can even trade or sell your finished books. There is a large international community living there.
The food here is amazing. For around 10 euro you will eat food that matches up to the best restaurants here. I would go back to Bali only for the dining at Ubud. check out Arys warung: Ubud Bali fine dining, good food restaurant, best cuisine, extended wine bar lounge and the one restaurant I really recommend is Batan Waru, they have fresh ketjap and sambal which is amazingly delicious. Batan Waru is part of a chain of restaurants that are all just great, check out: http://www.baligoodfood.com/. Organic Lunch, fair trade coffee and a wheat grass shot are great at http://www.bali-travel-life.com/juice-ja-cafe.html
Cheap accomodation (comparable with Hotel Kumala) http://www.sribungalows.com/
The accomodation doesn’t have a website and therefore a booking agent made this page. Do not book online as they have 4 times the price you pay when you are there. Call them with the listed number from the planet to make a reservation.
Depending on how long you have I would either visit Lovina to see dolphins out of small fishing boats (trip takes 3,5 hours though).
The Gili Islands are a real delight to spend some time.
Checkout: Search: gili | Flickr
Check out the Gili Islands from the sky: http://petraintheworld.files.wordpre…li-islands.jpg
These little volcanic atolls have white sandy beaches and are just 1km apart from each others and close from Lombok. In around one hour you can explore the islands by bike. The Gili’s are great for diving, fresh seafood BBQ’s, reading, relaxing on the beach, walks and basically doing nothing. The most important thing is deciding how to get there. Gilicat offers the best route as they have a fastboat. The normal ferry takes 12 hours and is a living hell according to stories we have heard. The tickets for Gilicat can be bought at any tourist agency in Ubud. We paid under the listed price of 1.200.000 rp for a return ticket: 1.000.000 rp. That includes transport from Ubud to the harbour of Padang Bai (2,5 hour drive) and the fastboat to Gili Trawangan. The fastboat takes only one hour, and is reasonably comfortable. The return ticket also arranges a drop off at a hotel and destination of your choice at Bali.
Gili Trawangan is the biggest island and offers the most facilities. The books are outdated on ATM’s. Gili Trawangan has an ATM. Energy is being generated by diesel generators so expect some power-cuts sometimes.
Food is delicious at the scallywags restaurant http://www.scallywagsresort.com/scal…bar_grill.html
Luxury accomodation: http://www.hotelombak.com/ with own private white beach, next to Scallywags and with all facilities including a doctor.
Snorkelling is amazing there you can spot Turtles just off the beach, also clown and tiger fish are to be seen at the island.
Next stop should be Gili Meno or Air.
These islands have virtually nothing more than a white beach, transparent water, five restaurants a lot of second hand book shops and some people renting out snorkelling gear. There is a daily ferry to these islands for around 2 euro, in the morning and afternoon. Arrange accomodation before you go. We haven’t visited Gili Air which is the most deserted.
Gili Meno is beautiful and has no nightlife. Staying here would be great: http://www.villanautilus.com/Villas.htm next to the beach and afforadable prices. We stayed at an beachhut for 7 euros a night with no air-con. Not a recommendation 
