Cyndi and family just back

I went to Bali as a first time American visitor nervous about Sars, Bali belly, terrorism, the war in Iraq, crooked money changers, dengue fever, State Department travel warnings, asian toilets, etc... and found it to be a dream vacation destination.

We(my husband, myself and three daughters ages 16,11,and 9) stayed at the Sheraton Nusah Indah in a 2 bedroon suite. Because the pool was undergoing renovations we used the pool at the Sheraton Laguna. Both properties were beautiful, had attentive friendly staff, excellent beaches, and pretty good security in place. We went for 14 nights and the first week there were so few people around the properties that we often had the pool to ourselves. The second week, the PATA conference was going on and things were a little more lively around the place.

The first full day we were there, we walked over to the Galleria shopping center to check out prices at resturants since the hotel prices seemed outrageously high. Every resturant was offering 60% discounts on food (not drinks) so eating was much more affordable than imagined. We were almost the only people at the Galleria for several hours and could immediately sense the desperation among the shopkeepers for our business.

On our third day there, we met with an American missionary who along with another missionary totally fund an orphanage for 20 children out of their own pockets. We had brought enormous amounts of supplies for the children and were able to meet them and give them our donations. We also went to a school and met the students and handed out clothing and school supplies to them. Then our friend took us to two different homes of families he has befriended so we could see how the Balinese live in traditional family villages. One family was woodworkers and because of the slowdown in tourism were selling very few items to stores since they weren't being bought by tourists. It really brought it home to us how the bombing has affected every family on the island in some way.

The next day was our first venture into Kuta and we were really taken aback by it. We walked onto the beach and were immediately surrounded by very pushy hawkers that grabbed my girls to try and start braiding their hair or wrap sarongs around them, or try to put pieces of jewelry on them. I had to rescue them all and hustle them off the beach and over to Hard Rock Cafe where I made a substantial contribution to the tourism economy by dropping a couple hundred dollars on Hard Rock clothes for the family. We ate dinner there as well and found prices to be well within reason and the food pretty good. The best thing about it though were the views of the sunset,ocean and Kuta beach from the terrace eating area.. We shopped around the area for a couple hours and the girls found some really cute clothes at Mataharis and Sweet Poison. We were asked to fill out "tourism" surveys by people on the streets. If you do this, you will get a call the next morning offering you deals and timeshare presentations.The streets of Kuta seemed very busy to me but I can't compare it to pre-bombing. As we were in our taxi riding back to the Nusa Dua area, I couldn't help but feel I was leaving the "jungle " of Kuta for the more serene area of Nusa. On our beach there are no hawkers and one can walk in peace.

We went to Waterbom park the next day and the kids had such a blast that we bought the second day pass before we left. It is a real bargain since admission for our family of 5 was about 60 dollars but the 2nd day pass was only about 18 dollars for the same fun.

We did a tour of the island one day and had arranged with Wayan Sueta to meet us at the hotel but on that morning he was sick and sent a replacement driver. We went to the Monkey forest and one of my daughters made the mistake of trying to pick up a banana that a monkey had shown no interest in and was attacked by the monkey. He bit her twice and she still has bruises on her leg. The hardest thing was our guide kept telling her to stay still while the monkey was attacking her and both her dad and I were ready to kill that monkey to save her. She learned a valuable lesson about getting between an animal and its food. We traveled on to Ubud and shopped at the markets there for a couple of hours. We came away with some amazing bargains. The prices were at least half of the starting price that they were in Kuta. If I have one piece of advice here, it's save the bulk of your shopping for Ubud. I bought sarongs for 5000 Rupiah each and beautiful dresses for 30,000. I also picked up some wood items, spices, a watch, Oakley sunglasses, a kite, Nike sandals, Christmas ornaments, and I'm sure a few other items. We then headed to lunch at a resturant that overlooked the rice terraces. Our guide then took us to the Volcano with the lake in the crater. It was incredibly picturesque. We had some small stuffed animals with us and handed then out to some of the village children and were rewarded with some of the biggest smiles I think I've ever seen. Our guide then took us to a large temple in the area and then drove the back roads home so we could see more of true Bali life.

My husband spent a couple days scuba diving, one day at Nusa Penida and the other at Tulamben. He said it was some of the best diving he has ever done for the sheer numbers of fish he was surrounded by. He even sighted some dolphins on a dive.

One day we decided to go to the bird and reptile park but our driver suggested the Bali Zoo instead so we went there. It is apparent that the zoo is suffering a lack of income from the drop in tourists also as things looked like they had seen better days. But there were some highlights to this trip including the bird aviary and the giant- and I do mean giant- spiders that had made their webs in the trees on the zoo grounds. The zoo resturant was very nice and cheap but as happened far to often, we were the only ones in it.

We ended up at the Sari club on three different occasions. The first time was incredibly moving as the reality of over 200 deaths just a few short months ago at the site became reality. There have been banana trees planted on the property of Paddie's, the site of the other bombing. As it was explained to us, in the Hindu religion, these help bring about a cleansing of the land.

We ate dinner quite a few nights at the Mutiara resturant at the Galleria and became like family to the waiters and Barong dancers that performed every night. The dancers even spent an hour putting make-up on my girls and dressing them up in authentic dance costumes so that we could take their pictures. On the last night we were all crying together, exchanging gifts and promising to keep in touch. Within a day of being home we had e-mails and even a phone call from one of the dancers.

Many days were spent around the pool and at the beach relaxing-after all, that's the point of a vacation right? I have a great tan, great memories, and a managable Visa bill because the prices on everything were so reasonable. Will I go back? It's hard to say. Travel time from our state to Bali including layovers in airports is about 35 hours. We had a brutal flight back because of the turbulance all the way from Tokyo to Seattle. But as I think about the people we met, they draw me back to Bali in a way I haven't felt about other places we have visited. The smiles, and kindness and gentleness of personality of the Balinese people was really something to experience. I am so thankful that we shook off all our fears and had this incredible experience.

Since our last vacation was to Bangkok and Phuket, Thailand, later I am going to post my pros and cons of each place since it seems to be a questions asked often enough on this board. I thank eveyone for their help with my questions. I actually have been lurking on this board for almost 4 years but only last fall did I actually decide I was brave enough to make this trip. Now I know that all along I had nothing to fear, Bali lived up to my dreams of what a vacation should be.

Our driver and guide, who I discovered online, was Mr Wayan Sueta

Our driver and guide, who I discovered online, was Mr Wayan Sueta who was fantastic. He always showed up on time and took us exactly where we wanted to go, and never to places you don't want to go.

Early one morning we went for a short walk down into the river valley, and then back up the other side. There were some beautiful views of the rice terraces, with lots of fruit and chocolate trees along the way.

We went to his village and his wife and neighbors showed me how to make an offering basket.

Bali Thanks -

Adventurous Thanksgiving Trip. The Balinese have to be the friendliest people on the planet. If going, you must use my driver, Wayan Sueta at www.hiddenbali.com. He showed me the beauty of Bali through the eyes of a local.

The Best Guide/Driver in Bali

On my last trip to Bali, on the recommendation of many others before me, I hired Wayan Sueta to be my guide and driver. I cannot recommend him highly enough. He speaks excellent English, is a very safe driver, and is extremely knowledgeable about all things Balinese. Best of all, he will take you to the most unique and beautiful areas on the island, rather than tourist traps.

Many drivers will take you to shops where they get a commission. Wayan will never do that. He has taken me on hikes through the rice fields and to temples, and along the way he has taken great care to teach me about what I am seeing and experiencing.

For single women traveling alone, it can sometimes be nuscance (even scary) to be bothered by your driver. But Wayan is very respectful and never made me feel uncomfortable.

If you want a Bali experience like no other, please contact Wayan. Make reservations early as he is very popular. His day rate is 30,000 Rp (about $30 a day). He is prompt, hard working, and a very special person.

John's Honeymoon January 2001

My wife and I have just returned from our 3-week honeymoon. We left December 15th from JFK airport in NYC on Northwest airlines ($983 r/t per ticket – booked back in August) to Bangkok connecting through Tokyo. It was approximately 23 hours, however, if you take enough Valium you wouldn’t believe how fast a flight like this can be. We arrived in Bangkok a day later on Saturday 16th around 10:30pm and hopped a bus to our favorite hotel. The next day we made travel arrangements on Thai Airlines to Denpasar for $525 r/t for 2 tickets open return. The best deal I could find from the States was $750 r/t per ticket on same airline. Always buy your tickets abroad. They will always be cheaper. We left for Bali on Tuesday the 19th and were met at the airport by our guide Wayan Sueta. Wayan Sueta has to be one of the most gentlest and kindest man that we have met in a long time. His English including slang is 90% perfect. He drove us to our first hotel (Klub Kokos) just outside of Ubud. I have to say that although the staff was very friendly and efficient and the room was very nice and clean, we felt that it was just to far out of Ubud and remote of a location. The thing that pissed us off the most about that place was the amount of dogs and the never ending barking that persisted throughout the night. We were unable to get any kind of decent sleep there, which was the main reason we left. We stayed there for 2 days and then checked into the Honeymoon Guesthouse a day early. This was a good move – the Honeymoon Guesthouse is situated in the heart of Ubud but on a side road, which makes it very quiet place. They have just completed two new villas there that are exquisite. If you go do try to get room 10, it is breath taking. Believe it or not, the only thing that it lacked and could use was air-conditioning. It got a little sticky at night. Everything in this room was either marble or intricately carved wood. The breakfast was always on time and very delicious. As you all might know – the owners of this place also own the two busiest restaurants in Ubud (Casa Luna and Indus) and you might say that they have a monopoly on eating which does not help the rest of the commerce there. We ate at both of these restaurants and I have to say that as much as the people of the Bali forum rave about these two places, my wife and I found them highly over-rated with food that was just ok. As a matter of fact, when we went to Indus (their jewel) we saw the exact same menu as Casa Luna except that it was much more expensive. Note that if you go at night to eat at Indus you will see absolutely nothing except swarms of insects. All of the highly touted rice fields views are pitch black so you might as well be at McDonalds or any other place in the universe. I actually took 2 bites of my main course and left the rest for the trash or whatever they do with it. Casa Luna is not much better except the prices are a little less. If you like to look at a tiny river with a lot of garbage in it and on the sides of it then you will thoroughly enjoy this restaurant. My only suggestion for the newbies is stay away from Indus and go to Casa Luna for a dessert after you have eaten at a quality restaurant like Café Lotus, which happen to be across the street. The Chef at Café Lotus cooks up superb meals at half the price of these other two tourist traps. Do not miss any of his pasta dishes! Two other fabulous recommendations are Naughty Nuri’s and the Dirty Duck Diner.

Touring with Wayan Sueta in his air-conditioned Toyota 4 wheel drive was a pleasure. He is friendly and funny and we had such a wonderful time. He takes great pride in showing all of the nooks and crannies that most tourists would never see or even know that they exist. We saw many beautiful Temples and numerous rice paddies in different stages of growth. He took us to the real Bali way back in the country where life is simple and primitive, the way it always was. He was a fountain of knowledge about his people and every tradition that is celebrated. His threshold of patience is overwhelming especially when we were snapping pictures like a Japanese tourist. After three days of touring the countryside we got templed and ricepaddied out and wanted to relax so we went back to Ubud for Xmas eve and Xmas day and chilled out. The highlight of Monkey forest was definitely at the entrance where there is a bunch of shops that sell the usual shit to tourists, the owner of the very last shop next to the entrance has a medium size, typical Bali mutt, and he would wait patiently for one of the many aggressive monkeys to turn its back and then sneak up on it and bite the shit out of the monkey causing the monkey to almost have a heart seizure. You might not find this funny but if you have experienced some monkey aggression towards various humans you would definitely be rooting for this dog!

Wayan, a guide in Bali...

There are guides on every corner in Bali, but few speak English well, and many are paid a kick-back to bring you to certain shops and restaurants (including the most over-run tourist traps). This is where Wayan Sueta sets himself apart. Wayan makes a point of showing his guests the most beautiful and least-touched areas of his home country. He has a vast knowledge of Bali’s history and culture, and enthusiastically shares it all in perfect English. Wayan can take you on a guided hike through Bali’s famed terraced rice fields, on a trip around the island—or further afield to neighboring islands. As a solo female traveler, I always felt safe and comfortable traveling with Wayan. By the end of my trip, I’d made a new friend — and was honored to be invited to share dinner in his home with his wife and children. Wayan can be reached at sueta@dps.globalxtreme.net. For more information you can visit his website at: http://www.hiddenbali.com
Connie, Colorado, USA