l etoile

The link to the photos is in post 9. The arrow on the right takes a minute to load, but click that to see all the photos. If it doesn't come up, hit refresh and it should work. There are about 25.

As for the driver comparison ... sorry I haven't gotten to that and finished this up. I got a bit sidetracked with other things. It was also much easier to find time when jetlag had me sleeping only two hours a night.

calvin99

the "male" tree in your photo album, I believed they call it "Nangka" in Indonesian. I have no idea what it is in English but the fruit inside is yellow and in Java, there are a lot of dried nangka served as snack. They are made to be similar to potato chips and taste quite good actually.

Darren

It looks like a Jackfruit or Durian. I expect its a jackfruit which I do like as well. I think durians are smaller and have bigger prickles but it's been a while since I have seen one. They look similar in any event.

calvin99

yup... it is jackfruit for sure.. thx a lot

durian doesn't look like that.. durian looks more greenish and it has sharp "sting" around it..

PT22064

Also, a durian has a distinct and horrible smell. If you have ever smelled a durian, you would never confuse it with any other fruit. Despite the terrible odor, the durian is quite delicious. I can still remember the wonderful taste (and horrible smell) even though I haven't eaten a durian in over 30 years!

l etoile

Funny to see this back up, especially as my purchases I had shipped just made it home a week ago. All I will say about that experience is NEVER AGAIN, and that I'm very happy to no longer be receiving faxes every other day telling me I owe $150 for a forklift fee, $150 paperwork fee, $150 fumigation fee, $150 faxing fee, $150 breathing fee and so on (good thing I like the furniture). It was definitely a learning experiene and now I realize why things from Bali cost about a tenth the price there that they do here. From now on I will only buy things I can bring with me or send via DHL or UPS.

(Thinking about this more, I would probably do it again, realizing that my furniture ended up costing about triple the purchase price once I paid for the shipping container and the processing on this end. The warehouse my things went to in Oakland sure has a racket going though - $25 if you leave a pallet, $25 if you take a pallet, $50 if they open your crate, $100 fine if you open the crate, $50 if you didn't bring all cash, $25 to hand you a form to take to customs and so on. Crazy.)

prncess674

Wow great report. I was hoping for more info. I have 3.5 months till my trip and find FTers have great info on trips.

EXPLAT

We are going in July for our Honeymoon for the first time. Any new tips would be great!

prncess674

So when in July are you going? We are going July 14-24. I have been asking lots of Bali questions in the Asia forum and the Luxury Hotel forum. Another great place I have found for info is www.baliforum.com . This board is mostly haunted by young travellers from Austrailia. They have great info on bars and restaurants in the Kuta area.

fallinasleep

What letiole said about bringing an empty suitcase is spot on. You can spend all your time shopping (well, in between taking rice paddy walks, sunbathing, eating, and going to the spa).

Government fuel subsidies are scheduled to be (or were) partially eliminated, so rates for a car and driver may go up 50%-100% from the previous (as of Feb) $20-$25 range (letiole overpaid unless she got a really fancy vehicle). This rate should include air con

As for bargaining, do not be afraid of the initial asking price - it's meaningless. The main market in Ubud is a great place to wander around for several hours. Shops on the second level tend to be cheaper. But for high-end items, you will need to wander around more. The market sells mainly mass produced items.

Lastly, if you plan to attend any of the nighttime cultural shows in Ubud, I would wait until the day of to purchase tickets. Some of these shows are outdoors and, if it rains, you will get drenched. There are plenty of seats so no worries about missing out.

l etoile

All the drivers who were recommended to me charged $30-$35 (and I'm getting the same for an upcoming trip). The ones on the street were cheaper, but as I mentioned, one we hired while there was also interested in making money on us on the backend. So I kind of think you get what you pay for. I would pay double for Wayan Sueta. To kind of illustrate the differences, some drivers will let you be accosted by women selling sarongs on the way into temples, some will not allow that to happen, and others carry sarongs with them in case you didn't bring your own (and you really should carry one and a sash with you just in case). Wayan took us riverrafting and negotiated a far cheaper rate than anything we'd gotten back when we were going to book in advance. He also had more knowledge than any we'd met. He could show us a tree and tell us a story about it and make it fascinating. Some drivers look to make money off of you in any way possible, some just drive you where you want to go, and some make Bali come alive.

As for shows, there is a free dance show on, I think, Thursday nights at the restaurant owned by the woman who has Alam Jiwa and Cafe Wayan (and other places). It's by Alam Indah. I wish I could think of the name of it, but you can stop in at Cafe Wayan on Monkey Forest Road and get the information. The show was an hour-long and very well done. The restaurant is very comfortable and the food was good. The food is also very inexpensive.

SanDiego1K

I, too, had a rate from 3 drivers last summer that were all in the $30-$35 range. I used Wayan Sueta. He was so good, that I was willing to shift my dates if need be in order to get him as my driver this year.

prncess674

What kind of car did Wayan Sueta have? Would it be rude to hire him for the week even if we will just need rides into town a few days. $35 a day plus tip seems ridiculously cheap even if we only use him a few hours a day. For a trip in July should I book now? Could someone please send me his contact info.

Thanks!

SanDiego1K

http://www.hiddenbali.com/
[email protected]
[email protected]

He is currently charging 300,000 rupiahs/day. He has prices for some trips on his website, but I would ignore the prices. However, his website is great for thinking about the different places to go and things to do. I worked out my program with him my first morning when we met, and will do the same again this year.

l etoile

Yes! I just contacted him for August and he was already fairly booked. When I met him he told me some people book him 18 months in advance.