My first visit to Bali was over 20 yaers ago, so I had some idea of what to expect. We booked into the Ramayana Kuta and our agent told us that we would right in the middle of Kuta,how right she was. You could'nt get any closer. I knew through this forum that we should get a room over looking the pool, when I requested such a room we were informed that none were available, oh well it can't be that bad. How wrong we were. NO single bed for our daughter, which was fixed up straight away. If you are booked into the Ramayana PLEASE insist on a room over looking the pool area because of the noise being generated from the restuarant ( B Couples ) across the road which has loud music which will go right through your room until 12 pm. I s'ppose you get used to it after several nights.
On our first day we were hounded by alot of guys trying to flog off free tee shirts and great prizes if only you can go with them to claim such things. it turns out that they are trying to get you involved in Time Share. so just be aware anyone that offers you a card with ROYAL on it, avoid at all cost. My Wife and daughter were vertualy highjacked and thier hair braided, they both learnt a very valuable lesson with that one. There were the usual markets with hard sell, you Aussie you buy, you learn very quickly on how to barter with them let me tell you.
After several days of wondering around Kuta, it was time to meet up with our Driver which we had pre booked before we left, his name was PUTU and on our first trip he took us up to UBUD and one of the Elephants parks. What can I say about PUTU, except what a marvellous person. his english is good, his local knowledge is excellant, what he does'nt know about the Gods and myths is'nt worth knowing. Once in UBUD he informed all the markets that we visited that he would'nt take any comissions from them thus lowering our bid price, and if neccesary he will do the bidding for you and he did. Our next day trip was to the Odyessy Submarine which is up in AMUK bay, a little expensive but well worth it.
We were so impressed with PUTU that we booked him again for a trip up to the volcano, temples, water falls and dances. on our way back to Kuta, he asked us if we would like to visit his village and his house. We felt this to be quite a priviledge. I cannot recommend PUTU enough, he made our holiday, he showed us the true Bali. PUTU can be found on his web site: www.arunachariots.com
Resturants: We visited many and found the staff and the food to be excellant, never had any worries about the quality of the food, could'nt get enough of it.
Massages: We went to a few places and they ok until we found a place called PUTRI. well why we did'nt find this place first off I'll never know, it's one of those places you dream of.
In general: We found the majority of the people to be friendy, happy and honest. We had no worries about drugs , bombs or any other evil things. If this report sounds a bit negitive, it's not. We loved the place and can't wait to get back there again. learnt a lot of lessons real quick which we will use on our next trip