In Reply to: Statues posted by gailo on Thursday, 2. February 2006 at 14:02 Bali Time:
Get a driver you know well and go to Singapadu. Its a stone town on the way to Ubud, stalls all the way along with carvers making the statues. Have often driven through admiring the fantastic statues and one time decided to stop.
English is not widely spoken, hence the need for a Balinese translator. You can bargain however the price was SO low to begin with I was embarrased to bargain. Your money is going direct to the carver so if you get supercheap prices like we did, leave with a good feeling by leaving a tip.
Be careful you know your driver cause the first time we stopped our driver took a big "kickback" leaving the carver with half of what we paid. It was ceremony time and he needed the money so didnt have much choice. Needless to say I refuse to use that driver again!
I'd think leaving out the middle man makes a much better option for you and the carver. It was lots of fun to do too.