In Reply to: northern bali posted by occy on Sunday, 18. March 2007 at 20:08 Bali Time:
Are you going with the intention of seeing specific things or just travelling to find the things you might want to see closely on future trips?
If you are going to really see things then I suggest that you list the things you want to see, allocate a nominal time to see them then add up the times to find out how long the trip should take.
For example going anti-clockwise around Bali from the southern tourist areas (Tuban/Kuta/Seminyak/Sanur/Nusa Dua etc) I could spend a day getting to Candi Dasa by stopping on the way at the silversmithing village of Celuk just to look but not to buy (say half an hour travelling and an hour looking), then the Sukawati Markets (10 minutes + an hour - looking not buying), then Belige village with its gamelan makers (another 10 minutes + an hour), then Gianyar to see the spinning and weaving of silk and cotton (15 minutes + an hour unless you also want to call in at the orphanage for handicapped kida in which case double these times), then the palace, the hall of Justice and the real local markets at the old capital of Klungkung (20 minutes + an hour), look for a local cafe for some lunch (another hour), then to the coastal fishing village of Kusamba where you will also see the manufacture of sea salt on the beach, as its been done for centuries, the loading of the Nusa Lembongan/Penida/Lombok coastal ferries in the surf as has been done at various ports and beaches throughout the spice islands of south east Asia for centuries too (20 minutes and another hour), then the Bat Cave at Goa Lawah (15 minutes + another hour), then picturesque Padang Bai where in one corner of the bay the larger, very grotty passenger and vehicle ferries leave to cross the Lombok Strait and in the quieter corner real sailing jukungs rock at anchor over the brightest azure waters you could wish to see (10 minutes and another hour or more if you have refreshments at one of the little warungs on the beach, even longer if you want to walk across the headland to the south and have a swim at White Beach or across the north headland and snorkel over the soft coral reefs at Blue Lagoon. From here around the bay to Candi Dasa is maybe 20 minutes or half an hour, arriving just in time to check out a few of the hotels along the beach front to find a place to stay for the night. You've had a tiring day and the kids will sleep soundly.
If you are going just to see what you will want to explore on a future trip you can get to Candi Dasa directly without stops in 1.5 to 2 hours; but what have you really achieved and what have you missed along the way? If you keep on driving from Candi Dasa (without stopping again) you can be in Lovina on the north coast by sun down, luxuriating in one of Rambutan's Cottages for the night (by the way you don't have to cross any mountains going this way, you actually drive around them) before haring straight down the centre of the island, over the central mountains, back to the south by dinner time the next day.
I know which way I'd rather travel if I was going to see Bali.