My first trip to Bali was fantastic. Was there Feb 2 to Feb 14. I am a 44 year old American "girl", married to a guy who does not like to fly, so I frequently travel with my parents and we always have fun. Was my peeps 4th trip to Bali. Mom made our reservations. I logged onto the forum for months before the trip, made boo-koo notes and took my "Bali bible" with me (thank goodness).
I met up with my peeps (they live in Hawaii, I live in California) on Guam, arrived on Guam in the middle of a raging party in my honor @ the Matson's. I was hung over and jet lagged as our flight touched down in Denpasar. Mom's pre-arranged driver was a no show. Called his cell phone, got voice mail. Sh!#. Had him paged at the info desk. It's 11:30 pm in a foreign country, we are stranded at the airport, surrounded by "you want transport" guys. We were overwhelmed, hot, sweaty and a little upset. My dad is a tall, quiet man with lots of tattoos who is not predisposed to taking control, my mom is a big white woman who rules the roost, and me .... petite, quiet, & always open for possibility and adventure. So I find a phone and called one of the drivers on the list from the forum. He speaks pretty good English, so before I explain the situation or ask for transportation, apologize for calling late and ask if he is willing to come on such short notice. He was there in 20 minutes, and in stark contrast to the shady looking guys surrounding me offering a ride, Made arrives in a freshly pressed white shirt, shiny shoes in a beautiful black mini van with A/C and leather seats. Man oh man, were my parents grateful, and so was I! He was ever so polite and conversational, and had some excellent suggestions for places to see and visit while we were in Bali. Mom made reservations for us at the Honeymoon Guesthouse in Ubud. Made took us to the Guesthouse, got us settled in, gave me his card, gave me info for a couple of local Ubud guys for around town because he does not live near Ubud, and told me when we are ready to go to the next place we reserved in Legian or for some sight-seeing, to call him and he would drive up to Ubud and show us around. Whew. Spent a few days in Ubud got 2 massages, a facial, saw 3 dances (especially loved the Kechak at the Padang Tegal Kaja and the Candra Mati at the Water Palace behind the Cafe Lotus.... Magical at night!)Dad and I took great walks via the rice fields and drank cold Bintang at every opportunity. Mom doesn't like to explore much but loves to eat & shop near the hotel. We enjoyed Ubud but my folks did not enjoy their room at the Guesthouse. My room was wonderful. They were downstairs from me(mom has titanium knee replacements, no stairs for her) and their room was very dark, claustrophobic feeling and there were some screamers in the pool all day about 10 feet from them. Dad confided that he would like it better at the beach. So I called Made to book him for the whole day to take us hotel "shopping" and to take us sightseeing. We explored & shopped. At lunchtime he asked us what we wanted to eat, we agreed on somewhere with a nice view, Dad and I wanted a cold beer! OMG as we say here in California..... I can't remember the name of the place Made took us to dog-gone-it, "_____ Restaurant and Pool". The view was SPECTACULAR! Then to Sanur, orchid garden, shopping, saw some hotels, fell in love with the Tandjung Sari Hotel. Made reservations, moved there the next day, canceled our reservations at the Puri Damai in Legian and because we truly enjoyed every second in Sanur. Let's get the big picture. If Mom's driver had showed up..... none of this would have happened! Big lesson for my folks.... "go with the flow"! Because of all the forum posts, I knew just where to exchange money without getting ripped off, where the ATM's were, where to eat, how to get around and made some friends in the process!!!!! I ended up being in charge (with Made's help) of what we did each day. One of the best parts of the trip.... how I could split a large Bintang with my dad before it got hot, many times a day and still manage to look cute in a bikini & loose 5 pounds on the trip???? photos at photo bucket ...... http://s111.photobucket.com/albums/n128/busyhoneyb_2006/Bali%2008/
Thanks agian for all the help..... the forum info made my trip wonderful! :)