Won't go into day to day information but got back on the 3rd May, we stayed for just over a week. I've been to Bali many times over the last 20 odd years but it was my husbands first trip so we did a mixture of trips and relaxing over our time. Excuse spelling etc before you start!!
Arrived on Friday afternoon and got though VOA and Customs quickly, outside within ½ hour which is a first for me! Travelled with Pacific Blue and couldn't fault them for a budget airline it was great. Left on time and arrived a bit early and the service was fine. I think the planes have a little bit more legroom than Qantas but the seats are uncomfortable, no lumbar support so if like me you have a bit of a dodgy back I'd recommend taking a blow up cushion for support.
We tried to book with Ron at the Sanur Beach Villas but because we left it so late we were out of luck, however Ron put us on to Gloria at the Gardenia Guesthouse just down the road from his place. It was fantastic, Gloria and Ming have only recently renovated and reopened this little gem, they have 7 guestrooms and some are larger than others. Nothing is too much trouble for Gloria, from an early morning pot of tea brought to your room, to cooking something that's not on the menu for you if you feel like it within a couple of days we felt like we had known them forever.
Ming organised a couple of drivers for us for the days we wanted to go out which was great and made it very easy for us. The cost was the same if we'd gone and organised it ourselves . Took a trip to Tanah Lot to watch the sunset (mandatory for a first timer of course). We also took a long drive up the coast to Candi Desa and Pandang Bai, coming back through Tirtagannga which was wonderful. It has been a couple of years since I've been through Candi Desa and I was amazed at the amount of rubbish littering the streets. I know people had mentioned it before on the forum but I have to say it was incredibly sad to see it for ourselves but was pleasantly surprised at how clean Padang Bai was and would definitely stay there next time we go.
Went over to Kuta a couple of times and did a shopping trip out to Seminyak and Kerokoban which was fun, we had seen a couple of hanging bamboo lanterns which we loved the look of and hunted them down (getting them home was a story all of it's own!!)
Spend a day wandering around Ubud and the Markets and had a terrific lunch at Indus. Had another great meal at the Ketupat in Kuta which has always been my favorite. Did the standard shopping and bought loads of DVD's pre ordered from H's website. Can't say I noticed too much increase in prices from 18 months ago.
Other than that we hired a couple of bikes for the day and rode around Sanur - great fun, didn't fall off and was really glad for the bells. Spent a few lazy hours on the beach on the Day beds outside the Puri Santrian, as long as we ordered something to drink and eat they were happy for us to use them and I was surprised at how reasonable the food and drinks were there given it's a pretty upmarket hotel. (Certainly a cheap way to hire a lovely comfortable double sun lounger for a few hours!!)
Over all had a fantastic trip, would definitely stay at the Gardenia again and will try and get back later this year when the wind is a bit stronger so my husband can go windsurfing.
Hope this hasn't been too boring. Cheers Liz