In Reply to: Walks posted by KevD on Wednesday, 19. August 2009 at 10:25 Bali Time:
yes and no. we warned the kids that if they ever get bitten by a dog we have to go straight back home on a plane and that months of excruciating injections will result.
thus, we walk past without looking the dogs in the eyes. dogs in australia that sounds as vicious tend to bite, there doesn't appear to be the same corelation on bali.
this works fine for us. the dogs are mainly a door bell during the day. there is also a sound the balinese use to shoosh them that also works.
as for the ubud walks, the husband, in part, earns a living from wilderness walks in australia and the maps in the lonely planet had him stumped! the distances and landmarks are dodgy. we only did 2 lonely planet walks in ubud, the first was dull as dishwater (campuan ridge)and saw us return on a major road for a couple of kilometres. the one where we got lost ended up being much longer, but great because we weren't forever running into people walking with a lonely planet in hand. that was the penestaan sayan walk which crosses a river at sayan and then you go north for some distance towards tegal kuning, but we never got close to where we wanted to go, ending up 4km sth of sayan at one stage and never finding the mythical bridge on the map. remember, if you ever do get stupidly lost, you can always pay someone to taxi you home! we also always go with heaps of food, water and a complete first aid kit. also, when asking people directions, try to use questions that don't demand a yes/no answer. ie : which way to the bridge ? rather than :is this the way to the bridge?
selamat jalan, kat