Need some last minute advise before my trip there this Sunday.

1) Where can I get cheap/reliable car rentals in Kuta? Appreciate if contacts can be provided.

2) Is insurance for the rented car neccessary? Seems to be quite expensive, but I dont see anyone in this thread mention much about it.

Thanks.

thanks Stimix,

Sorry I might have missed your post earlier.

Rp125k/day with insurance seems reasonable. Will likely to follow your advise and get it from the airport. Hope my bargaining skills can match yours.....

Dont have a GPS system, but I hope my compass and map will not get me to holland.....

By the way, I hope I can get a map from the airport as I can't find any good map here or the internet.

This post has been edited by Eris: Jun 8 2007, 05:18 PM

Just wanna share my DIY 7D/6N in Bali last week. Sorry to be a bit long winded though.

Day 1 (Sunday)
Arrive in Ngurah Rai Airport, Bali @ 7:30pm.
Rented Katana (Suzuki Jimny over in Malaysia) for 5 days from Indotrans Astri as recommended by Stimix (Rp125k/day, plus another Rp25k for next day delivery to hotel - I didn't really bargain also, probably low season now).
I've got complimentary airport transfer by Matahari Bungalow which I booked from the internet @USD24/night (a/c with hot water). Place is nice, reasonable breakfast, but the Balinese room setting is quite dark and shower pressure is quite poor.
Walk ard Kuta town. Went to Kuta Night Market but it's no pasar malam, just some food stalls.

Day 2
Kuta beach
Poppies 1 and 2.
Lunch @ Warung Nikmat - highly recommended Javanese food - it's somewhere near Bakungsari Inn.
Head to Ubud through Sayan (Can see rice field terrace). Passed by Batubulan with lots of stone carvings. Then head to Tegallalang. Beautiful sceneray on the way.
Watch Barong/Jauk dance - 1 hr (Rp50k/person)
Walk around Ubud town.
Stayed 2 nights at Puri Jati Homestay (Rp90k/night), Jalan Hanoman, Ubud. Nice people and right in front of the rooms are ricefield! Again, the room is pretty dark. Breakfast is good. Highly recommended. Do ask the homestay people if you want to watch dances or go Reptile park as they can show you the way and get you tickets, of course he will earn some commision from the ticket seller. This is a good way to encourage locals to help tourist to find their way there.

Day 3
Sukawati - Pasar Seni, Woodcrafts, handicrafts, artworks, etc.... great souvenirs, arrive early for less crowded shopping. However, not all are craftsworks are fine. Also bought Salak fruit (snakeskin) at the parking area - must try - nice!!!!
Passed by Mas - Teakwork - did not stop as most of the items are too huge for me to carry home.
Reptile park - Have snakes, frogs, crocodile etc.... I'm only interested to see the Komodo Dragon - they have 3. Paid a hefty Rp80k/person (USD9)
Lunch at Ibu Oka, Ubud - Famous Babi Guling - must try!!!
Ubud Palace
Pura Tirta Empul
Gunung Kawi Monuments
Goa Gajah
Dirty Duck Dinner (Bebek Bengil) - not as good as reviews. There is no place to park your car but Jockey service is complimentary.


Day 4
Zen Spa - Mandi Lulur (1hr 45 mins) - Rp115k per person. They have room for single and couple room. My 1st SPA experience - so I cant really give a good comment. But I find it nice and cheap.
Had lunch at Bakso Pak Kairun (cabang Pellatan), located at the big roundabout at Ginyar from Ubud. Good Bakso.
Head to Besakih through Iseh and Sideman, nice ricefield terrace view.
Pura Besakih - You can either walk nearly 1km uphill or rent a bike to go up. We had a tiring walk up anyway.
Pura Kehen, Bangli - Was raining, so we just drove by and view from the car and snap a few pics and head to Kintamani.
Stayed in Astra Dana, Kedisan, Very basic room facing lake Batur. Intermittent hot water, water is cold at altitude about 1500m. Anyway it was only Rp50k per night, what can I expect? Not recommended unless you are on thight budget.
Drove to Toya Bungkah during sunset. Lots of lorry carrying volcanic sand/rocks going out of the mountain for construction. Not recommended if you are not used to driving in narrow+hilly+winding+night+on-coming lorry roads.

Day 5
Woke up and witness beautiful sunrise right in front of our room!
Wasted 2 hours due to my Katana baby was chocking. (refer below transport)
Got a guide to bring us to the 1999 (or somewhere that time) lava area below Mt Batur somewhere nearby Kedisan. Really had a 4x4 experience on the volcanic rocks. The guide promised us trekking and lunch for USD15 but he convinently forget about arranging lunch after trekking and say goodbye until I demanded him to show me the restaurant fo lunch.
Wanted to go to Pura Ulun Danu Batur but the entrance sarong lady wanted to rip us off off with unreasonable price (Rp40k/person) so we just walked off (then price dropped to Rp10k/person excluding entrance fee/donation) but we went jalan-jalan ard Kintamani by ourselves instead.
Had buffet lunch at Gunung Sari Restaurant. Average food with majestic view of Mt & Lake Batur, but lots of flies.
Then head downhill Banjar Hot Spring. We liked it, it's far north abt 7km west of Lovina beach.
Stayed in Sri Homestay, Lovina (Rp75k/night)- the black sand beach is right in front of the room. Beach is dirty, full with rubbish. Room has lots of mosquito but they provide aerosol, so it is OK after we came back from dinner.
Sunset dinner in Penimbangan - a beachside hawker center. Dinner for 2 with 1 large Bintang was only Rp22k!

Day 6
Go up to Lake Tamblingan thru Anturan>Selat>Tukadjuwuk which only took 40mins to climb. This route is the shortest from Lovina. Narrow and often very steep (only 1st gear can make it), with a short stretch of broken road. I used this route to save time, otherwise not recommended, use the longer main road.
Great view of Lake Tablingan and Lake Buyan at the top.
Pura Ulun Danu Bratan in Candikuning. Nice place. Bought sweet potato keropok with chocalate sauce (Rp5k) and a pack of strawberry (Rp5k). Must try.
Pura Taman Ayun in Mengwi
Pura Tanah Lot
Pura Uluwatu - becareful of monkeys!!! One of them grab my glasses although I was holding it. Those monkeys are trained to grab anything from tourist to get food from the guy who you will need to "tip" to get your belongings back. I bargained until Rp5k from Rp20k. Other than that the sunset view is superb here.
Sharkies in Jimbaran for table on the beach seafood dinner. Disappointing food. Try other restaurants.
Stayed in Simpang Inn, (opposite my 1st night Matahari Bungalow) in Kuta. Rp190k/night.

Day 7
Sunbathe in Geger beach. Quiet peaceful beach with view of Pura Gerger on the cliff. But the beach looks dirty with dead seaweed washed ashore (not rubbish) along the beach. Where are the topless chics???
Go airport.
McD in airport is not fastfood. Cashier told everybody they need to wait 15mins. One guy complained that he waited 20mins for his food and he wants a refund as he is gonna miss his flight if he waits any longer. We had AA nasi lemak instead - good.
Try to get the right window seat when coming home. I think you can imagine the view if there is still sunlight and clear sky!


Transport:
The 1000cc Katana I had was clean and is quite new, A/C was good. Katana doesnt have power assisted brakes, so you will need to press quite hard on the brakes. The only issue I had was it gave up on me in Kedisan where the engine died on me. Rolled down to a bengkel and found that it was due to clogged petrol filter - had it cleaned up and it was good all the way. Wasted 2 hours and Rp5k. It could be either Indotras did not carry out regular replacement of the filter or previous customer bought some dirty petrol from the roadside.
In Kuta, Katana is 90k/day with insurance, but i'm not sure about the car condition.


People:
Generally helpful and nice. The most irritating people are at Besakih and Kintamani where they really try to rip you off. They seem to have dollar sign on their forehead.....

Prices:
Most (food and accomodation) are higher than posted in the net by some forumers (other than LYN). Can this be due to inflation in such a short period? Money changers are everywhere and accepts RM, I didn't need them as I brought Rp5mil so that I have 1 less thing to worry about.

Accomodation:
Generally A/C not really needed even in Kuta. It's quite cooling. The only A/C hotel we had was Matahari Bungalows, Kuta. All accomodations stated are with hot water, fan and simple breakfast. Only Matahari Bungalow had buffet style.


Damages for 2 person:
AA return: RM946 inc GOInsure (booked 1 month ahead without promo)
LCCT return airport transfer: RM36 (RM9/way/person)
All inclusive (accomodation, transport+fuel, souvenirs, entrance fees/temple donation & etc.): Rp3.7mil (RM1450)
Total: less than RM2500 for 2 person
We did not spend much on souvenirs, total only about RM160

Very sad no topless chics..... can't stay longer cos gonna miss my afternoon flight liau mah. I din get enough tan oso

Yeah, those mat salleh and japanese really spoil the prices. Most of the time I went for local food except for Jimbaran and Kintamani.

Overall, I find that Bali is too comercialised.