PS,

Balitrips.net offer me USD50 per day for tour. I find it abit pricey. Wat do you think? If i sms Pak Mul, will the price be cheaper than quoted by balitrip's office?

This is Pak Mul's reply to my enquiries about rate:

'Kalau tour di Bali, harga tergantung mobilnya.. klu mobil yang saya tawarkan, adalah mobil 11 sit. Harga usd50. Klu mobil yg 4 sit, dpt lbh murah. Usd40. Perhari. Klu 9 sit, usd45 perhari. Sudah termasuk premium. Masalah servis, pasti puas. Datanglah ke bali, nanti saya antar ke mana saja..'

When I asked about airport pickup (i'll touch down at 8pm, so what I need is just pickup from airport and send us to our accomodation in Kuta), this is his reply:

'Tour 1 hr us40, dr airport ke Kuta + diner usd20 aja.'

Again, I don't quite understand. Probably he meant 1 hour tour is us40, but, diner as in dinner? Does that mean I have to pay for his dinner? I don't know. Anyone can enlighten me?

Pak Mul knows sms language! But I'm still blur about the premium part.. what does that mean? Is that 'tips'?

Now, below is the offer from Balitrips.net:

Airport pickup and transfer to hotel: USD10 (after nego)
Daily tour: USD50 for 4 pax/day

Somehow, after much calculation, I'd still think Balitrips.net offers the lower price.

I also got another suggestion from a friend who went there. He said it's not necessary to hire driver now. Once touch down at their airport, hire a cab to take u to hotel and from hotel, they should be able to recommend you a driver at a reasonable rate.

So, as you can see now, I am confused. Advice pls...

If book from balitrip.net, their quotation is:
Airport pickup USD25 + Tour USD50 per day.

Book straight from PakMul:
Airport pickup USD20 + Tour USD40 per day.

So, directly deal with PakMul is cheaper as like what PS had said, Balitrip.net should be an agent which will outsource the car rental service to individual tour guides.

Can anyone recommend good places for Spa with reasonable prices?

Im flying on Fri!

I just came home from BALI!!! Touched down at LCCT at 11.15pm jst now.

Initial plan was to stay 2 nights in Kuta and 2 nights in Ubud. But found out that Ubud is kinda boring (for me), so stayed 3 nights in Kuta. I recommend Fat Yogi located in Poppies Lane. They have new and old rooms for the same price, Rp220k inclusive of tax and breakfast. We were on a budget trip, so Fat Yogi offers us the best in facilities and price. Oh, please request for new rooms. You can also book through Internet at USD24 per night.

We have our driver Jhony to bring us around. Rp250k for full day and Rp150k for half day. Inclusive of petrol and parking fees. Cheapest rate we can find. But note that the price is still valid for the moment, because in Indonesia, fuel price just increased two days ago. So he might have to increase the rate too. Nice guy, speaks English.

Jhony +62 817 977 0737. He'll reply your sms.

Much of our money is spent on shopping in Kuta and food. Food is quite expensive in Bali. And in Jimbaran, the seafood dinner isnt that good and pricey! They have so many boutiques in Kuta, eg. Ripcurl, Quiksilver, Billabong, Roxy, Volcom, Polo Ralph Lauren, Polo etc. Perhaps you have to be careful when buying Polo brand shirt from Kuta, many fake ones selling at original price. Safest place you could buy is in Discovery Mall.

And be careful with the people offering you manicure or taxi or day trip at cheap price. Bargain and reconfirm the price before deciding to buy anything. Many conmen and conladies.

For makan place in Kuta, you can try Warong Made and Illy's. Made is slightly pricey. Non-halal (their pork satay is great)! Both offer great Indon food. For those who like spicy, pls request them to tone up the spiciness as they tend to cater for the westerners.

Uluwatu, Tanah Lot are both very great sight seeing place. We didnt go for dances show and skipped many temples as they look almost the same to me.

A lot of other interesting places, but i think that's all for now.. Missing Kuta..

At first I book Pak Mul at USD40 per day, but then found out Jhony offers cheaper one. So I canceled the former and booked the latter.. They are doing their business but we as customers have right to choose mah... moreover he dunno me, i dunno him.. hahahhaha....

Fat Yogi is at Poppies Lane I. Illy's is also at the same lane, 2-3 shops away from Fat Yogi.

If i'm not mistaken, the first half of the year is off-peak season, meaning, accomodation will be cheaper. Second half of the year is peak, because this is the time when Europeans come for holiday. So naturally certain things will be more expensive.

And there's rainy season too. You gotta find out when it is, I'm not too sure. If u go during the rainy season, you know what to expect. And most probably you can't get nice views from Kintamani/Pacong.