Have you visited Bali?

[jonzen]

I am thinking of travel to Bali soon. And I wondered if any of the forum members have experiences there? I wonder about food there, will I be able to survive well for 3 weeks or so? Do any of you have suggestions on where to stay, where to go within the country? I would greatly appreciate any help or ideas anyone may have.

 

Anyone want to go with me? I might be able to depart as soon as October 23. Might try to stay at least 3 weeks.

[robert]

Awesome!

 

One of my best friends, Anak, lives there. I met him when I worked on a cruise ship. We hung out together everyday for maybe 6 months or so. That was years ago and I'm still in touch with him. I'd love to go but can't at the moment.

 

I could put you in touch with him and he could help answer questions. He's in Bali at the moment I believe. I don't recall if he is from Jakarta or Bali, but I'm pretty sure he's in Bali right now. He's one of the nicest people on the planet!

 

When I have money and time......I am soooo there!

 

I "may" be going to Thailand sometime in the somewhat near future. I've been planning that trip with another one of my best friends "Jordan" and we talked today on the phone about more details and possibly going this December.

 

Anyway, best of luck and let me know if you want me to put you in touch with Anak.

 

All the best!

 

Sampi jumpar lagi

 

I can't spell very well, but I learned to speak quite a few words from their language and I was using it today talking to my brother over here in Colorado as we talked about old times.

[markc7]

I visted Bali a long long time ago (geez, it was 18 years ago!). So I doubt that any of my experiences would be applicable to travelling there today. When I went, Bali hadn't become a major tourist destination yet. All the roads were dirt, there were no foreign restaurants at all, and just a few steps off the beaten path you would find locals who didn't have anything to do with the tourism industry and spoke no English. Since then, it has apparently become alot more similar to Hawaii. There are McDonalds restaurants, all the roads are paved, and pretty much the entire economy is based on tourism.

 

Although I think that 18 years ago the experience of travelling there was much more authentic Balinese, I suspect that today it would be alot easier for a vegan to find decent food to eat. If the whole island caters to Australian tourists, there are bound to be many businesses that serve vegetarian and vegan meals of some kind, or at least know how to accomodate us.

 

Enjoy your trip, it really is a neat place. Here's a picture of me in Bali at age 9 feeding a monkey:

http://i87.photobucket.com/albums/k123/markc7/markmonkey.jpg