| Wayan Merta Tours See the Real Bali! You can see Wayan's other web sites at www.angelfire.com/biz2/wayanmerta www.bali-paradise.com/see-bali Here are the tour programs. HALF DAY TOURS - Denpasar city tour ------ visit Bali Museum , traditional market & shopping . - Eco Cycling tour ---- downhill cycling tour thru the rice paddies and old villages - Water sport ------ water rafting, snorkling, diving, jet ski, water ski , parasailing - Sunset tour ------ See the sunset in Tanah lot or Uluwatu . FULL DAY TOURS - Kintamani & Volcano tour ---- The introduction to Bali fascinating country side , culture , art and craft. - Ubud tour ---- Exploring the cutural part of Bali, the villages where they make the art works (wood carving village, silver village painting, etc.), rice fields, monkey forest and some temples. - Central Bali tour ------ Tour to the volcanic Lake of Beratan , visit Ulun Danu temple , rice terraces , spices market and Mengwi (the Royal temple). - Eastern Bali tour ------- Visit Mother temple , ancient village of Tengenan , Bat cave temple, Klunkung (Kerta gosa). - North Bali tour ------- Tour to the north part of the islad to visit water fall, hot spring , Lovina beach, Singaraja (the old capital of Bali) EVENING TOURS - Bali dances ------- kecak & fire dance . - Dining out -------- the nicest restaurants on the island We will drive you thru the back roads (off the beaten tracks) . Thanks so much Wayan |
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| Wayan can take you here.... Write to: [wmerta@indo.net.id] |
· 62 - 811 - 386 - 761 cellular phone · E-mail contact: wmerta@indo.net.id Tours of the real Bali. Safe car, the driver speaks good Englihs and he has many happy customers... Write to a customer for more opinions englishlesson@mail.com |
| Here is a sample of information that ROADLOVERS compiled on Indonesia Highlights of the BALI trip 1998 HOTELS Where to stay on Bali You can sleep for $10 or 15 a night, but without AC. Some places even offer a ceiling fan and hot water. For $80 (in 1998) at the Ubud Village Hotel on Monkey Forest Road, we got friendly service, AC and satellite TV (great Australian TV), plus a gorgeous open-to-the-sky bathroom. The pool was in the best condition of any hotel we saw in Ubud. The room on the second floor overlooked the rice fields and there are no crowing roosters next to the hotel. Breakfast is adequate but not inspired, included in the room price. Try to book ahead and negotiate a price that includes the room tax (21%), which is sometimes done to offer a promotion. This is as good as a 15% discount. If you can't get into Ubud Village Hotel, you can try the Pertiwi Hotel ($75 in 1998, prettier grounds, no TV, less-attentive housecleaning). The hotel is trying hard, the rooms have good AC and a willing staff, plus a remarkable buffet breakfast (green pancakes, really thick crepes, made green by a palm flour. It sounds strange but we loved it). Their safety box is convenient (you have access to the room without having to ask the front desk person to handle the box) and their pool is conveniently located. Their rooms need to be cleaned a bit more often and you can easily spot a well-cleaned room by the absence of rat droppings. Clarification: the floors are spotless, but ledges of windows, particularly in the bathroom (which is closed and does not have a shower-to-the-sky) where little mouse droppings are easily found. Yuck. $10 and $15 rooms are available (without AC) virtually all the time during the off season in “guesthouses”. Avoid Ubud in Jan-Feb (rainy season) and in July/August when most of the island is swarming with European tourists. April and October are ideal months for a visit. Sanur (East Beach) We stayed at the Vila Shanti (Peaceful Villa) and it was indeed a quiet place. The pool was a bit cloudy and close to the breakfast area. The beach had numerous shade trees and the was sand plentiful, making the water quite shallow. The hotel is right on the main path that people walk along the beach, making it a busy walkway during the day. If you have jet lag, you might awake at 3 a.m., as we did, and it makes for a well-lit path for an early morning stroll. We found a little store that sold excellent batik (all made on Java, much of it in Yogya). Kuta (West Beach, north of the Airport) It's a crowded area and we recommend no more than two nights. Good shopping, fairly active beach scene, but not where you want to spend a week. (Many Australians do that....) If you must stay in Kuta, do it right and spend the night at Poppies. The room comes to about $100 after tax but the pool is heavenly and the tea in the room is delicious. A very romantic place! The pool is especially well-decorated and designed, with large rocks and cozy corners for couples. Eat at the Poppies restaurant and enjoy the public bathrooms - open air! (When it rains, half of the bathroom is open to the rain. REMEMBER: Be sure to send us a photo of Wayan's new house, since he loves to share the life of his people with visitors.... AND PLEASE PHOTOGRAPH KETUT, WAYAN and their baby. ========================================= Do you have a recommended tour? We stayed in Sanur beach two nights We met Wayan on the second day. We saw a market, saw a sculpture shop (sculptures made from concrete.) We ate near Wayan’s home (in an open restaurant owned by an Australian) Days 3-7 Ubud for 5 nights We stayed at Ubud Village Inn We ate at Wayan cafe and Murni's cafe (near a gorge) We saw the volcano, Gunung Kwai (a temple down 256 steps) Then Wayan went home… The next two days we did this alone: the market in Ubud Monkey Forest (buy bananas or bring them into the park from the market) music store in Ubud … and there are plenty of shops to walk past and into… ALSO: try the Lotus restaurant on Monkey Forest Road. With Wayan again: Day 6 shops near Ubud with Wayan doing the negotiating for statues (he’s good at getting the price lower). Day 7 We made a trip to Denpasar to find a shipper... Then we stayed at Poppies Hotel in Kuta 1 night (great place) That night we had a barbecue on the beach with Wayan The next day we flew to Java YOGYAKARTA for 5 nights Borobudur temple Tirtodipuran street in Yogyakarta (for excellent art at a studio called Sutopos) Good furniture at Casa Casinta on Tirtodipuran Jalan (Street) Then we returned to Bali We stayed at Poppies for 2 nights. We went back in Ubud 3 nights and then we went home. Tips 1. invite Wayan to all meals (most tourists treat him like a driver, and what a mistake! he's much more) 2. let Wayan tell you want to do... he knows a lot 3. talk with Wayan about his trips to Australia and his dreams 4. visit his home and see his wife and child... 5. ask to meet his mother, who will teach you to fold palm leaves in interesting designs. Wayan’s first (free) web page is www.angelfire.com/biz2/wayanmerta What is Wayan’s other web page? it is called www.balivillas.com and look at the discussion where Wayan Merta is talked about… or go to his personal page at www.bali-paradise.com/see-bali (valid as of 2001) I went to the BALI FORUM and entered "guide and driver" That's how I got information about Wayan Merta ------------------------------------------------------------------- Posted by steve mccrea on Saturday, 6. February 1999 at 16:35 Bali Time: In Reply to: Drivers posted by Lynne on Wednesday, 3. February 1999 at 01:50 Bali Time: My driver in Bali was remarkable ... he handled all the shipping and checking of my furniture purchases. I recommend him and he has a cell phone to aid in locating places. Wayan Merta 62 811 386 761 ============================= INFO ABOUT JAVA Casa Casinta Carlos de Haas, an ex-consular officer (Jamaica, somewhere in Africa) married Sinta Ravitasari, a woman from the Yogya area. They have (or have adopted?) four children (whom they want to educate in Australia). Carlos sells furniture and replica antiques (colonial period) to people from Jakarta -- but they aren't coming as often so he sells two-to-three-foot-tall statues made from limestone and carved in a modern style (a la Modigliani) for around $200 each. Shipping is another $200 to $250 and some of the money goes to help dig a well in the village where Sinta was born. CASA CASINTA Can arrange for good gemstones... he's a buying agent on Java and is reliable. Yogya Ibis Hotel, the French chain, has a deal for 160.000 Rupiah, or about $16 at the time (1998). Now it's about $20 (Dec. 1999), still a bargain considering that an equal room in France would cost $90 and wouldn't have papaya for breakfast. It just opened and there's Internet service in the hotel. Garuda Hotel is great, $230 a night, but if you ask for the price in Rupiah, the price converts to about $32 (in 1998). Old style colonial fixtures are still in place, buffet breakfast and decorations from the 1950s. This is where Sukarno planned the revolt post WW2 against the Dutch. The lobby's ceilings must be over 24 feet high.... Click HERE to see more on www.roadlovers.com Otehre places to visit: www.virtourist.com The Future of Fort Lauderdale... Talk over the Internet -- Chat and Build International Bridges |
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| Statement by the web master of this site Florida is where I live, but one of the nicest place on the planet is Bali! talkinternational@yahoo.com |