rjaybrenn

I was recently in Bali, staying in Nusa Dua, which was fantastic, but pretty removed from Balinese life and culture. Luckily we found a great driver who put together an amazing tour that took us both to the top spots and also to the 'real' Bali of villages and hidden spots that were just wonderful. It was an experience I'll never forget. He's name is I Ketut Suarya and he has a website, custombalitours.com. For us what worked was a day poolside at the hotel, then a day of touring - hotel - touring, etc. In 4 days of going around wtih Ketut, we saw so much. Anybody have a similar experience?

BACanuck

Hi rjaybrenn,
When we were in Bali in Dec. 2004, we hired Wayan Sueta (www.hiddenbali.com) as our driver and guide. He took us to many less touristy places and he was a virtual treasure trove of information on Balinese culture and history. One of the highlights of our trip was to visit his village and meet his family and children. We also got to hike the rice paddies around his village which was a wonderful experience (even though my daugher fell in the mud at one point). Wayan Sueta knew the best times to visit the more popular spots that we wanted to see so we could avoid the crowds. He also got our family a great price on a white water rafting trip, about half the cost of what is posted on most Internet sites. I would highly recommend hiring Wayan Sueta as a driver. He is very honest, speaks English well and has a great sense of humour. I'm so glad that you had a similar experience with Ketut Suarya. We felt that our days with Wayan were the highlight of our trip to Bali and we could never have begun to explore all that we did with Wayan on our own in the limited time we had.

Kathie

Yes, I think that's the typical experience of hiring a car and driver for about half the time. I also like to do one day of touring, one of relaxing. In my experience someone at the hotel can always set you up with a car and driver.

Guenmai

Yes, I had a driver on Bali. I think a lot of people do. It's very convenient and not that expensive and the drivers are very nice. My best friend, who goes to Bali regularly, had the one of the nicest drivers. She was to leave for Bali a few days after 911 hit and her driver was so worried about her and everyone here in the U.S. that he called her from Bali to L.A., in the middle of the night...she and her husband were sound asleep...but, he wanted to know if she was OK. He didn't realize the distance from New York to California and that California hadn't been affected. Now, I can't even imagine how much he had to pay for that call out of his small salary.The Balinese are a nice people. Happy Travels!

Craig

Several of us on this forum have used Putu Arnawa and had great experiences. We stayed in Canguu (a few towns north of Kuta), Ubud and Lovina (north Bali).