that NINJA kid
January 2007
IN KUTA:
If you get a package with a few days stay at any fancy hotel when you land, try not to eat there too much, it's just like here...
Hotels = Needlessly Expensive. Look for the K-marts (orange sign, K in a circle) for water etc (DON'T DRINK FROM THE TAPS OR YOU'LL BE SPRAYPAINTING THE BOWL) and try the restaurants, they're pretty much all dirt cheap compared to here really... For cheap surf-fuel of note, pick up a NASI GORENG or NASI GORENG SUPER for noodles, vegetables and usually an egg with the super, that's cheap, tasty, and filling.
Dude,if you buy anything, anything at all, offer a 1/3 to 1/2 of what they ask of you and walk away if they won't give it to you, more often than not they'll call you back and give it to you much cheaper.
Nothing like paying Rp150 000 for a pair of sunnies your arvo day in and getting flat offered them for Rp 20 000 the next morning.
Oh and if a local girl is giving you all the signs in a club, make sure you know where you stand,girls will go home with you then just DEMAND money in the morning. A couple mornings in our various hotels you'd hear girls screaming obscene figures and about how guys are cheap while they try quietly usher the ladies out the room with as little attention bringing noise as possible, trying to convince her it was NOT that way, they had fun together etc and I've heard stories of girls scooping passports or cameras etc and then coming back demanding millions of Rupiahs (in July last year Rp1 million equalled R800)
Get out to Bingin to check out PadangPadang, Bingin, Dreamland Beach and Ulu's, it's quieter than the city and is still fairly cheap, ask around there for DOGGY THE MAN if you're interested in a boat tour, he'll tell you US$450 or $500 but he'll probably go cheaper if you're in a big enough group or he's got a boat with just a few empty spots he wants to fill before they cast off, he'll probably go down to US$350 or maybe (HUGE MAYBE) US$250 but he'll start talking like come on the boat but bring your own food etc. We had a full boats worth of people in our crew (14 mense) so he gave us a good rate....
Otherwise dude, that'd be short trip advice,I was only there 3 weeks, get out, as soon as possible to other islands, respect the locals but be careful, even close-by islands like Nusa Lembongan are far more expensive cos they bring everything (even water) in by boat, so while you're scoring SICK waves you're usually spending a bit more money if you're not roughing it...
Hope that helps, have a safe trip dude...
