Bali Tour Guide

A friend of mine, Dar, a Bali tour guide, thought he could "summon" the monkeys at monkey forests any time he needed just by shouting loudly. Well, he is surely right about calling the monkey but he forgot something else. He was no Tarzan. And the monkeys didn't like people shouting at them disturbing their privacy. So, Dar was going to get a surprise he would never forget for all his mortal life. This is a story about my friend who took a client to a monkey forest somewhere north Denpasar, Bali on one afternoon. Dar's client was a very important client because he owned a travel agent in US. Therefore, my friend was on special mission to give the best service in order to impress this VIP client. "Make the client happy," his boss reminded,"we count on you." The client was happy touring around Bali, admiring the rice fields, beautiful temples and the friendliness of the Balinese. At midday Dar took the VIP client to the Kedaton monkey forest. They we...

"When is the best time to visit Bali?" I often got this question asked to me. Not just once, but a lot of time. When you ask this question, I know what you mean is more than this simple question. You want to know when to visit Bali so you can have great times in Bali without any disturbance, for instance, rain or peak season. Rain seems to be the main concern for the visitors. I can understand that because rain can "ruin" your holiday. It is hard to enjoy Bali when rain pour from one morning to the next morning. Let's talk about rain first. We have two seasons in Bali, the dry season and the wet season. The dry season is "scheduled" from April to October, while wet season starts from October to April. So, if you don't fancy rain in your holiday, best time to come is between April to October when the dry season is "on". The wet season, however, is not really really that wet. If you think rain is pouring down on our island for six months ev...

To my astonishment, a reader wrote me an email asking where she can watch a "Wayang Kulit" or shadow puppet show in Bali. I never thought shadow puppets show can also be interesting for tourists, so I decided to write a little note about this matter (not a comprehensive article). Shadow puppet show, despite all these bombardment of movies with computerized special effects, still alive in the heart of the Balinese people. Thanks to the great puppet masters in Bali that Wayang Kulit is till watched by many Balinese, even the youngsters. Shadow puppet which can be a part of sacred ceremonies are prepared very carefully. Not any Balinese can be puppet master because it requires special skill for example in changing voices when talking as different character. A puppet master must also be knowledgeable in Hindu religious teaching and social matters. The preparation of a Wayang Kulit may appear very simple. All it needs are large screen, a torch, a banana tree trunk for placing the ...

As you step your feet in our island, you'll soon notice that we have different traffic "road rules" with those European or American countries. Some of the rules may appear strange to you. And here are some of the "rules" you will observe in the tiny streets in Bali. Beeping "rules". People seems to beep a lot more here. A driver beeps when asking other driver to give way to him, so he can drive through. A driver also beeps when saying hello to a friend he meets in the street or offers transport service to tourists. Hazard lamp "rule" for cross road. The hazard lamps are lit when going straight in a cross road. Maybe the logic is that when turning right or left, we have to light either right or left sign lamp. So, if going straight, both lamp; left and right, should be lit. "Rules" for crossing the road "Zebra crossing" for pedestrians. Cars will not stop at zebra crossing, even though you have stepped your feet on the zebr...

How do you say no to the street vendors offering you goods they sell? Easy. Just say No, Thank You. Right, but often it is not as easy as it seems. The reason? They don't take no for an answer. They keep offering you post cards, chess set, T-Shirt, wooden statue, beach sarong, bone statue, a pack of chop sticks (we don't use them here) and a lot more. So, how do you "handle this situation"? When you are in Bali, especially in tourists area you will meet many street vendors. You will meet them at tourist objects like Kintamani, Tegalalang, Goa Gajah, Kertha Gosa, Bat Cave, Ulun Danu Batur, Lake Batur, Seribatu village, Lovina Beach or in the street outside your hotel. The street vendors are just the Balinese people who work to earn a living. They don't have stall, or capital to start their own business. The easiest thing to take part in tourism industry is to become street vendors or "pedagang acung". They just need merchandise to sell, and off they go. ...

You agree to buy some sarongs for USD 10 in the art market somewhere in Bali and think wow this is a good price. The seller wraps your lovely sarongs in a plastic bag and give it to you while you hand her the USD 10 note. The seller look at your note and say, "Sorry, I can not take this money, do you have other money or do you have rupiah?" And all you can say is,"What??" If this happen, there are some possible reason the seller can not accept your money. The most common reason is because your bank note is old. It has torn a little at one edge or just "dilapidated" money. The local bank in where we change the US bank note, only accept new bank note. Meaning it has not folded yet, just like a shirt when you finish ironing it. (I am struggling to find the right terms because English is not my first language, I hope this is clear). Another reason is, although the bank note looks new, but it is an older edition. The bank note is which is published earlier, tho...