Bartering in Bali

Looking for a ticket out of Kuta Beach, we headed for the Perama tourist shuttle bus office just down the street from our hotel. The guide book quoted a price of 40,000 Rph to our next stop - Padang Bai. We were greatly relieved that this was the ticket price. No bartering was necessary.

Buoyed by our early morning success, and with one day left in Kuta Beach, we headed for the shops to get our Bali staples - sarongs, swimming shorts, t-shirts and bags. First stop, Jen got a good price on a bag. Next, I drove a hard bargain - getting a pair of shorts for a very special price of 130,000. Two shops later, however, shorts were being sold for only 30,000. Ooops.

Lunch (and evening dinner as we were lazy) was spent at the lovely vegetarian cafe - Aromas. Absolutely amazing food, beautifully presented, in a relaxed atmosphere. The memory of hawkers and pressure salesmen quickly disappeared.

Our afternoon was spent in the pool, getting haircuts and late afternoon beach relaxation. We chatted with a couple of vendors on the beach. Bambang sold sunglasses and wanted to practice his English, whilst Vanessa sold foot massages and was very effective at this. She knew all the right buttons to press and, as the sun was setting, both Jen and I were getting the soles of our feet massaged. Jen found it divine, whilst I thought the toe yank-till-it-clicks part could have been left out.

Photos today - lunchtime fresh coconut drinks and the Aromas garden. No photos today of us - the haircuts were very good though.