Tourist bus: It?s the easiest way to go to Bromo from Yogya. Price is about 55.000 Rp (08/2000). From Bromo you can continue to Bali for about 40.000 Rp. The tourist agencies in Yogya also offer accommodation at the Bromo guesthouse, but refuse this since it's no good value (see hotel section). This trip was in a good AC bus, but you probably have to wait in Solo more than an one hour to pick up other tourists. Total travelling time will be 10 hours.

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Kawa Ijen is defenitely a must see. The vulcano is situated in a fertile area with coffee plantations.Still it is less visited by tourists then the Bromo-plateau.Package-tours don?t have it on their itinerary and for the packpacker is it difficultto get there by public transport.(coming f.e. from Bromo).

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Whatever other travellers tell you about Bali being too touristic: don't believe them! It's a great place to travel. Of course you find tourists in a lot of places, but as long as you avoid the South, this is bearable.

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From Yogya or from Mount Bromo you can easily take a bus to Lovina. It leaves Bromo around 9 am (from Ngadisari) and arrives around 6 pm in Lovina. Mind you, this trip is very uncomfortable, the AC bus we had from Yogya to Bromo was on his way back to Yogya!

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You could bother to take public transport, and it will definitely be much cheaper, but also very slow. However, there's also a direct bus with AC charging 25.000 Rp (10/98). It's much easier to take a tourist bus. They leave very regularly and they pick you up at the hotel. If you don't like the departure hour they propose, shop around. If their morning bus is full, they will say "it's better to leave in the afternoon, sir because then you can spend the morning on the beach" or vice versa if the afternoon bus is full.

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There are plenty of money changers at the airport, but their rates are inferior to the ones in town. If you really need to change, there's one smaller boot which gives better rates for large notes. There are also ATM machines, but they give you a maximum of 400.000 Rp which is less then 40 US$ nowadays, so you might loose too much money on commission.The taxi to Kuta or Legian is 15.000 Rp (7/98). If you stay in a more expensive hotel, call them, they will probably send a free shuttle.

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Unlike many places in Bali, Tirtagangga has changed little in the past 6 years. There are a few more restaurants and places to stay but there are no resorts, no discos and few street sellers.

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Hotel Genggon is a bit out of town. It's quiet, rooms have hot water and a private verandah. The hotel has a nice garden and a small sandy beach. The Kubu Bali Hotel in Candidasa offers 5-star comfort at a 3-star price. It used to be 55 US$ before the crisis, it'll probably be half now.

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The easiest way to get around is hiring a taxi. There's an official boot at the exit of the airport, prices are fixed. Price to Bangsal (port to Gili) is 35.000 Rp (11/98), Sengigi 20.000 Rp (price 11/98). If you want to climb Rinjani, you could charter a bemo for about 55.000 Rp for the 2 hour drive (9/98).

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This is by far the quickest and most comfortable way. Now that prices of flights have gone up, this has become more expensive than the ferry (this situation is much different then the one in 5/97 when prices where only slightly different). There are very frequent flights from Denpasar to Mataram from early morning till the evening with Merpati, the planes are quite small. The flight takes about 30 minutes. If you want to go to Gili, take the 8 am plane. You will arrive at around 9 am in Mataram (take into account some delay). There you can take a taxi straight to Bangsal.

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