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Hello Stephen,
Our trip was excellent. We really enjoyed the experience. Bangkok exceeded our expectations as did the diving in the Sicilian Islands. The Chedi was beautiful but we felt for the price they should not have charged so much for everything there. I guess since it cost so much in the begin with they expect you to pay top dollar for everything else, like transportation, food, etc... We do not regret staying there though. Bali was also an excellent experience. It was very quiet because so few tourists are coming now. We rarely saw other tourists except at the hotels and there we not many there. We took many tours and really saw a lot of the island. One note about the shopping you might pass on to other tourists. The stores and markets started off selling things very very high and we had to do some very serious bargaining to get the price down. For example, we spent one full day shopping for paintings near Ubud. Everywhere we went the prices were at least $1000 US. We ended the day assuming we were not being taken to the right places. Toward the end of our trip I started bargaining for a painting that started at over $500 and finally settled for $50. My problem with all of this is that if I only knew that they were going to ask so much I would have known to bargain in the begin with. Instead we gave up as soon as we heard the price without counter offering. We did not figure they would come down so far. This is not your fault. I am not criticizing. I think it might be a new strategy with so few tourists hoping to hit big once or twice. Either way, it would be a good idea to inform other tourists about this so they don't feel discouraged as soon as they hear the price tag. We were very discouraged after the first day. In the end everything was excellent and we had an experience we will never forget. One other thing I would do different and mark up as a learning experience. When we went to Hawaii in June we wished we had spent a few more nights in the pricey Princeville. In Bali, we wished we had spent all of those nights in nice inexpensive places. I'm glad we didn't miss the nice places but the inexpensive ones seem to have some real charm in Thailand and Bali, unlike anywhere in the US. You came through very well for us and we will look you up when we go on another trip. Baby is coming soon so we will probably be 9 months to a year before going far again, maybe Japan or China next. One last thing, do you organize dive trips to Red Sea or South Pacific? I may take a trip by myself within the next year just for the diving. Let me know. Thanks again for everything.
Brad
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