First things first: where I'll stay

I'm going to Bali and I'm going to bother you all with a salaryman's excitement at his winter holiday.

These are the places I've chosen to stay after many nights' surfing:

• Puri Tantra Bungalows in Legian, the suburb between Kuta and Seminyak (which latter is the home of Ku De Ta), all of which are in the general vicinity of Denpasar, the capital of Bali largely ignored by tourists.
  

• Hotel Tjampuhan in Ubud, the second most visited area of Bali, an hour's drive or so from the airport, billed as the arts capital, and full of amazing accommodation (Walter Spies, a painter who lived in Ubud in the 1930s had his house on the site of the Hotel) (4 nights' accommodation and direct flights from Melbourne on Air Paradise is only A$1,000 including taxes).

• The Octagon at Just Beside Cilik's Beach Garden at Yeh Sanih (also called Air Sanih), a bit east of Singaraja before Tejakula, the old capital and second largest city in Bali, a fishing port on the dry northern coast run by a German-Balinese venture.

• Seraya Shores, run by Australian Many Plummer and some Balinese, near Amed on the eastern coast, heavily plugged by Bali Blog.

• Apa Kabar Villas also near Amed, which I was sucked into just because it's got such a beautiful website. Bali