Bali

On a recent journey to Bali, I had the most wonderful tour guide, Made Antara. I emailed him prior to my group's arrival to fine-tune our itinerary. He was always prompt and professional in his responses. Because I had a group of 50 with me, I wanted to make sure everything was right. It was a terrific all-day tour, and everyone said it was the best of our journey. Made really knows his island and aims to please. He will customize your tour based on your specific interests; if you do not know what you want, he will make suggestions.

On a recent journey to Bali, I had the most wonderful tour guide, Made Antara. I emailed him prior to my group's arrival to fine-tune our itinerary. He was always prompt and professional in his responses. Because I had a group of 50 with me, I wanted to make sure everything was right. It was a terrific all-day tour, and everyone said it was the best of our journey. Made really knows his island and aims to please. He will customize your tour based on your specific interests; if you do not know what you want, he will make suggestions.

THE BEST WAY TO BALI From LAX, connecting service (change of plane) to the Denpasar airport, about 15 miles from Ubud, is offered on China, Korean, Cathay Pacific, Singapore, Eva, Thai and Malaysia Airlines. Restricted round-trip fares begin at $840. Driving on Bali is a challenge for anyone not familiar with the etiquette on the narrow roads. Most visitors hire a driver, usually from $20 to $30 a day. There are no taxis in Ubud, but a driver will take you anywhere in town for no more than $3. They are easily found on every corner and will call out "transport" and mime the turning of a steering wheel to get your attention.

Le Méridien , a Paris-born hotel group that's now part of the Starwood empire, is steamrolling into 2013 with nine new hotels set to open in the next 12 months, including the Le Méridien Bali Jimbaran , opening officially on Thursday. The Bali resort is one of four Le Méridien Hotels and Resorts setting up shop in Asia, a region targeted by the group for major expansion within the next five years. This year's crop includes new hotels in Zhengzhou, China (opening in May)

I have been twice to Bali, 20 years ago when it was perfect, and 10 years ago when tourism had changed it greatly. I am scheduled to go back this fall, but that fine article on Lombok Island near Bali, by Jack Hanley (July 14), convinced me that I should cut Bali short and go over to Lombok. Thanks, Hanley, for the good advice. DON SMITH Hermosa Beach

I returned from a trip to Bali the day after Susan Spano's ("Bali Low," Oct. 11) article was published. Like Spano, I stayed in Sanur, traveled to Ubud, and relished the insanely low cost of vacation life in Bali. Readers should be aware, however, of the high incidence of corruption and crooked behavior that my group encountered. In a span of less than a week, we were the target of more attempts at graft than I've experienced in all my travels in Latin America put together. Particularly crooked were virtually all money-changers, who blatantly miscounted or diverted currency, and taxi drivers, who attempted to jack up fares, make unwanted detours, or tamper with their meters.

Researchers have been studying orangutans, proboscis monkeys, gibbons and other Indonesian wildlife for more than four decades at Camp Leakey in the Tanjung Puting National Park in Borneo. Now an eight-day trip combines a luxury stay in Bali with wildlife viewing and a visit to the camp. The trip starts with three nights in Bali at the Pita Maha Resort and Spa in Ubud and then takes off to Yogyakarta on the island of Java for two nights at the Rimba Lodge inside the national park.

On a steamy, drizzly morning, my friend Alejandra Cisneros leads us on a narrow dirt path through the flooded rice fields. A few yards away, a dozen ducks march single file across a dirt berm, tails twitching, looking very businesslike. Local farmers hire the trained ducks to eat pests and clean the recently harvested fields, Cisneros explains, as we settle on the bamboo deck of Sari Organik, an organic restaurant. These carefully terraced rice fields and the surrounding rivers are sacred grounds for the Balinese, an integral part of the spiritual soup that attracts mystics, seekers and legions of yoga teachers to Ubud.

Amit Virmani was vacationing at Bali's famous Kuta Beach when he met a 12-year-old boy who told him of his unlikely goal: to grow up fast, so he could be a gigolo. The boy said his heroes were the young bronzed Indonesian surfers who provided erotic services to Japanese women and other female tourists who flock to the island for discreet sex vacations. The young men's apparent sexual prowess and serial romances have earned them the nickname "Kuta cowboys." "It begged the question: 'Who are these young cowboys?

On her first trip to Bali in April, Clodagh Smith visited a Hindu temple in the village of Tampaksiring. Inside, she came across a group of boys and men bathing in a sacred pool. Intrigued by this glimpse of everyday life, Smith took this photo. "What made this special for me was the opportunity to witness a ritual that was not designed for tourists but was an authentic expression of village religious life in contemporary Bali," the Sacramento resident said. View past photos we've featured . To upload your own, visit our reader travel photo gallery . When you upload your photo, tell us where it was taken and when.

If Bali is calling to you, Eva Air can help you answer. It's offering a round-trip fare from LAX for $1,057, including all taxes and fees for travel Mondays-Thursdays from Feb. 18 to May 20 and Aug. 20 to Nov. 30. (Travel Fridays-Sundays costs $50 more.) The fare is subject to availability, and there is a maximum three-month stay. Info: Eva Air , (800) 695-1188 Source: Airfarewatchdog Follow us on Twitter @latimestravel , like us on Facebook @Los Angeles Times Travel.

You're never too old to study abroad, at least not on this summer tour of Bali with a side trip to wildlife viewing in Borneo offered by Glendale Community College . Students of any age enroll in cultural geography and physical anthropology courses to go on the trip. Bali's culture, religion, dance and traditional ceremonies will be the focus of 15 nights in Ubud amid tours and classes led by anthropology and geography professors. Participants also spend two days teaching English to elementary school students as part of the curricula.

Delve more deeply into Bali's cultural side on a 12-day tour that emphasizes drumming, meditation, spiritual ceremonies and more. Tribal Music Tours leads a group of 14 to the Indonesian island on a trip that includes daily guided meditations and daily healing drum circles (drums provided). Guests stay in jungle villas in Ubud where exploration begins by foot to the Monkey Forest and the village. During the trip, participants jam with gamelan masters during a drum workshop, visit drum craftsmen and master healers, take a Balinese dance workshop and experience a men's kecak trance dance by night.

Love is always lovelier some place other than home. Well, at least in the celluloid universe. Traveling by boat, train or even bus can lead to romantic entanglements in the movies, as does visiting über-romantic locales such as Rome, Paris and Venice. Of course, these romances may not last, or they may even end tragically - just think of poor Jack and Rose in "Titanic" - but it doesn't matter. Movie audiences crave these idealistic, sexy trysts. Here's a look at some of the best films in the romantic travel genre: All aboard!

Researchers have been studying orangutans, proboscis monkeys, gibbons and other Indonesian wildlife for more than four decades at Camp Leakey in the Tanjung Puting National Park in Borneo. Now an eight-day trip combines a luxury stay in Bali with wildlife viewing and a visit to the camp. The trip starts with three nights in Bali at the Pita Maha Resort and Spa in Ubud and then takes off to Yogyakarta on the island of Java for two nights at the Rimba Lodge inside the national park.

The Uma Ubud hotel offers Discover Ubud Culture tour packages for two, three or four nights in Ubud, the cultural and artsy center of Bali. Itinerary: The two-night tour includes yoga classes and a guided walk to see the Bedugul Mountains and markets in town. Guests can choose a half-day bike ride around Kintamani, a three-hour chauffeured tour of Ubud or a half-day white-water rafting trip on the Ayung River. (All are included for guests who stay four nights.) Dates: Hotel-tour packages are offered indefinitely.

MEDITERRANEAN Sites of holy, secular past Sail away on a weeklong Mediterranean cruise that charts a course to ancient towns, historical ruins and important shrines, including a Turkish site reputed to be the former home of the Virgin Mary. In Istanbul, see the imposing Blue Mosque and Topkapi Palace. Accommodations are aboard the 500-cabin Costa Serena, which has five restaurants, 13 bars and four swimming pools. Itinerary: Venice, to Bari, Italy, Olympia, Greece; Izmir and Istanbul in Turkey; Dubrovnik, Croatia; and back to Venice.

You're never too old to study abroad, at least not on this summer tour of Bali with a side trip to wildlife viewing in Borneo offered by Glendale Community College . Students of any age enroll in cultural geography and physical anthropology courses to go on the trip. Bali's culture, religion, dance and traditional ceremonies will be the focus of 15 nights in Ubud amid tours and classes led by anthropology and geography professors. Participants also spend two days teaching English to elementary school students as part of the curricula.

On her first trip to Bali in April, Clodagh Smith visited a Hindu temple in the village of Tampaksiring. Inside, she came across a group of boys and men bathing in a sacred pool. Intrigued by this glimpse of everyday life, Smith took this photo. "What made this special for me was the opportunity to witness a ritual that was not designed for tourists but was an authentic expression of village religious life in contemporary Bali," the Sacramento resident said. View past photos we've featured . To upload your own, visit our reader travel photo gallery . When you upload your photo, tell us where it was taken and when.

In 1930, Mexican artist Miguel Covarrubias and his wife, Rose, traveled to the island of Bali in Indonesia and promptly fell in love with what they saw. They stayed nine months, soaking up the natural beauty and distinct culture. Covarrubias later wrote a classic book called "Island of Bali," which somewhat overshadowed the art he made on the trip. One of those paintings is a stylized map of Bali, showing the diamond-shaped island dominated by smoking volcanoes towering over lush valleys and hillsides terraced into rice fields.